MIT researchers have developed a transparent, silicon-based polymer that can protect skin from sun damage and smooth out wrinkles, writes Amina Khan for The Los Angeles Times. Prof. Robert Langer explains that users of the material will “hardly know that it’s on. It sort of conforms to the skin.”
BBC News reporter Michelle Roberts writes that MIT researchers have developed a new material that can hide wrinkles and could eventually be used to deliver medicines and sun protection. The researchers found that skin “coated with the polymer was more elastic than skin without the film. And, to the naked eye, it appeared smoother, firmer and less wrinkly.”
MIT has launched a campaign aimed at advancing the Institute’s work on some of the world’s biggest challenges, reports Laura Krantz for The Boston Globe. Krantz writes that President L. Rafael Reif’s vision for the campaign is centered around the idea that the “university of the 21st century should do more than educate students and advance knowledge — it should solve real problems.”
Tech reporters Drew Bent and Katherine Nazemi speak with MIT President L. Rafael Reif about the MIT Campaign for a Better World. “We want to be as strong as we can, but for a purpose, and the purpose is to do something good for the world,” says Reif. “That’s very uniquely MIT.”
Boston Globe reporter Steve Annear speaks with Prof. Amos Winter about this year’s 2.007 robot competition, during which student-built robots will compete on an American Revolution-themed course. “I think this is one of the most real-life engineering experiences the students can get,” says Winter.
Researchers from MIT and Mass General Hospital have been named one of the winners of Popular Science’s 2016 Invention Awards for their work developing an ingestible electronic device that measures vital signs, reports Dialynn Dwyer for Boston.com.
In this video, Bloomberg News reporter Sam Grobart examines the new hydrogel developed by MIT researchers that can bend and twist without breaking, and could be used to deliver medicines and monitor our health. Grobart explains that the hydrogel “could be a building block of the medicine of the future.”
WBUR reporter Jack Lepiarz speaks with Prof. Marta Gonzalez about her traffic study that found that if drivers switched routes during rush hour they could cut back on congestion. “We have enough space, in theory, but we are all filling up a few streets that get congested,” Gonzalez explains.
Boston Globe reporter Elizabeth Gehrman speaks with MIT alumna Ceres Lee about her career as a software engineer at Google. Of the field of computer science, Lee says that “everyone uses it, it’s important, and it’s basically everywhere.”
Popular Science reporter Mary Beth Griggs writes that in an MIT course students developed a fleet of duckie-adorned self-driving taxis for a village called “Duckietown.” “Each of the robot taxis is equipped with only a single camera, and makes its way around the roads without any preprogrammed maps."
MIT researchers have developed an artificial intelligence platform that uses input from human analysts to predict cyber-attacks, reports Brian Mastroianni for CBS News. “We realized, finding the actual attacks involved a mix of supervised and unsupervised machine-learning,” explains research scientist Kalyan Veeramachaneni.
Wired reporter Brian Barrett writes that MIT researchers have developed a new system to help detect cyber-attacks. Barrett explains that the system, “reviews data…and pinpoints anything suspicious. A human takes it from there, checking for signs of a breach. The one-two punch identifies 86 percent of attacks while sparing analysts the tedium of chasing bogus leads.”
MIT researchers have developed an application to help improve driver safety, according to the Associated Press. The app, “measures driving behaviors including speeding, acceleration, hard turning, harsh braking and phone distractions. The results can then be reviewed…and scores posted on a leaderboard where drivers can compare one another.”
Popular Science reporter Kelsey Atherton describes how MIT researchers have developed a mini robotic cheetah to study how bumbling and bouncing machines move best.
Senior Lecturer Fred Salvucci speaks with Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson about what state and local governments could do to support public transportation. Salvucci explains that there, “has not been sufficient political will to put money into the subway systems.”