An international team of scientists, including astronomers from MIT, has discovered seven Earth-sized planets, reports Sarah Kaplan for The Washington Post. Julien de Wit, a postdoc at MIT who is leading the study of the planets’ atmospheres, explains that repeated observations of the planets, “lifted the veil on the architecture of the system.”
New York Times reporter Kenneth Chang writes about the discovery of seven Earth-sized exoplanets by a team of researchers, including MIT scientists. The discovery makes “the search for life in the galaxy imminent,” says Prof. Sara Seager. “We just have to wait and then make very careful observations and see what is in the atmospheres of the Trappist planets.”
A study by Prof. Michael McDonald details how a black hole in the Phoenix cluster is producing star-making fuel, reports Andy Rosen for The Boston Globe. “It’s an extreme system that doesn’t seem to follow all the rules that we’ve found, so it gives us a clue to what the rules are,” McDonald explains.
New research by Prof. David Autor shows that the number of young married women has decreased during recent decades, reports Jenna Smialek for Bloomberg News. Autor found that “the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to global trade may be at least partially to blame” for the decline.
By regenerating hair cells in the inner ear that detect and transmit noise to the brain, researchers from MIT and other institutions believe they can help people with hearing loss, writes Jamie Ducharme for Boston Magazine. This method of regenerating cells “holds promise for a vast array of medical issues,” explains Ducharme.
Oscar Williams of The Huffington Post writes that MIT researchers have designed a coating that allows liquids to slid out of containers, which could cut down on food waste. “In packages there are about 40 billion packs with material stuck in packages so the technology has the potential to significantly reduce waste,” says MIT alumnus and LiquiGlide co-founder David Smith.
In this article and video, BBC reporter Pallab Ghosh examines how MIT researchers have developed a coating that makes it possible to squeeze every drop of ketchup and toothpaste out of a container. “Because the coating is a composite of solid and liquid, it can be tailored to the product,” explains Prof. Kripa Varanasi.
Postdoctoral associate Phillip Nadeau speaks with CBC reporter Nora Young about a new ingestible electronic device developed by MIT researchers that could potentially be used to transmit patient data or deliver medications. Young explains that the new device “doesn't require a battery, because it's able to create an electrical current from the acid in your stomach.”
Science Friday reporter Ira Flatow and Motherboard reporter Daniel Oberhaus discuss a wearable device developed by CSAIL researchers that can detect the emotional tone of a conversation. Oberhaus explains that the researchers hope the device could one day be “applied with much finer emotional granularity, to the point where you can tell if the story was exciting or funny.”
Jonathan Amos reports for the BBC News that scientists around the world are close to obtaining the first image of a black hole. Data from multiple observatories will be compiled at MIT’s Haystack Observatory where “very smart imaging algorithms have had to be developed to make sense of the [Event Horizon Telescope]'s observations,” writes Amos.
Researchers at MIT have designed a new living material infused with cells that could one day be used as a wearable sensor, writes Brooks Hays for UPI. The researchers used the new material to “design gloves and bandages that light up when they come in contact with target chemicals.”
In this Wired video, Prof. Daniela Rus speaks about how her research group is developing and applying autonomous vehicle technology to other vehicles, in particular wheelchairs. Rus explains that she envisions the technology “impacting anyone who is confined in their motions. I see it applied in hospitals, in retirement communities, in assisted living communities.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Akst writes that MIT researchers have developed a way to “tap into the insight of the expert minority within a crowd—a minority whose views would otherwise be swamped in a simple majority vote or poll.” The technique significantly enhanced “the wisdom of crowds, reducing errors by more than 20%.”
Adam Vaccaro of The Boston Globe reports that Prof. Christopher Knittel is working with Uber to identify and reduce racial bias observed in ride-sharing services. Knittel explains that he is working on designing “follow-up studies to minimize the amount of discrimination that’s occurring.”
Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham writes that a committee co-chaired by Prof. Richard Hynes has made a series of recommendations for the use of gene editing in humans. Graham explains that the committee recommended “leaving the door open to altering the human genome in ways that would affect the descendants of patients with hereditary diseases and disabilities.”