Researchers from MIT have developed “sustainable, offshore, hydrodynamic,” artificial reef structures capable of dissipating “more than 95% of an incoming wave’s total energy,” reports Nick Warburton for Materials World. The design “comprises vertical cylinders with four rudder-like slats attached to them, so that water can flow through the structure to generate 'swirling masses of water' or large eddies,” explains Warburton.
MIT scientists are working to fortify coastlines with “architected” reefs that can also provide habitats for fish and marine life, reports Ed Brown for TechBriefs. “We looked at the structure of these reefs and we found some similarities to what we had been doing in fluid mechanics. That led us to the idea of trying to make artificial reefs that we could architect and build in a very directed way,” says Prof. Michael Triantafyllou.
Undark reporter Sarah Scoles spotlights Matt Jacobs '02 for his work with many California SAR (search and rescue) teams. “In 2015, Jacobs published a paper that took another look at the incident information in the large ISRID database (International Search & Rescue Incident Database),” writes Scoles. “Taking the largest ISRID categories – hikers, hunters, and gatherers – he tried to see how the terrain affected their choices.”
In an article for The Conversation, graduate student Silvia Danielak delves into her new research exploring why disaster management models often need to be adjusted to better serve the needs of different communities. “Paying attention to the urban disaster managers’ understanding of place-based risk sheds light on the continuously compounding vulnerability and lack of sustainable disaster risk reduction in communities at risk,” Danielak writes.
In an article for The Washington Post, Beth Simone Noveck highlights RiskMap, an open-source platform developed by researchers from MIT’s Urban Risk Lab that allows users to gather and access information about disaster areas. Noveck writes that “RiskMap is a paradigmatic example of collective intelligence.”
Researchers from MIT’s Urban Risk Lab are collaborating with Portland State University and Portland General Electric on a new emergency preparedness project called PREPhub. The researchers are developing structures that will serve as public gathering places and will allow the public to access information and connect with family, friends and community members after a disaster, reports Mary Loos for KATU.
Meghna Chakrabarti of WBUR’s Radio Boston speaks to Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello ‘01 about the needs and the status of the island, plans to rebuild infrastructure, and how the new tax plan will affect Puerto Rico’s economy. Rossello was in Boston for the MIT Conference on the Resilient Reconstruction of the Caribbean.
Boston Globe reporter David Abel reports on Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló's ’01 visit to MIT for the Conference for the Resilient Construction of the Caribbean. The governor shared his frustration with proposed federal tax policies while expressing optimism about working with MIT on solutions for climate-resilient reconstruction after this fall’s hurricanes.
Researchers from MIT’s Urban Risk Lab piloted a free online tool that crowdsources social media posts to map flood conditions during Hurricane Irma, writes Frankie Schembri for NOVA Next. “Residents often have the best information about the situation near them,” explains research scientist Tomas Holderness, “and we now have the network to be able to collect information.”
Boston Herald reporters Jack Encarnacao and Marie Szaniszlo write that students from the MIT Mexican Association have developed a website to help Mexicans impacted by last week’s earthquake. The students are mapping “the GPS coordinates of places where locals can report specific needs, so assistance can be targeted.”
During this episode of Globo’s “Caldeirão do Huck”, host Luciano Huck speaks with several MIT affiliates, including graduate student João Ramos to learn more about his research at MIT. The episode features a visit to Prof. Sangbae Kim’s lab, where Ramos demonstrates a robot the group developed that could be used to aid with disaster response.
CBS This Morning’s Dana Jacobson explores how MIT researchers are developing technology to enable robots to assist with disaster response, including a robotic cheetah and a system that 3-D prints robots. Prof. Russ Tedrake says that, “there's a natural transition from the robots in the labs now into the robots doing meaningful work.”
MIT students participating in the Masters of Architecture Options Studio have developed a prototype portable shelter that self-assembles in mid-air, reports Alexandra Simon-Lewis for Wired. Graduate student MyDung Nguyen explains that the goal of the project was to "defy the constraints" that can often impede architectural projects, particularly in areas where space and time are limited.
In this video, FOX News reporter Douglas Kennedy speaks with MIT researchers about the robot they developed, called HERMES, that is controlled by a human operator and could aid rescuers in disaster situations. “We wanted to send a robot into a disaster situation so we don’t risk human life,” explains graduate student Albert Wang.
Writing for Popular Science, Mary Beth Griggs reports that researchers from MIT CSAIL have developed a robotic cube that can jump over rough terrain. The researchers hope that one day the cube "can be fitted with small cameras, making them excellent for exploring rough areas like disaster zones, or other tight spaces.”