MIT’s Daniel Weitzner speaks with BetaBoston’s Nidhi Subbaraman about a new cybersecurity policy initiative supported by the Hewlett Foundation. Weitzner explains that researchers will examine what kind of laws and public policy are needed to make “[technologies] more trustworthy.”
Boston Globe reporter Callum Borchers writes about how MIT researchers have developed a new coating that could reduce the risk posed by ingesting batteries. The battery has “been shown in lab tests to deactivate an ingested battery without compromising its performance in electronic devices,” writes Borchers.
USA Today reporter Tracy Moran writes about the use of environmentally friendly materials in constructing buildings, highlighting Prof. Rolland Pellenq’s work to make concrete more sustainable. “His work has proven that reducing the ratio of certain materials can make concrete nearly twice as resistant to fractures while cutting concrete emissions by as much as half,” writes Moran.
Brendan Borrell writes for Scientific American about how MIT researchers have engineered the DNA of E.coli to detect and record environmental information. “Building gene circuits requires not only computation and logic, but a way to store that information,” says Prof. Timothy Lu. “DNA provides a very stable form of memory and will allow us to do more complex computing tasks.”
MIT engineers have altered the DNA of E.coli so that it can store memories, reports Colin Barras for New Scientist. The research could “pave the way for cellular biographers that can be inserted into our bodies for the inside scoop on our health,” Barras explains.
Nature highlights the top science news of the week, including the new interdisciplinary center at MIT aimed at examining the microbiome. “The center will initially focus on inflammatory bowel disease, but organizers hope to eventually broaden the scope to diseases such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis and autism,” Nature reports.
Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston writes that Institute Professor Mildred Dresselhaus has been honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Subbaraman explains that Dresselhaus conducted early research into the electric properties of graphite, “and her work led to the discovery of graphene, the atom-thin carbon sheets that are expected to revolutionize the way we work with electronics.”
David Jackson of USA Today writes about the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, including two MIT honorees, Institute Professors Mildred Dresselhaus and Robert Solow. Dresselhaus was honored for “deepening our understanding of condensed matter systems and the atomic properties of carbon,” while Solow was recognized for “laying the groundwork for much of modern economics.”
Alexandra Ossola of Popular Science features Prof. Kamal Youcef-Toumi’s work developing an autonomous robot to patrol pipes for leaks. “The two-liter-bottle-size prototype cruises through pipes at up to 3 miles per hour in search of subtle pressure differences that indicate a loss of fluids,” writes Ossola.
Wired reporter Kyle Vanhemert writes about the next-generation space suit Professor Dava Newman is designing to give astronauts greater mobility. The suit, a “form-fitting ‘soft exoskeleton’,” would serve as a “second-skin suit” for astronauts, Newman explains.
In a piece for The Atlantic, Sarah Laskow writes about how MIT researchers have developed a new drug-delivery capsule that could serve as an alternative to injections. The new drug capsule would make it possible to “deliver drugs that would otherwise break down in the digestive tract.”
Reporting for Scientific American, Cynthia Graber examines how MIT researchers have developed a battery coating that reduces the risk of injury if swallowed. Inside the coating, “microparticles of conductive metal are suspended in an insulating layer,” Graber explains.
BBC News reporter Jonathan Webb writes that researchers from MIT have created child-safe batteries by developing a coating that allows batteries to conduct electricity only when squeezed. The “pressure-sensitive design makes use of a property called quantum tunneling, which is also used in touch pads and screens,” writes Webb.
Alison Bruzek of NPR reports that MIT researchers have developed a shield that can prevent the electrical currents in a battery from damaging the esophagus. The material used to create the shield is already commercially available, NPR reports, making the coating a cheap solution to the issue of children swallowing batteries.
A system developed by Prof. Alfredo Alexander-Katz allows microscopic devices to navigate a cell’s surface, reports Alissa Zhu for Popular Science. “Doctors could use them to provide real-time updates on internal structures or distribute drugs to specific targets within a body.”