| Driver-Free Ride | | | | | | MIT spinout Optimus Ride has launched fleets of autonomous vehicles in private communities and commercial developments. “It’s important to realize there are multiple approaches, and multiple markets, to self-driving,” says CEO and alumnus Ryan Chin. Full story via MIT News → |
| Tissue model reveals role of blood-brain barrier in Alzheimer’s Study finds that Alzheimer’s damage allows toxins to enter the brain, further harming neurons. Full story via MIT News → | |
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| A major expansion for the Green Building |
Plans are underway to give Building 54 a major facelift, including a new LEED-certified addition that will offer a window into the work taking place inside. Full story via MIT Spectrum → | |
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| Data-mining for dark matter Tracy Slatyer hunts through astrophysical data for clues to the invisible universe. Full story via MIT News → | |
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| Study finds two strong predictors of startup success |
Research from MIT Sloan entrepreneurship and strategy professors highlights two strong predictors of a startup’s growth and success. Full story via MIT Sloan → |
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| New type of electrolyte could enhance supercapacitor performance Novel class of “ionic liquids” may store more energy than conventional electrolytes — with less risk of catching fire. Full story via MIT News → | |
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| Opinion: Massachusetts needs congestion pricing now // The Boston Globe |
“Pricing access to roads moderates demand for driving at peak times, while also generating revenue from drivers that can be reinvested in building a 21st-century mobility infrastructure,” argues Assistant Professor David Keith. Full story via The Boston Globe → |
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| Getting to 100% renewables requires cheap energy storage. But how cheap? // Vox A study by Associate Professor Jessika Trancik demonstrates how a U.S. energy grid run entirely on renewable energy may be more realistic, and closer to hand, than conventional wisdom has it. Full story via Vox → |
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| The amazing brain: Zooming through the globus pallidus externa // NIH Director’s Blog A video created by Associate Professor Kwanghun Chung takes viewers on a voyage through a region of the brain that controls voluntary movement. Thanks to imaging techniques like Chung’s, “mapping the biocircuitry of the brain just keeps getting better.” Full story via the NIH Director's Blog → |
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| Racing through Paris’ overcrowded Louvre just got a little more tricky // Forbes |
MIT researchers examined how a spike in attendance at the Louvre impacts visitor behavior. They found that while people stay for shorter periods of time if there are more visitors, “people move about the Louvre in the same way regardless of whether they stay for one hour or six. They simply move around the space quicker.” Full story via Forbes → |
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| | | Every summer, high school students from around the U.S. participate in the Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) program. The free, six-week experience offers a taste of life as an MIT student, including coursework and hands-on training at the Institute. Learn more via the Office of Engineering Outreach Programs → |
| 3,000 | | Annual number of MIT community members who procure a sailing card to make use of the fleet at the MIT Jack Wood Sailing Pavilion Learn more via MIT Spectrum → |
| | | Alexander Reben SM ’10 creates paintings based on his reaction to photos, without ever picking up a paint brush. Instead, an artificial intelligence system reads his brainwaves, electrodermal activity, pulse, and eye gaze while he watches images on a screen. An algorithm mashes and adjusts the images, attempting to zero in on the elements he likes the most. The image is then made into a print or sent to an anonymous painter, who renders it with oil on canvas. Says Reben, “I would say my art is mostly about how humans and technologies are evolving together.” Watch the video via Slice of MIT → |
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Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
—Maia, MIT News Office |
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