New Scientist reporter Rebecca Boyle writes that MIT researchers have found that taking a longer route in and out of the city decreases road congestion by 30 percent. “If we are able to remove a couple of cars from the morning commute, that’s going to save everyone else a lot of time,” explains graduate student Serdar Çolak.
MIT researchers used high-speed cameras to examine how sneezes travel, reports Gillian Mohney for ABC News. The researchers found that “instead of a uniform cloud of droplets, a single sneeze would fragment in the air similar to paint being flung onto a canvas.”
Johanna Knapschaefer writes for ENR that MIT researchers have developed a new pavement-vehicle interaction test to measure the amount of fuel saved from driving on repaved highways. “For each road, we know the amount of traffic, the temperature [of the pavement], structural data, material data and GPS coordinates,” explains Prof. Franz-Joseph Ulm.
MIT researchers are developing a smart bandage that could monitor and help heal wounds, according to Reuters. Prof. Xuanhe Zhao explains that if sensors in the bandage detected “an abnormal increase in temperature, for example, it will send out a command. Then the controlled drug delivery system can deliver a specific drug to that specific location.”
Research affiliate Judah Cohen speaks with Boston Herald reporter Erin Smith about his predictions for how much snow Boston might see this winter. “I think there will be a snowier second half of winter. That’s still very plausible,” says Cohen. “But matching anything like last year it would be difficult — near impossible.”
Dana Guth reports for Boston Magazine on a new bandage developed by Prof. Xuanhe Zhao that can deliver medication directly to a wound. “The bandage is filled with tiny pathways, so that drugs can flow through its gel-like material, providing relief for burns and other minor skin conditions,” writes Guth.
MIT researchers have developed a new bandage that can detect infection and automatically release medication, reports Jordan Graham for The Boston Herald. “We are trying to design long-term, high-efficiency interfaces between the body and electronics,” explains Prof. Xunahe Zhao.
NBC News reporter Maggie Fox writes that MIT researchers have developed a stretchy, wet bandage that can deliver medications. The device could “carry a thermometer to continuously measure skin temperature, or tiny devices to keep an eye on blood sugar levels for someone with diabetes.”
Popular Science reporter Alexandra Ossola writes that MIT researchers are examining how drops of fluid from a sneeze travel. Ossola explains that gaining a “better understanding of these drops form and spread could help researchers and engineers stop the spread of disease, especially in enclosed spaces."
MIT researchers have examined how droplets are formed in high-propulsion sneeze clouds, according to CBS Boston. “Droplets are not all already formed and neatly distributed in size at the exit of the mouth, as previously assumed in the literature,” explains Prof. Lydia Bourouiba.
Prof. Lydia Bourouiba has modeled how droplets are formed after a person sneezes, reports Jonathan Webb for BBC News. “The process is important to understand because it determines the various sizes of the final droplets - a critical factor in how a sneeze spreads germs,” writes Webb.
MIT researchers have found that the high-velocity cloud created by the average human sneeze can contaminate a room in minutes, writes Robert Preidt for U.S. News & World Report. Sneeze droplets "undergo a complex cascading breakup that continues after they leave the lungs, pass over the lips and churn through the air," explains Prof. Lydia Bourouiba.
In an article for USA Today, Colin Chilcoat highlights a study co-authored by Prof. Elfatih Eltahir that indicates that climate change could cause the Persian Gulf to experience severe heat with greater regularity. Greenhouse-gas buildup could raise “temperatures to intolerable seasonal highs and [increase] the frequency and severity of extreme heat waves,” writes Chilcoat.
MIT researchers have developed a new hydrogel that is 90 percent water, reports Carmen Drahl for Forbes. The new hrydogel “adheres to surfaces like glass, titanium, aluminum, and ceramics with a toughness approximating that of nature’s interfaces between tendons and bone."
Prof. Yossi Sheffi writes for The Wall Street Journal that businesses need to safeguard their supply chains against “black swan” events, rare situations that wreak havoc. Sheffi explains that the “changing nature of supply chains has made it more important to consider the potential impact of the black-swan event.”