Associated Press reporter Rodrique Ngowi visits MIT to learn about how researchers in Prof. Xuanhe Zhao’s lab developed an ultrasound wristband that gathers data on human hand motions as part of an effort to help train humanoid robots to undertake complex tasks, from housework to surgery. “Imagine people doing housework,” says Zhao. “We can use the data obtained by our system to train a robot to do exactly (that) housework with this dexterous hand motion.”
Using an ordinary fridge magnet to control a microrobot might sound like fiction, but a team of MIT researchers engineered a technique to 3D-print magnetically activated robots and other materials that could be used in medicine and more. MIT graduate students Andrew Chen and Rachel Sun joined Edgar B. Herwick III of GBH’s Curiosity Desk to discuss their work and inspiration. Sun explains that ultimately, they’re “trying to develop these materials for everyday uses that push the frontiers of what’s possible and how we can help people in society.”
Manufacturing Dive reporter Cole Rosengren notes that a year after its launch, the MIT Initiative for New Manufacturing (INM) is “gaining traction toward its goal of helping modernize U.S. industrial systems.” Speaking at a Boston Tech Week event, Prof. John Hart, co-director of the INM, shared that at MIT, “we believe that there are important things we can do to help grow domestic manufacturing productivity, impart more sustainability in supply chains and industries, and also contribute to the creation of high-quality manufacturing jobs.”
The Economist reports on the growing popularity of ingestible sensors, including work at MIT where researchers are using the devices to “sense internal conditions and act on what they find.” The MIT team “received $66m from ARPA-H, a federal grant system that pushes high-risk, transformative health-care technology, to develop ingestible devices for the oral delivery of mRNA treatments.”
During a live interview in the GBH studios with Curiosity Desk host Edgar B. Herwick III, Research Scientist AJ Perez shares his work developing a new method to reuse recycled plastic to 3D print construction-grade materials for home building, which could help reduce home construction costs. “This all started with the idea of trying to build the roughly one billion homes the world needs,” says Perez.
In an effort to defend medical devices against quantum attacks, MIT researchers have engineered an ultra-efficient microchip that can protect wireless biomedical devices, such as insulin pumps and pacemakers, reports Katie Hunt for CNN. The microchip, which is around the size of an extremely fine needle tip, “includes built-in protection needed for post-quantum cybersecurity. The device achieved between 20 and 60 times higher energy efficiency than other post-quantum security techniques.”
New York Times reporter Melissa Kirsch spotlights a study by MIT scientists that explores how the “sound of rain causes some seeds to germinate faster.”
A new tool developed by MIT researchers could help violin designers test how an instrument might sound when certain dimensions or properties are changed without even pulling out a bow, reports Jennifer Ouellette for Ars Technica. The researchers crafted a virtual violin, “a computer simulation tool that can capture the precise physics of the instrument and even reproduce a realistic sound of a plucked string,” Ouellette explains.
Cambridge Day reporter Zoe Beketova, a student in MIT’s Graduate Program in Science Writing, visits Prof. Xuanhe Zhao’s lab to get a hands-on look at the group’s ultrasound wristband that can map movements of the human body using sound waves, part of the group’s work aimed at changing “how we gather information from inside the body.” Says Zhao: “The mission of my lab is really merging humans with machines and AI. We believe there’s a huge opportunity [with] this interface.”
Forbes contributor Michael T. Nietzel spotlights the 120 new members and 25 international members elected by the National Academy of Sciences for 2026. Several MIT faculty members – including Professors Michale Fee, Gareth McKinley, Keith Nelson, Bengt Holmstrom and Catherine Wolfram – were selected.
Prof. Xuanhe Zhao speaks with Tech Briefs reporter Andrew Corselli about his team’s work developing an ultrasound wristband that precisely tracks a wearer’s hand movements in real time and can communicate device these motions to a robot or a virtual environment. “For the future of human society, humanized robots will do lots of different work for us. For that work, we need a dexterous robotic hand,” explains Zhao. “We believe this ultrasound wristband, based on variable imaging, could be the future of really knowing the human hand motions.”
Prof. Anette “Peko” Hosoi and Andy Harland of Loughborough University lace up their shoes to chat about how runners can optimize their marathon performance with Edgar B. Herwick III of GBH’s Curiosity Desk. The Boston Marathon “is an iconic race and it is challenging for a lot of different reasons,” Hosoi notes. “Boston starts on a downhill, so you feel great…but if you are not managing your energy by the time you get to Heartbreak Hill at mile 20 you are going to be suffering.”
MIT researchers have developed an ultrasound wristband that can transmit a user’s motions to a robotic hand or a virtual environment, reports Mack Degeurin for Popular Science. “Volunteers wearing the device could direct the robotic hand to grab tennis balls, make hand signs, and even play notes on a piano,” Degeurin explains. “That same technique can also be applied to digital environments, which means future wearers could control a phone screen without ever touching it, or interact with virtual reality in ways that feel more immersive.”
According to the 2026 QS World University Rankings, MIT has been earned a No. 1 global ranking in 12 subject areas, including chemical engineering; chemistry; civil and structural engineering; computer science and information systems; data science and artificial intelligence; electrical and electronic engineering; engineering and technology; linguistics; materials science; mechanical, aeronautical, and manufacturing engineering; mathematics; and physics and astronomy, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes.
Researchers at MIT have developed an “AI-driven optimization method that works like ‘ChatGPT for spreadsheets’ – a tabular foundation model designed to handle spreadsheet-style data common in engineering design problems,” reports Gene Marks for Forbes. “The AI system identifies which design variables matter most and focuses search efforts on those, making problem solving less cumbersome,” writes Marks.