Metro reporter Kristin Toussaint interviewed students in Course 2.007 as they tested robots they designed and built for the class’ annual robotics competition, which featured a “Star Wars” theme this year. “Every year we get crazy, cool, creative insights that the students come up with and awesome robots they build that we would have never anticipated,” explains Prof. Amos Winter.
Boston Globe reporter Steve Annear writes that MIT students will have an opportunity to chat with NASA astronaut Jack Fischer, an MIT alumnus who is currently aboard the International Space Station.
BBC News reporter Roland Pease explores the burgeoning field of synthetic biology. “I think what makes synthetic biology interesting is that it's bringing together engineers and physicists with molecular biologists to model, design, and build molecular components that can then be used to rewire and reprogram living cells for a variety of applications,” explains Prof. James Collins.
In an article for Scientific American, Kavya Balaraman writes that MIT researchers have found that climate change could impact rainfall conditions over the Nile, potentially exacerbating water conflicts. Prof. Elfatih Eltahir explains that with the increased frequency of El Niño and La Niña, “we are projecting enhanced variability in the Nile flow.”
In an article for Scientific American about the future of robotics, Prof. Emeritus Rodney Brooks highlights Prof. Dina Katabi’s work developing devices that use wireless signals to detect a person’s emotions.
Boston Magazine reporter Jamie Ducharme writes that CSAIL researchers have developed a device that can measure walking speed using wireless signals. The device can “also measure stride length, which may come in handy when studying conditions that are characterized by small steps, such as Parkinson’s disease.”
During this 60 Minutes segment, Anderson Cooper speaks with Mubarik Mohamoud, a senior majoring in electrical engineering and computer science, about his journey from Somaliland to MIT. Cooper notes that Mohamoud’s success has inspired his former classmates at the Abaarso School of Science and Technology, a boarding school founded to help train Somaliland’s future leaders.
NuTonomy, an MIT startup, will soon start testing self-driving cars in Boston’s Seaport District and Fort Point areas, writes Doug Newcomb for Forbes.
Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Akst writes about a new solar-powered, water-harvesting device developed by MIT researchers. The device is “about the size of a Kleenex box [and] can suck lifesaving amounts of water out of the air even in extremely arid places.”
Prof. Andrew Lo speaks with Barry Ritholtz of Bloomberg View about the field of economics. Lo explains that his new book chronicles his “intellectual journey from a diehard devotee of efficient markets and rational expectations into the realm of first psychology and behavioral finance, and then to neuroscience and how people really make decisions.”
Graduate student Carrie Cai speaks with BBC News reporter Gareth Mitchell about a tool named “WaitSuite” that can help users learn a foreign language during idle moments. Cai explains that WaitSuite, “might detect that you are waiting for WiFi and alert you to the fact that there is a word you could be learning.”
IEEE Spectrum reporter Dexter Johnson writes that MIT researchers have developed a technique for producing cheaper semiconductor wafers using graphene. The method could “make the use of exotic semiconductors more accessible to industries by preparing semiconductor thin films without the high cost of using bulk wafers.”
Prof. Marta González writes for Salon about her research showing drivers typically do not choose the optimal route that minimizes travel time. She explains her findings can be used to “design incentive mechanisms to alleviate congestion on busier roads, or carpooling plans based on individuals’ preferred routes.”
Prof. Daniela Rus speaks with Siti Rahil of Kyodo News about how researchers from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) are working autonomous vehicles. Rus explains that a challenge facing the field is enabling driverless cars to operate in environments where "some of the cars are driven by people and some of the cars are driven automatically."
CBS News reporter William Harwood writes that MIT alumnus Jack Fisher, a NASA flight engineer, is on his way to the International Space Station for a planned 135-day mission. Harwood notes that Fisher is an Air Force colonel and former test pilot with a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT.