Wired reporter Aarian Marshall highlights how MIT is launching a new undergraduate major that will combine computer science and urban planning. Prof. Eran Ben-Joseph explains that the motivation for the major is studying how, “you make a better connection between the training and computation, and what the implication of the work will be, for communities, for policies.”
Fast Company reporter Steven Melendez writes that CSAIL researchers have created a new system that allows a robot to detect human brainwave patterns so it knows when it made a mistake. Melendez explains that, “Teaching robots to understand human nonverbal cues and signals could make them safer and more efficient at working with people.”
Engadget reporter Jon Fingas writes that MIT researchers have developed a tiny computer chip small enough to fit on a honeybee-sized drone that can help the drone navigate. The technology could eventually be applied to, “smart pills that navigate to where they're needed, or virtually any vehicle that may need to last for a very long time on one battery charge.”
A new system developed by MIT researchers analyzes radio signals that bounce off of human bodies to track their movement and posture from behind walls, write Saqib Shah for Fox News. Shah suggests that the system could allow military personal “to ‘see’ hidden enemies by wearing augmented reality headsets.”
Prof. Xuanhe Zhao speaks with WBUR about how he and his colleagues have developed a new technique to create soft, pliable structures that could carry out medical procedures within the human body. “Since the human body is soft, it's beneficial to develop a device that has a similar rigidity as soft tissues in the human body,” explains Zhao.
In this video, Mashable highlights a new method developed by MIT researchers to 3-D print soft robots that can crawl, fold and carry a pill. The team hopes the structures, which can be controlled with a magnet, could eventually be used as a medical device to take tissue samples or deliver treatments.
Lara Lewington reports for BBC Click on how MIT researchers have developed a technique to create 3-D printed soft structures that can be controlled with a magnet. Lewington explains that the structures could eventually be used in biomedical devices to “take images, extract samples, deliver drugs or even surround a blood vessel to control the pumping of blood.”
Yahoo! reporter Elise Solé highlights how Alejandra Falla successfully completed her PhD studies at MIT while pregnant with her daughter, Clara. Clara sported a miniature MIT regalia to Commencement. “It started as a joke but we decided that Clara had earned her Ph.D. in the womb,” says Falla. “She deserved to graduate with me.”
Inside Higher Ed reporter Colleen Flaherty writes about a new report from the National Academics of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, co-chaired by Institute Prof. Sheila Widnall, examining the impact of sexual harassment in academia. Widnall explains that in order to eradicate harassment, “all members of campuses -- students, faculty, staff and administrators -- will be needed to promote an inclusive and respectful environment."
CSAIL researchers have developed a new system that uses low-power radio waves to detect and track people behind walls, reports Matt Simon for Wired. The system, which can be used to detect signs of distress in elderly patients, also “distinguishes one person from another in the same way your fingerprint distinguishes you,” explains Prof. Dina Katabi.
CSAIL researchers have created a system that can sense a person’s movements through walls, writes John Biggs for TechCrunch. The system is primarily intended as a healthcare device and could help with “passive monitoring of a subject inside a room without cameras or other intrusions,” and could provide insight into disease progression, Biggs explains.
In this CNBC article, Prof. R. Scott Kemp weighs in on the implications of the agreement signed by President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Kemp writes that, “a realistic agreement will probably take years to hash out, as there is much to learn about North Korea's program first. The Trump-Kim statement of principles is exactly what is needed to get started."
Fast Company reporter Melissa Locker writes that CSAIL researchers have developed a system that allows wireless devices to sense a person’s movement through walls. Locker explains that the technology was created as a way to help those who are elderly, as it could be used to “monitor diseases like Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis and provide a better understanding of disease progression.”
MIT graduates Maher Damak and Karim Khalil discuss their startup Infinite Cooling and the new technique they developed to capture and recycle water expelled from power plant cooling towers on Bloomberg Baystate Business. Co-host Tom Moroney calls this energy efficient method that captures up to 80 percent of the water, an “idea that could change the world.”
In response to a reader’s question about self-driving cars, Mercury News reporter Gary Richards describes new technology in the works by MIT researchers to allow, “driverless cars to change lanes more like human drivers do.”