MIT biologists have developed a genetically modified version of a common gut bacteria that could be used to treat disease, reports Catherine Woods for the PBS NewsHour. “You could engineer a Bacteroides to live in the gut and detect when inflammation is just starting…so that you can seek treatment right away,” explains Prof. Timothy Lu.
MIT research scientist Michael Person and lecturer Amanda Bosh were part of a NASA project to examine Pluto’s shadow during a stellar occultation. Govert Schilling reports on the team’s work for New Scientist, writing that the goal was to learn about the pressure and temperature in Pluto's atmosphere.
Network World reporter Tim Greene writes that a committee of security experts state in a new report that allowing government agencies access to secure data could increase data breaches. MIT Principal Research Scientist Daniel Weitzner, who led the preparation of the report, explains that allowing special access creates “vulnerabilities to infrastructure being used in the commercial sector.”
Cat Zakrzewski writes for TechCrunch that a new report co-authored by MIT researchers details how giving law enforcement agencies access to encrypted communications could pose security risks. The report, “tells us that a backdoor for the government and law enforcement also provides an opening that could be exploited by hackers.”
MIT researchers have found that nitrous oxide or laughing gas is a stronger anesthetic than previously believed, writes Nitya Rajan for The Huffington Post. The researchers found that nitrous oxide caused changes in patient brainwaves and a pattern of electrical firing across the brain.
Danny Yadron, Damian Paletta and Jennifer Valentino-Devries write for The Wall Street Journal that in a new report MIT cybersecurity experts argue that allowing governments access to encrypted data is “technically impractical and would expose consumers and business to a greater risk of data breaches.”
Joe Nocera of The New York Times writes about Professor Zeynep Ton’s presentation at the Aspen Ideas Festival on her book “The Good Jobs Strategy,” in which she argues that companies can be profitable by improving conditions for their workers. “The assumed trade-off between low prices and good jobs is a fallacy,” says Ton.
Wired reporter Liat Clark writes that researchers at the MIT Media Lab have developed a 3-D printed biological wearable that “could theoretically generate drugs, fuel and food when exposed to sunlight.”
In an article for Fortune, Katie Fehrenbacher writes about how startups such as Transatomic Power, which was founded by MIT nuclear scientists Leslie Dewan and Mark Massie, could revive the field of nuclear technology. Fehrenbacher writes that companies like Transatomic “are passionate about how tech innovation can lift the industry out of its nuclear stalemate.”
New research by Prof. Susumu Tonegawa presents the possibility that depression can be alleviated by recalling happy memories, reports Clive Cookson for The Financial Times. The findings suggest, "new ways to treat depression by manipulating memory neurons.”
Financial Times reporter Richard Waters writes about how graduate student Abe Davis’ motion magnification research could be used to create more realistic virtual worlds. Waters writes that Davis’ work presents the “possibility of capturing and manipulating real-world objects in virtual space.”
MIT startup LiquiGlide has announced that they are partnering with the international food packaging company Orkla to use their non-stick coating inside mayonnaise bottles, reports Katie Palmer for Wired. Palmer explains that LiquiGlide has “created an algorithm to optimize the thermodynamic relationships between a textured solid on the inside of the bottle, its liquid 'lubricant,' and the product in question.”
Wired reporter James Temperton writes that MIT researchers have created a portable spectrometer that is small enough to fit inside a smartphone. The spectrometer could be used to diagnose diseases, “analyse urine samples, check pulse and oxygen levels and measure environmental pollutants,” Temperton explains.
MIT researchers have developed a quantum-dot spectrometer that is small enough to fit into a smartphone, reports Alexandra Ossola for Popular Science. “Having all that computational power in the palms of their hands could help scientists diagnose of diseases (especially skin conditions), test urine samples, or identify food contaminants,” Ossola writes.
MIT spinout LiquiGlide has signed a deal with Orkla that will allow the company to use LiquiGlide’s non-stick coating in their mayonnaise bottles, reports Chris Foxx for the BBC. Foxx explains that a customized version of the LiquiGlide “coating is created for each product, resulting in a "permanently wet" surface inside containers that helps the product slip out.”