Writing for The Boston Globe, Prof. Ramesh Raskar underscores the importance of ensuring that every American has the opportunity to receive the Covid-19 vaccine without cost or without giving up their privacy. “By effectively communicating the privacy benefits of decentralized data collection and anonymized data reporting, mobile apps might diminish barriers to vaccination that exist due to privacy concerns,” writes Raskar.
Forbes contributor Angelica Krystle Donati spotlights MIT startup Clockworks Analytics, which “leverages existing products installed in buildings such as thermostats, building automation devices, and other sensors and focuses on generating sophisticated analytics based on that data.”
Writing for Greentech Media, Jason Deign spotlights a new study by Prof. Jessika Trancik that examines the rising costs of new nuclear plants. The researchers found that “the main reason for spiraling nuclear plant construction bills is soft costs, the indirect expenses related to activities such as engineering design, purchasing, planning, scheduling and — ironically — estimating and cost control.”
Forbes contributor Dipka Bhambhani spotlights a new study by MIT researchers that examines the causes of cost overruns and delays in nuclear power developments, and finds they could have been “averted by building plants in factories and then installing them on site.”
Researchers from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized Medicine (CAMP) research group have been awarded new research grants aimed at supporting work exploring personalized medicine and cell therapy, reports Health Europa. “In addition to our existing research on our three flagship projects, we hope to develop breakthroughs in manufacturing other cell therapy platforms that will enable better medical treatments and outcomes for society,” says Associate Provost Krystyn Van Vliet.
Boston 25 spotlights how scientists from LIGO and Virgo have detected what may be the most massive black hole collision yet. “The result of the black holes colliding created the first-ever observed intermediate black hole, at 142 times the mass of the sun,” reports Boston 25.
Scientists from LIGO and Virgo have detected the largest collision between two black holes to date, which appears to have created an “intermediate-mass” black hole, reports Loren Grush for The Verge. Intermediate-mass black holes, “are really the missing link between [black holes with] tens of solar masses and millions,” says Prof. Salvatore Vitale. “It was always a bit baffling that people couldn’t find anything in between.”
Writing for Forbes, research affiliate Thomas Davenport spotlights the virtual MIT Chief Data Officer and Information Quality Symposium. “The conference was a rich collection of voices and perspectives, and reminded me that the chief data officer function—while still evolving—is here to stay.
MIT researchers have found that online restaurant data can be used to accurately predict key socioeconomic factors for neighborhoods in China, reports the Xinhua news agency. The researchers found that “in nine Chinese cities, the presence of restaurants could effectively predict a neighborhood's daytime and nighttime population, the number of businesses and overall spending.”
Researchers at MIT and Brown University created an interactive data system that “could give everyone AI superpowers,” writes Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch. Known as ‘Northstar,’ the system can instantly generate machine-learning models to use with existing data sets in order to generate useful predictions, explains Etherington.
Paul Carter of BBC’s Click highlights CSAIL research to teach a robot how to feel an object just by looking at it. This will ultimately help the robot “grip better when lifting things like the handle of a mug,” says Carter.
Using a tactile sensor and web camera, MIT researchers developed an AI system that allows robots to predict what something feels like just by looking at it, reports David Williams for CNN. “This technology could be used to help robots figure out the best way to hold an object just by looking at it,” explains Williams.
Forbes contributor Charles Towers-Clark explores how CSAIL researchers have developed a database of tactile and visual information that could be used to allow robots to infer how different objects look and feel. “This breakthrough could lead to far more sensitive and practical robotic arms that could improve any number of delicate or mission-critical operations,” Towers-Clark writes.
MIT researchers have created a new system that enables robots to identify objects using tactile information, reports Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch. “This type of AI also could be used to help robots operate more efficiently and effectively in low-light environments without requiring advanced sensors,” Etherington explains.
Fast Company reporter Michael Grothaus writes that CSAIL researchers have developed a new system that allows robots to determine what objects look like by touching them. “The breakthrough could ultimately help robots become better at manipulating objects,” Grothaus explains.