Electrical engineering and computer science (EECS)

In an article for Popular Mechanics, Tiana Cline spotlights SoFi, an autonomous, soft, robotic fish that can swim alongside real fish. “SoFi has the potential to be a new type of tool for ocean exploration and to open up new avenues for uncovering the mysteries of marine life,” Cline notes.

In an article for Forbes about how AI could improve healthcare, Bernard Marr highlights an algorithm developed by MIT researchers that can analyze 3-D scans up to 1,000 times faster than is currently possible. “When saving minutes can mean saving lives, AI and machine learning can be transformative,” writes Marr.

New Scientist reporter Chelsea Whyte spotlights Prof. Regina Barzilay’s quest to revolutionize cancer treatment by applying AI techniques in ways that could help doctors detect cancer earlier. Barzilay explains that she is committed to, "applying the best technologies available to what we care about the most – our health.”

Kate Baggaley writes for NBC News that movement tracking technology developed by MIT researchers can be helpful for monitoring the elderly or sick. The system could be used to monitor an elderly relative and, “receive an instant alert if he or she falls,” or a doctor could use it to monitor the progression of a patient’s disease, explains Baggaley.

In an episode of BBC Click, host Spencer Kelly visits CSAIL to learn about developments in robotics and deep learning algorithms. Kelly notes that CSAIL is, “at the forefront of robotics, building machines in shapes and sizes that challenge our very idea of what a robot is.”

CSAIL researchers have created a deep learning system that can isolate individual musical instruments in a video by clicking on the specific instrument, writes Andrew Liszewski for Gizmodo. The researchers suggest the system, “could be a vital tool when it comes to remixing and remastering older performances where the original recordings no longer exist,” explains Liszewski.

This BBC Click segment highlights the artificial intelligence system developed by CSAIL researchers that can monitor people’s movements through walls. Prof. Dina Katabi explains that the device helps preserve the privacy of those being monitored by separating and encrypting, “any identifiable information from the measurement.”

Wired reporter Aarian Marshall highlights how MIT is launching a new undergraduate major that will combine computer science and urban planning. Prof. Eran Ben-Joseph explains that the motivation for the major is studying how, “you make a better connection between the training and computation, and what the implication of the work will be, for communities, for policies.”

Fast Company reporter Steven Melendez writes that CSAIL researchers have created a new system that allows a robot to detect human brainwave patterns so it knows when it made a mistake. Melendez explains that, “Teaching robots to understand human nonverbal cues and signals could make them safer and more efficient at working with people.”

Engadget reporter Jon Fingas writes that MIT researchers have developed a tiny computer chip small enough to fit on a honeybee-sized drone that can help the drone navigate. The technology could eventually be applied to, “smart pills that navigate to where they're needed, or virtually any vehicle that may need to last for a very long time on one battery charge.”

A new system developed by MIT researchers analyzes radio signals that bounce off of human bodies to track their movement and posture from behind walls, write Saqib Shah for Fox News. Shah suggests that the system could allow military personal “to ‘see’ hidden enemies by wearing augmented reality headsets.”

CSAIL researchers have developed a new system that uses low-power radio waves to detect and track people behind walls, reports Matt Simon for Wired. The system, which can be used to detect signs of distress in elderly patients, also “distinguishes one person from another in the same way your fingerprint distinguishes you,” explains Prof. Dina Katabi.

CSAIL researchers have created a system that can sense a person’s movements through walls, writes John Biggs for TechCrunch. The system is primarily intended as a healthcare device and could help with “passive monitoring of a subject inside a room without cameras or other intrusions,” and could provide insight into disease progression, Biggs explains.

Fast Company reporter Melissa Locker writes that CSAIL researchers have developed a system that allows wireless devices to sense a person’s movement through walls. Locker explains that the technology was created as a way to help those who are elderly, as it could be used to “monitor diseases like Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis and provide a better understanding of disease progression.”

In response to a reader’s question about self-driving cars, Mercury News reporter Gary Richards describes new technology in the works by MIT researchers to allow, “driverless cars to change lanes more like human drivers do.”