Prof. Edward Boyden speaks with STAT about winning the Breakthrough Prize and his research at MIT. Boyden explains that the technique he developed to examine brain samples is being applied to “bacteria, cancer, biopsies, virology questions. There’s a huge pent-up demand for ways of seeing large objects with nanoscale precision.”
Ambika Behal writes for Forbes about MIT startup Authess, which is dedicated to changing educational assessments. Based off Prof. Chris Kaiser’s experiences in the classroom and with edX, Authess is focused on developing a more authentic learning experience for students.
In an article for The New York Times, Austin Frakt speaks with Prof. Benjamin Roin about how to encourage drug companies to undertake studies examining whether medications may have multiple uses. Roin suggests that to make such studies feasible, there could be a “universal electronic prescribing system that tracks prescriptions and conditions for which they’re intended.”
Prof. Neri Oxman’s work will be featured at the Beauty – Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial exhibit. Wall Street Journal reporter Andy Battaglia writes that Oxman’s work, “materialized through 3-D printing, the theoretical body aid is part of a project that calls on ideas culled from robotics.”
John Wyatt, who served as an MIT professor for 36 years and was known for his work developing retinal implants, died on Feb. 3, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. Marquard writes that Wyatt helped found the field of retinal prosthetic research, which was aimed at restoring “sight to those diagnosed with macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.”
In an article for Fortune, Prof. Deborah Lucas examines how worried investors should be worried about debt-burdened cities in China. Lucas writes that a new MIT study found that “while the massive debt buildup in China presents challenges, the situation is not as dire as a full-blown debt crisis.”
Prof. Frank Wilczek writes for The Wall Street Journal about his experience participating in the Nobel Week Dialogue in Sweden from the comfort of his home in Cambridge, thanks to a robot that allowed conference attendees to interact with him remotely. “With more powerful sensors and actuators, out-of-body experiences will become even more compelling,” Wilczek writes.
Washington Post reporter Joel Achenbach writes about the life and work of Prof. emeritus Marvin Minsky, who died on Sunday. Achebach writes that Minsky’s colleagues knew him “as a man who was strikingly clever in conversation, with an ability to anticipate what others are thinking -- and then conjure up an even more intriguing variation on those thoughts.”
In an article for The Boston Globe, Bryan Marquard writes about Prof. emeritus Marvin Minsky, co-founder of the former AI Lab (now CSAIL), a founding member of the Media Lab, and a pioneer in the field of AI, who passed away on Sunday.
Prof. emeritus Marvin Minsky, one of the founders of the field of artificial intelligence, died Sunday at age 88, reports Glenn Rifkin for The New York Times. Rifkin writes that Minsky “combined a scientist’s thirst for knowledge with a philosopher’s quest for truth as a pioneering explorer of artificial intelligence.”
In this video, Prof. Edward Boyden speaks with The Huffington Post about how sleep and meditation impact people on a neurological level. Boyden says that traditions such as mediation can “help us be more attuned to what our mind really wants.”
Prof. Ioannis Yannas was inducted into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame for his work with Dr. John Burke on regenerating human skin as a treatment for burn victims, writes Robby Berman for Slate. In a video accompanying the story, Yannas explains that his work was focused on “speeding up the rate of closing up these wounds.”
Prof. Frank Wilczek writes for The Wall Street Journal that integrating logic puzzles and games into math lessons could make math a more accessible subject. “We know that people like games of chance and gambling,” writes Wilczek. “These lead naturally into adventures in probability and statistics.”
Prof. David Kaiser speaks with WGBH Radio’s Edgar B. Herwick about what the addition of four new elements to the periodic table means for scientific research and discovery. "It’s kind of like saying you have a map of the wilderness and by exploring it you want to change the map at the same time," says Kaiser.
A number of MIT students, researchers and alumni have been named to Forbes’ annual “30 Under 30” list, which honors rising stars in 20 different sectors.