MIT researchers have developed a new system that gives underwater robots more decision-making capabilities, reports Kelsey Atherton for Popular Science. Atherton explains that developing machines that can operate without human control could “usher in a whole new age of discovery.”
In an article for The Huffington Post about teaching kids computer programming, Joni Blecher highlights the robotic garden developed by researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and CSAIL. The garden has “over 100 flowers that can be controlled via a Bluetooth-enabled device.”
In a TED talk, Prof. Kevin Slavin speaks about the potential dangers surrounding the growing influence of computer algorithms in finance, and the physical environment. “We’ve lost the sense of what’s actually happening in this world that we’ve made,” says Slavin.
Spencer Kelly of BBC News visits the MIT Distributed Robotics Lab to see how researchers have developed software that allows robots to build Ikea furniture. Kelly explains that the goal of the research is to “work towards robots that can work together collaboratively to build complex structures.”
Chris Neiger of BBC News reports on software being developed by Professor Brian Williams aimed at helping drivers arrive at their destinations on time. “The lab’s planning algorithms would give motorists an initial travel plan, which would adapt to externalities along the way,” writes Neiger.
Sarah Hedgecock writes for Forbes about how researchers have made major advances in mapping the human epigenome. Prof. Manolis Kellis explains that the new findings allow researchers to “ go from a static picture of the genome, which is effectively the book of life, to a dynamic picture of a genome.”
A team of researchers has published a map of the human epigenome, which could be useful in better understanding how to treat disease, writes Amanda Schupak for CBS News. Prof. Manolis Kellis explains that the findings provide “a reference for studying the molecular basis of human disease, by revealing the control regions that harbor genetic variants associated with different disorders."
MIT researchers have developed a garden filled with origami robots, LED flowers that can bloom on command and mechanical insects, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. The garden was developed in an effort to make programming more accessible to children.
Marcus Woo writes for Wired about how researchers have published a number of articles providing new information on the human epigenome, which controls which genes get switched on or off. “It is giving us a view of the living, breathing genome in motion, as opposed to a static picture of DNA,” explains Prof. Manolis Kellis.
For the first time, researchers have mapped the epigenome, identifying the switches that can turn individual genes on or off, reports Sharon Beagley for Reuters. Says Prof. Manolis Kellis of the need to understand the epigenome, "The only way you can deliver on the promise of precision medicine is by including the epigenome.”
Researchers have mapped the epigenome, shedding light on how genes are controlled, which could be useful in understanding disease, reports Gina Kolata for The New York Times. “We now have an unprecedented view of the living human genome,” says Prof. Manolis Kellis.
“A team of MIT researchers found that an existing computer vision system can achieve object recognition as well as humans and other primates,” writes Jamie Ducharme for Boston Magazine. Professor James DiCarlo’s team compared the visual recognition abilities of primates to those of the advanced computer system Super Vision.
Sarah Kaplan of The Washington Post highlights Prof. Sangbae Kim’s work developing a robot modeled after the cheetah. Kim explains that he took inspiration from the cheetah’s movements to design a robot that could run. “We can steal a lot of ideas from nature that we can apply . . . to speed up our engineering evolution,” he explains.
MIT researchers have designed a robotic cheetah that could possibly be used in search and rescue operations or as inspiration for the design of prosthetics, reports the Associated Press. “Our goal is we are trying to make this robot to save a life,” says Prof. Sangbae Kim.
The result of five years of testing, a robotic cheetah developed by MIT researchers can run at speeds of 10 miles per hour and jump 16 inches high, reports the Associated Press. "In the next 10 years, our goal is we are trying to make this robot to save a life," explains Professor Sangbae Kim.