Washington Post reporter Matt McFarland writes about the new consortium, led by MIT, aimed at developing the next generation of fabrics. “While the tech industry talks of “wearable” devices…next-generation fabrics would literally create wearable computing devices that hang in our closets. What looks like a typical shirt might actually have some of the abilities of your smartphone or smartwatch.”
A public-private consortium led by MIT has won a national competition to create a manufacturing institute aimed at moving the textile industry into the digital age, reports Steve Lohr for The New York Times. “This is about reimagining what a fabric is, and rebirthing textiles into a high-tech industry,” says Prof. Yoel Fink.
Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham writes that a new nonprofit founded by MIT has been selected as the winner of a Department of Defense contest to establish a fiber research center. “The center and the institute is going to go anywhere fiber and fabric goes,” explains Prof. Yoel Fink, who led the proposal for the institute.
A consortium led by MIT has won a competition to host a federally funded research program focused on bringing the textile industry into the digital age, reports Jon Chesto for The Boston Globe. “Here is a bold vision that’s not just manufacturing stuff that we know about but also enabling a whole new interpretation of the fabric industry,” says Prof. Yoel Fink.
Science reporter Robert Service writes that MIT researchers have developed a drug synthesis machine that can produce a variety of medications. Service writes that such a machine “could someday help pharmaceutical companies meet unexpected surges in demand and help health officials respond to disasters and medical emergencies worldwide by producing medicines when and where they are needed.”
MIT researchers have developed a programming language for living cells, reports Erika Check Hayden for Nature. “What we’re finding over time is that biology isn’t this kind of mysterious unpredictable substrate; it just felt that way because we didn’t really have the tools to see what was going on,” Prof. Christopher Voigt says.
Voice of America reporter Kevin Enochs writes that a new study by MIT researchers has found that large portions of Asia could face a high risk of severe water stress by 2050. Enochs writes that the researchers found that, “global climate mitigation efforts can result in a measurable decrease in the risk of water stress.”
MIT researchers have found that population and economic growth could lead to severe water stress across Asia by 2050, reports Robert Ferris for CNBC. "We simply cannot ignore the fact that growth in population and the economies can play just as or more important a role in risk," explains Dr. Adam Schlosser.
MIT researchers are creating a GIF genome that will allow computers to identify the emotions or meaning behind a GIF, writes Kevin Maney for Newsweek. “We realized that they’re becoming more and more serious of a medium,” explains graduate student Kevin Hu. “And we realized that we could quantify this usage.”
Researchers have uncovered evidence about how “hot Jupiter” exoplanets form by studying a planet with an eccentric orbit, reports Eva Botkin-Kowacki for The Christian Science Monitor. "This planet is thought to be caught in the act of migrating inward," says MIT postdoc Julien de Wit. "By studying it, we are able to test theories of hot Jupiter formation."
In this Huffington Post interview with Andrew McAfee, co-founder of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, Prof. Neri Oxman speaks about the complex relationship between humans and nature. “We think about new ways of making things... using new technologies that are inspired or informed by nature,” says Oxman of her group’s work.
Washington Post reporter Rachel Feltman writes that a new study co-authored by MIT postdoc Julien de Wit examines the eccentric orbit of an exoplanet with extreme weather variations. The researchers found that, “every 111 days, the planet swings close to its sun-like host star before being flung back out.”
NPR reporter Michelle Andrews writes about a new paper, co-authored by Prof. Andrew Lo, that proposes developing health care installment loans to help patients access treatments that are prohibitively expensive. Lo explains that the loans are a "private sector stopgap way to deal with” the high prices of certain medications.
Boston Globe reporter Kevin Hartnett writes about a new study co-authored by MIT researchers that envisions a future without traffic lights. “When sensor-laden vehicles approach an intersection, they can communicate their presence and remain at a safe distance from each other, rather than grinding to a halt at traffic lights,” explains Prof. Carlo Ratti.
Wired reporter Liz Stinson writes that researchers at the MIT Media Lab have developed a drone that can mimic what a person is drawing on a piece of paper. Stinson explains that, “as a human draws with a pen, a camera captures the motion and a computer communicates it to the drone, which mimics what the pen is drawing.”