A team led by Professor Timothy Lu has developed a new class of antibiotic that can selectively kill bacteria based on their genes, reports Michael Eyre for BBC News. "This is an enabling toolkit for the basic scientists to now start probing these systems a little bit better,” says Lu.
Nick Anderson of The Washington Post writes about a new study showing that online courses can be an effective way to teach. “Students in a free online physics course from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology demonstrated roughly equal learning gains if they stuck with the class,” writes Anderson.
Researchers at MIT have developed a waterproof glue based on the proteins that allow shellfish to cling to rocks, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. "We're trying to figure out if by adding other mussel foot proteins, we can increase the adhesive strength even more and improve the material's robustness," said Professor Timothy Lu.
Francie Diep writes for Popular Science about a new waterproof adhesive developed by Professor Timothy Lu’s team. “The glue, which works underwater, incorporates proteins that mussels normally use to adhere to rocks, jetties, and larger sea critters,” writes Diep.
CBS News reports that MIT engineers have identified several combinations of genes that make bacteria more vulnerable to antibiotics. This research could help in the fight against “superbugs,” drug-resistant bacteria that kill at least 23,000 people per year in the U.S.
New research by Professor Ann Graybiel may indicate that the FOXP2 gene in humans plays a major role in how we learn speech, writes Chris Higgins for Wired. Mice given the gene were able to learn their way through a maze more quickly than those without it.
“MIT researchers are engineering the next generation of space-wear: a skin-tight pressurized suit fit for awesome planetary exploration,” reports The Associated Press. “The researchers have engineered active compression garments that have small, springlike coils that contract in response to heat.”
“A team from MIT and Duke created flexible polymers that can change color and texture in response to a controlled voltage, essentially allowing them to camouflage an object with the flip of a switch,” reports Jim Festante for Slate. This mimics the ability of cephalopods in nature to rapidly change color.
Nidhi Subbaraman writes for BetaBoston about a new skin-tight spacesuit design from Professor Dava Newman’s team. “It promises to offer astronauts the same protection but a lot more mobility and comfort,” writes Subbaraman.
Professor Dava Newman’s team has designed a new lightweight, flexible suit for astronauts that provides pressurization through mechanical means rather than gas, as current spacesuits do. “The theoretical suits would be made from coils that spring back to a ‘remembered’ shape when heated,” reports Rachel Feltman for The Washington Post.
Brooks Hays of United Press International reports on the latest iteration of MIT’s skin-tight spacesuit, the BioSuit. “Ultimately, the big advantage is mobility, and a very lightweight suit for planetary exploration,” said Professor Dava Newman.
Jordon Golson of Wired reports on a new traffic control system created by MIT researchers: “The ‘RoadRunner’ system, developed for Singapore by graduate student Jason Gao and his advisor Li-Shiuan Peh, issues a digital ‘token’ to each car entering a congestion-prone area.”
“Researchers from MIT Media Lab’s Tangible Media Group and Fluid Interface Group are working on a project called THAW that allows smartphone cameras to identify what’s happening on another screen and interact with it,” writes Lily Hay Newman for Slate.
Jacqueline Howard of The Huffington Post writes about research by Professor Ann Graybiel that looked at the effect of the human Foxp2 gene in mice. The work could lead to a greater understanding of how the human brain learns speech.
“Inspired by octopus tentacles, MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL)'s latest robot is as squishy as can be,” writes Rachel Feltman of The Washington Post. “Like other soft robots, this tentacle has potential in search and rescue missions.”