In this FOX 25 segment, Prof. John Leonard explains why he created an online lesson that demonstrates the science behind the Deflategate controversy. He notes that the lesson is aimed at giving “students the tools so they can be the scientists,” adding that he also hopes to “get more young people excited about math and science.”
In this Wired video, Prof. Anette “Peko” Hosoi explains how she and her team designed a material, inspired by semiaquatic mammals, to help keep surfers warm. “We want to understand the physical mechanisms behind the biological solution and then adapt those mechanisms into engineering design."
CSAIL researchers have developed a wearable system that can gauge the tone of a conversation based on a person’s speech patterns and vitals with 83 percent accuracy, writes Brian Barrett for Wired. The system could be useful for people with social anxiety or Asperger’s, Barrett explains.
Hallie Smith writes for Boston Magazine that CSAIL researchers have developed a system that can help detect of the tone of a conversation. The system could be especially useful “for those who struggle with emotional and social cues, such as individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome,” Smith explains.
In this CNN video, Maya Dangerfield highlights the team of students from MIT participating in the SpaceX Hyperloop competition. The MIT team finished among the top three teams, and was honored with the Safety and Reliability Award.
Prof. Robert Langer speaks with Kathryn Nave of Wired about the future of drug delivery. Langer explains that a problem facing medical professionals is that many drugs are not taken regularly or as prescribed, and describes how he is developing a “long-acting pill that you could swallow to release the right drug dosage for weeks.”
MIT researchers have developed a sensor capable of detecting single protein molecules, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. The sensor could be used “to aid efforts to better understand disease and develop drugs. The array could even help scientists engineer human cells to produce therapeutic proteins.”
In this video, Wired spotlights how Prof. Michael Strano and his team developed spinach plants that can detect explosives in groundwater. Strano explains that in the future he thinks people will be “surprised about what you can do with a living plant.”
Cynthia Graber writes for The Boston Globe Magazine that MIT researchers developed a robot to collect sewage samples, in an effort to gain a better understanding of public health problems. The samples can pinpoint harmful environmental factors as well as “neighborhoods with high rates of infectious diseases or even obesity, levels of illegal drug use, and pollutants.”
Prof. John Leonard prepared a free video lesson explaining the science behind the Deflategate controversy, writes Adam Vaccaro for The Boston Globe. Vaccaro writes that Leonard explained he hopes the lesson will help students “understand the physics of air pressure and temperature by connecting them to a major event in popular culture.”
In an article for Salon about extreme weather, Paul Rosenberg highlights a new study by MIT researchers that shows climate change could cause California to “experience three more extreme precipitation events per year by 2100, although the number could be reduced by half that if aggressive policy measures are pursued.”
Prof. Emanuel Sachs, who is credited as one of the inventors of 3-D printing, discusses the manufacturing method’s origins and its increasing popularity with Meghna Chakrabarti of Radio Boston. Sachs explains that 3-D printing is an increasingly popular academic tool because “it takes so long to make prototypes any other way and…3-D printing really enables people to make.”
MIT researchers have created a new strong, yet lightweight material by using a 3-D printer to fuse flakes of graphene into a sponge-like object, reports Nick Kwek for BBC News. “The newfangled product could be used in the construction of airplanes or buildings,” says Kwek.
MIT researchers have used computer models to turn flakes of graphene into 3-D structures, creating one of lightest, strongest materials, writes Nicola Davison for CNN. "Once they combine and fuse together, all the flakes contribute to the strength of the overall structure," research scientist Zhao Qin explains.
Inside Higher Ed reporter Carl Straumsheim writes that researchers from MIT and Harvard have released the latest findings from an ongoing study analyzing learner engagement and behavior in 290 MOOCs. Among other findings, researchers found that “about one-third (32 percent) of the people who participate in edX MOOCs work or used to work as teachers.”