Writing for Fortune, Jamie Ducharme details how researchers from MIT and Harvard are one step closer to creating robots with superpowers, thanks to a new robotic artificial muscle they have developed. The new technology could be used, “in arenas ranging from medicine to architecture to space exploration,” Ducharme explains.
TechCrunch reporter Brian Heater writes that MIT researchers have developed a new 3-D printer that can fabricate an item up to 10 times faster than its commercial counterparts. Heater explains that the technology, “would definitely be useful for companies already using desktop 3D printers for prototyping, reducing dramatically the speed to print.”
HuffPost reporter Thomas Tamblyn writes that MIT and Harvard researchers have created a range of origami-inspired robotic muscles. “These ultra-flexible materials could be applied to everything from deep-sea robotics to creating tiny yet incredibly strong tools for performing surgery,” Tamblyn explains.
Researchers from MIT and Harvard have developed a new origami-inspired artificial muscle that can lift up to a thousand times its own weight, reports Amina Khan for The Los Angeles Times. Khan explains that the robotic muscles, “offer a new way to give soft robots super-strength, which could be used everywhere from inside our bodies to outer space.”
PRI The World’s Lydia Emmanouilidou spotlights a virtual reality exhibit at the MIT Museum by photojournalist Karim Ben Khelifa that allows visitors to explore both sides of international conflicts. “What is the point of images of war if they don’t change people’s attitudes towards armed conflicts, violence and the suffering they produce?” says Khelifa of the inspiration for his work.
A team of MIT students and postdocs has taken the top prize in the architecture category of the 2017 Mars City Design competition, reports Janussa Delzo for Newsweek. Delzo notes that the MIT team’s tree-inspired concept features “domes or tree habitats...large enough for 50 people to live inside of them."
Prof. Timothy Lu speaks with STAT reporter Eric Boodman about his work trying to harness bacteria to treat disease. Lu notes that his lab is also currently working on, “building these genetic circuits for therapeutic applications, but instead of targeting bacteria, we’ve been focused on using human cells.”
Boston Magazine reporter Hayley Glatter spotlights how two MIT seniors - Mary Clare Beytagh and Matthew Chun - were among this year’s winners of the Rhodes Scholarship.
Wall Street Journal reporter James Hagerty memorializes the life and work of MIT alumnus Vanu Bose, a member of the MIT Corporation who founded a company aimed at bringing cellular service to, “underserved areas including Rwanda and dead zones in the mountains of Vermont.” Prof. John Guttag, one of Bose’s thesis advisers, notes that, “Vanu was an incredibly optimistic person.”
Writing for The New York Times, graduate student Erin Rousseau examines how the House tax bill would negatively impact graduate students in the U.S. The bill, “would make meeting living expenses nearly impossible, barring all but the wealthiest students from pursuing a Ph.D. The students who will be hit hardest are those from communities that are already underrepresented in higher education.”
MIT researchers have developed a new material that harvests sunlight and converts it into energy, reports Sydney Pereira for Newsweek. “Inspired by the structures that plants use to gather sunlight and turn it into energy, the material mimics circuitry found in nature for harvesting light,” Pereira explains.
Boston.com reporter Erica Yee highlights several Boston-area residents who were named to Forbes’ “30 under 30” list, including MIT postdoctoral associate Yichen Shen, who was honored for his work with nanophotonic breakthroughs, and undergraduate Jenny Xu, who was recognized for her work creating popular mobile games.
In a letter to The Financial Times, Prof. Jessika Trancik, postdoc Geoffrey Supran, and graduate student Marco Miotti clarify results from a study the lab released last year that compares emissions of gas and electric vehicles. “Not only do electric cars usually emit less than petrol ones already, but over time, as the carbon footprint of electricity continues to fall, that gap will widen,” the researchers explain.
Prof. Michael Strano has developed “a sensor that can be “printed” onto a plant’s leaf and transmit data from the plant itself about if it’s experiencing water stress,” writes Kristin Toussaint for metro.
Martin Finucane of The Boston Globe reports that MIT researchers are developing a method to allow oil and water to mix. Using a combination of a surfactant and condensation, “tiny water droplets form on the surface that sink into the oil and stay mixed for months, rather than separating in just a few minutes,” explains Finucane.