Forbes reporter Amy Feldman spotlights MIT startup Ginkgo Bioworks, which aims to “design, modify and manufacture organisms to make existing industrial processes cheaper and entirely new processes possible.” Feldman notes that the promise of synthetic biology is “not just a proliferation of new products, but also a reduction of the environmental harm that comes from our heavy reliance on petrochemicals.”
Graduate student Alexandre Kaspar speaks with BBC Click about two new systems that ease the process of designing and making knitted clothing items. Kaspar explains that the systems allow users to “create building blocks of parts that are being knit.”
TechCrunch reporter Catherine Shu writes that CSAIL researchers have developed two new systems that enable users to design and customize their own knitted items, no knitting experience required. Shu explains that the researchers want “to make designing and making machine-knitted garments as accessible as 3D printing is now.”
Profs. Daniel Rothman and Daniela Rus contributed to a Boston Globe piece exploring what the next big moonshot challenge should be. Rothman noted that, “We need to understand how the Earth system responds to environmental change,” while Rus expressed a desire to explore interspecies communication and the development of intelligent clothing.
A sensor developed by MIT researchers could make diagnosing sepsis easier, quicker and more affordable, reports Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch. Etherington explains that the sensor, which “employs microfluidics to detect the presence of key proteins in the blood,” could have “a huge potential impact, as sepsis is one of the leading causes of death in hospitals.”
Prof. Dava Newman speaks with WBUR’s Sharon Brody about the impact of the Apollo program on her own career and on humanity at large. Newman, who notes that the success of the Apollo 11 mission, “taught her to dream,” notes that, “if you're going to do the big, audacious engineering, technological, scientific breakthroughs? Well, you have to take risks.”
Prof. Max Shulaker has fabricated the first foundry-built silicon wafer, a monolithic 3D carbon nanotube integrated circuit, reports Samuel K. Moore for IEEE Spectrum. “We’ve completely reinvented how we manufacture this technology,” explains Shulaker, “transforming it from a technology that only worked in our academic labs to a technology that can and is already today working inside a commercial fabrication facility within a U.S. foundry.”
USA Today reporter Joshua Bote highlights Prof. Dava Newman’s work developing a skintight spacesuit called the BioSuit, which should provide astronauts greater mobility. The BioSuit includes “nucleated boron minitubes spun into thread and sewn into these stretchy suits – effectively protecting the human body from space radiation,” writes Bote.
CSAIL researchers have developed a new system aimed at allowing non-experts to design drones of different sizes and shapes that can alternate between hovering and gliding. The drones combine “the stability and flexibility of a multi-copter, with the speed and fuel efficiency of an airplane.”
Prof. Jeff Hoffman speaks with Los Angeles Times reporter Deborah Netburn about the importance of sending a woman to the moon. “When people ask when I knew I wanted to be an astronaut, I always say that like every other red-blooded boy, I was inspired by the men who flew on Apollo,” he said. “Unfortunately, the red-blooded girls didn’t have those role models.”
Writing for Forbes, Prof. David Mindell examines how the operation and implementation of the Apollo 11 flight software provides crucial lessons for driverless vehicles. “Testing, software controls, and risk analyses have the problem of embedding our imagination of what’s likely to happen,” writes Mindell.
Washington Post reporter Martin Weil spotlights the work of Prof. Fernando Corbató, who “drastically expanded the usefulness of the computer and put its benefits at the reach of all.” Weil notes that Corbató, who died on July 12, “fostered the digital revolution by developing shared computer operating systems and also put his stamp on daily life by introducing the computer password.”
The BBC series “Follow the Food” spotlights how MIT researchers are tackling the issue of runoff pesticide pollution by developing a technology that helps pesticide better adhere to plant leaves. “What we are trying to do is come up with a technology that can help farmers and significantly reduce the amount [of pesticide] sprayed,” explains Prof. Kripa Varanasi.
Prof. Emeritus Fernando Corbató, a computer pioneer known for his work with time-sharing computing systems and for inventing the computer password, has died at 93, reports the BBC. “Our world would be very different without his research and that of his descendants,” said Prof. Fadel Adib. “He inspires in his work and his legacy."
CNN reporter Nell Lewis spotlights how MIT researchers have developed an algorithm that can help predict from a mammogram a patient’s risk of developing breast cancer. “In the early stages cancer is a treatable disease,” says Barzilay. “If we can identify many more women early enough, and either prevent their disease or treat them at the earliest stages, this will make a huge difference.”