In a Scientific American article about polymers, Mark Peplow writes about Prof. Jeremiah Johnson’s research on how polymers could be used in drug delivery. “Sequence-controlled polymer could provide a more predictable biological effect, because every strand would be the same length and shape, and its chemistry could be carefully designed to assist its drug cargo,” writes Peplow.
In an article about technologies that can help detect rotten food, Ryan Mandelbaum writes for Popular Science about a sensor developed by MIT researchers “that can detect the chemicals that come off of spoiled meat or rotting fruits.”
MIT researchers have developed a new system for protecting patient privacy in genomic databases, reports Anna Nowogrodzki for Nature. The system “masks the donor's identity by adding a small amount of noise, or random variation, to the results it returns on a user’s query,” Nowogrodzki explains.
CNBC reporter Robert Ferris writes that MIT researchers have developed new technology that could allow windows to shift from transparent to opaque. “Solutions such as these could greatly reduce the demand for air conditioning, which is currently booming around the world,” writes Ferris.
Inside Higher Ed reporter Colleen Flaherty writes that researchers from MIT and around the world are publicly defending the late Prof. Suzanne Corkin’s work with patient H.M. in response to a highly critical publication. When “so many scholars rise to defend the reputation of a deceased colleague,” says Arthur Caplan, head of NYU’s Division of Bioethics, “that speaks volumes both about her and the problems that exist in the book.”
A study co-authored by Prof. Josh McDermott dispels the theory that musical preference is rooted in biology, writes Jacqueline Howard for CNN. "We need to accept and document the differences in how other cultures hear the world. The opportunities to do so are rapidly diminishing with the diffusion of Western music around the world,” says McDermott.
A team of scientists, including MIT researchers, has analyzed the measurements made by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and found no evidence of the sterile neutrino, a new type of neutrino, reports Brendan Cole for Wired.
In an article for Wired, Kevin Hartnett examines Prof. Scott Sheffield’s work studying geometric randomness. “You take the most natural objects—trees, paths, surfaces—and you show they’re all related to each other,” Sheffield explains. “And once you have these relationships, you can prove all sorts of new theorems you couldn’t prove before.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Akst writes that MIT researchers have found that our musical tastes are culturally instilled. The researchers played consonant and dissonant chords from members of a remote Amazonian tribe and found that “they had no preference for one sound over the other—unlike the large majority of North Americans and Europeans, who prefer consonance.”
Science reporter Adrian Cho profiles Prof. Emeritus Rainer Weiss, exploring everything from his decades-long dedication to the search for gravitational waves to his reputation as a mentor. Prof. Emeritus Robert Birgeneau notes that Weiss was respected for “his passion and his courage in going after really important physics.”
Prof. Susan Lindquist has been named a recipient of the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, according to the AP. Lindquist’s research has raised hopes that “treatments could prevent protein ‘misfolding’ that drives degenerative conditions like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's disease.”
MIT researchers have developed a programmable vaccine that could be used to respond to disease outbreaks, reports Ben Gruber for Reuters. The vaccine harnesses “messenger RNA, a genetic material that can be programmed to fight any viral, bacterial or parasitic disease by provoking an amplified immune response.”
Boston Globe reporter Cristela Guerra writes that Profs. Janet Conrad and Lindley Winslow helped ensure the science in the new “Ghostbusters” was as accurate as possible. “I am very fond of the original ‘Ghostbusters’,” says Conrad. “I have even used ‘Ghostbusters’ as a theme for my colloquium on neutrino physics, since neutrinos are often called the ghost particle.”
Amina Khan of The Los Angeles Times writes that a team of scientists, led by postdoc Julien de Wit, has conducted an atmospheric study of two Earth-sized exoplanets and found that they are rocky and have thin atmospheres. The findings “lend growing support to the idea that such planets might potentially be friendly to life.”
EAPS postdoc Julien de Wit and his colleagues have analyzed the atmospheres of two potentially habitable exoplanets, reports Alan Yuhas for The Guardian. Based off their observations, de Wit explains that the atmospheres of the planets are probably similar to a “terrestrial planet like Mercury, Venus, Mars and Earth.”