MIT alumna Kara Elliott-Ortega has been named Boston’s new chief of arts and culture, reports Don Aucoin for The Boston Globe. Elliott-Ortega, who received a master’s degree in city planning from MIT, explains that she feels the “arts aren’t just a stand-alone sector or area of work, but are a part of everything the city is doing.’’
Prof. Fadel Abid speaks with IEEE Spectrum reporter Michael Koziol about a new system his research group developed to enable communication between underwater sources and the air. “We’re very interested in how deep and how high you can go,” says Adib. “Even from a theoretical perspective, we don’t even know what the limits are.”
FOX News reporter Jamie Rogers writes that MIT researchers have developed a new system that “helps solve a longstanding problem in wireless communication – how to send data directly from a submarine to a plane or drone.”
MIT researchers have developed a new system that allows data to be transmitted between underwater and airborne devices, according to the BBC News. The system could enable submarines to communicate with planes, and in the future the device could “help planes or drones detect the location of a submerged ‘black box’ flight recorder.”
Popular Mechanics reporter Avery Thompson describes a new method developed by MIT researchers to send signals between the water and the air by using sound waves to create detectable vibrations at the water’s surface. Thompson explains that the new technology could eventually make “exploring and living under the waves much easier.”
Engadget reporter Jon Fingas writes that MIT researchers have developed a new wireless device that allows data to be transmitted from an underwater source to the air. Fingas explains that the system could allow submarines to “send their findings directly to aircraft (including drones) circling above while remaining safely underwater, and without using boats as intermediaries.”
Researchers from MIT’s Urban Risk Lab are collaborating with Portland State University and Portland General Electric on a new emergency preparedness project called PREPhub. The researchers are developing structures that will serve as public gathering places and will allow the public to access information and connect with family, friends and community members after a disaster, reports Mary Loos for KATU.
MIT researchers have found that warmer temperatures caused by climate change could cause increases in fatal car crashes, food safety violations and even violent crime, writes Alan Neuhauser for U.S. News. The researchers hope that their findings will, “spur agencies to consider more closely how to help their workers – whether cops or health inspectors or elsewhere – cope with the heat.”
Zofia Niemtus writes for The Guardian about tech startups focused on helping breastfeeding mothers. Niemtus notes that MIT’s second “Make The Breast Pump Not Suck!” hackathon, which focused on marginalized groups in society, resulted in projects like “a pop-up shelf for pumping in unsanitary public places; a lactation kit for use in disaster zones; and a virtual reality app.”
Researchers from MIT and Harvard studied how climate change could affect food inspections, traffic accidents and police stops, and found that rising temperatures could reduce safety, reports Susan Scutti for CNN. Research scientist Nick Obradovich explains that he hopes the findings can be used to “adapt or to fix things that might go wrong under a changing climate."
MIT researchers have developed a machine learning system that could reduce the number of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments that glioblastoma patients receive, reports the Xinhua News Agency. The system “finds an optimal treatment plan, with the lowest possible potency and frequency of doses that should still reduce tumor sizes,” Xinhua explains.
MIT researchers have developed a new prosthetic device that allows amputees to feel where their limbs are located, reports Simon Makin for Scientific American. “What's new here is the ability to provide feedback the brain knows how to interpret as sensations of position, speed and force,” explains postdoctoral associate Tyler Clites.
Prof. Joi Ito, director of the Media Lab, explores the differing attitudes toward robots in Japan and the West in an article for Wired.
CNN reporter Bronte Lord spotlights Prof. Kevin Esvelt’s proposal to introduce genetically engineered mice to the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket in an effort to stop the spread of Lyme disease. "We want to heritably immunize the local white-footed mice," Esvelt explains. "The idea is fewer infected ticks means fewer infected kids."
Using data from MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, CNBC "Make It" has mapped out the earnings needed for a single person to live comfortably in every state, reports Emmie Martin. The calculator, explains Martin, “takes into account factors such as child care and health insurance, in addition to food and other regular costs.”