Graduate student Tristan Swedish has devised a concept for a device that allows patients to photograph their retinas, according to The Economist. Swedish hopes the device could allow, “people to monitor themselves and, if there are any warning signs, to be advised to see a doctor.”
Financial Times reporter Eric Beinhocker reviews Prof. César Hidalgo’s new book, “Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies.” Beinhocker writes that Hidalgo’s book is, “the future of growth theory and his thought-provoking book deserves to be widely read.”
Researchers from the MIT Media Lab are studying Twitter use in the small Spanish town of Jun, Fox News Latino reports. “It’s believed to be the first town to adopt the social network as the dominant method of communication.”
Chris Baraniuk of New Scientist writes that Prof. Neri Oxman has designed a 3-D printed wearable technology inspired by the human gastrointestinal tract. “Oxman is experimenting with the idea of futuristic wearables that can do useful things such as produce consumables or give off scents,” writes Baraniuk.
In an article for BetaBoston, Janelle Nanos writes about Jana, an MIT startup that allows mobile phone users in developing countries to access the Internet for free. “We’re empowering people with connectivity and we’re not limiting how they’re using that connectivity,” explains Jana founder and MIT alumnus Nathan Eagle.
Boston.com reporter Dialynn Dwyer writes about how graduate student Steven Keating “fought his cancer with curiosity.” Dwyer explains that Keating “gathered his health data in order to understand the science behind what his body was going through” and even filmed his brain surgery.
Researchers at the MIT Media Lab have designed a miniature wireless track pad that fits on a thumbnail and allows users to control their devices while their hands are busy, reports Liz Stinson for Wired. “The value of NailO lies in pondering more discreet interaction with our gadgets,” Stinson writes.
MIT researchers have developed a new device that turns your thumb into a miniature wireless track pad, reports Tessa Verenson for TIME Magazine. The device could allow users to “answer the phone while cooking, control their cell phones even when they hands are full or discreetly send a text.”
BetaBoston reporter Curt Woodward writes about a new study by researchers from the MIT Laboratory for Social Machines examining how the government of Jun, a small town in southeastern Spain, is using Twitter to interact with residents. The researchers found that “residents’ tweets are incorporated into livestreamed city council meetings.”
MIT researchers have developed a thumbnail-mounted sensor that can be used as a wireless track pad, reports Marie Szaniszlo for the Boston Herald. The device, “puts Bluetooth and a battery into a package that you can stick to your fingernail and can send data wirelessly to your phone,” Szaniszlo explains.
Research by Kate Darling and Cynthia Breazeal of the MIT Media Lab shows how humanizing robots can help shape people’s attitudes towards them, writes Gregory McNeal for Forbes. According to their paper, “participants hesitated significantly more to strike the robot when it was introduced through anthropomorphic framing, (such as a name or backstory).”
BetaBoston reporter Nidhi Subbaraman writes about how graduate student Steven Keating's thirst for knowledge may have saved his life. After experiencing phantom odors, Keating urged his doctors to perform a brain scan, which revealed a tumor. Since then, Keating has “open-sourced” his illness, and become a “champion of a movement to provide patients with more information about their health.”
Steve Lohr of The New York Times writes about how allowing patients like brain cancer survivor and MIT graduate student Steven Keating greater access to their medical records can not only improve patient health, but also benefit medical research. The sharing of medical records could be a “huge crowdsourcing opportunity for research,” Keating explains.
Kevin McSpadden of Time reports on Panoply, a social networking platform developed by researchers from MIT and Northwestern that is aimed at helping users deal with anxiety and depression. Panoply teaches “users a therapeutic tool called cognitive reappraisal, which tries to get people to look at a problematic situation from different perspectives.”
In a New York Times article, Steve Lohr spotlights how graduate student Steven Keating’s active participation in his medical care led to early detection of a brain tumor. In describing patient access to medical records, Keating explains his belief that “data can heal.”