A team of MIT researchers has devised a new method for obtaining super-high resolution images from lab microscopes, writes Malcolm Ritter for the AP. The researchers found that by permeating a tissue sample with a specialized version of sodium polyacrylate they were able to enlarge the sample, making them easier to image.
Robert Lane Greene writes for The Economist about a new paper by MIT researchers, which examines the importance of specific languages by studying how languages are connected to one another. The researchers found that for many languages “their connectivity has little to do with their home country’s modern power.”
According to the CBC, MIT graduate student Natasha Jaques co-created a computer application called Smile Tracker that “runs in the background of a person's computer and detects when a person smiles.” The app snaps and saves a screenshot of whatever image caused the grin.
Vijee Venkatraman writes for BetaBoston about Kumbhathon, a tech buildathon co-founded by Professor Ramesh Raskar to address problems specific to the Kumbh Mela religious gathering in India. “This is a bottom-up approach to innovation,” says Raskar.
Aviva Rutkin writes for New Scientist about algorithms developed by MIT graduate student Karthik Dinakar that can detect abusive speech in online comments. "We need better tools not just for monitoring, but also to tell people what good digital citizenry is all about,” says Dinakar.
Liz Stinson reports for Wired on a new wearable device that can predict seizures developed by the MIT spinoff Empatica. The device, dubbed Embrace, is the product of years of research by Professor Rosalind Picard and her team. “Like fitness-focused wearables, the device tells time and keeps tabs on metrics like physical activity and sleep,” Stinson explains.
Jennifer Hicks of Forbes writes that MIT startup Empatica has developed a wearable device that can monitor for epileptic seizures. The device contains “an event detector which sends an alert when the user’s electrodermal response reaches a pre set level they customize based on their history and health profile; and a diary app which helps monitor and manage everyday routines.”
Graduate student Kevin Lu speaks with Heidi Legg of BetaBoston about his work transforming the way that we consume information. “We want to democratize data visualization so that anyone with data can map an image that explains things,” says Hu.
Caroline Fairchild of Fortune speaks with Professor Cynthia Brazeal about women and entrepreneurship. “The world would certainly be a better place if we had more women entrepreneurs,” says Breazeal. “Women are going to bring a different angle to startups.”
Writing for The New York Times, Michael Cooper reports on Prof. Tod Machover’s new work about Detroit, “Symphony in D.” “I look forward to working with Detroiters from all backgrounds to create a collective musical portrait of this exciting moment in the city’s history, when everything is being rethought and anything is possible,” says Machover.
Researchers at MIT and the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a vision-correcting display that modifies the screens of smartphones or tablets to eliminate a user’s need to wear glasses, writes Rachel Nuwer for Scientific American. “The screen can correct for myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism and more complicated vision problems,” she explains.
Sanjay Salomon writes for Boston.com about the MIT Media Lab’s “You Are Here” project, highlighting the maps researchers have produced exhibiting transportation options for 100 cities. “According to the project’s map of Cambridge, public transportation seems to fall short for most of the city,” writes Salomon.
“[A] team from Harvard and the MIT Media Lab realized that light could be used to restore the appearance of the lost colours without touching the canvas,” reports Jeff Hecht of New Scientist on a new exhibition of Mark Rothko’s murals. The murals were damaged due to over-exposure to sunlight.
Boston Globe reporter Cate McQuiad writes about “Vocal Vibrations,” the musical installation and exhibit featuring works by MIT Professors Tod Machover and Neri Oxman. “I was interested in a space where the music and the environment is very soft. To allow the general public to be directly involved in making music,” explains Machover.
Writing for Smithsonian’s section on the American Ingenuity Award winners, Matthew Shaer examines Professor Hugh Herr’s work developing bionic limbs. “To spend any time with Hugh Herr is to understand that he is already thinking beyond a world where bionics are used only to enable wounded people and toward a future where bionics are an integral part of everyday life.”