In an article for El Mundo (written in Spanish), Carlos Betriu writes about the annual robotics competition that is the culmination of course 2.007. The goal of the course is to challenge students to solve problems with robots and to think creatively, Betriu reports.
Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson writes about 2.007’s robotics competition. “Students competed at MITSKI, in which the robots they built from scratch had to climb ski slopes, descend them with grace, collect slalom flags, return flags to the ski chalet, and collect medals,” Johnson writes.
In this article (written in Spanish), EFE news wire reports on MIT’s new lab aimed at finding solutions to growing food and water shortages brought on by population growth and climate change. The new lab is being established thanks to a gift from alumnus Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel.
GreenWire reporter Katherine Ling writes about MIT’s new environment initiative. The initiative will, "use interdisciplinary research across physical and social sciences, engineering, and urban planning and policy to address environmental problems.”
Arab News reports on MIT’s establishment of the Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab. The lab will, “focus and coordinate MIT efforts to help find sustainable solutions for the scarcity of worldwide water and food supplies,” Arab News reports.
Rachel Nuwer writes for Scientific American about research from Professor Pedro Reis and his team that allows for more accurate rendering of curly hair in computer animations. “This is the first time someone described the full 3-D configuration of a single naturally curved hair,” explains Reis.
The Economist describes how the Atlantic Razor clam’s digging capabilities inspired Professor Amos Winter to develop a new robot that can dig 20 centimeters into the sea floor in just 20 seconds.
MIT researchers are developing a new more economic and efficient method to filter bacteria from water, reports Yao-Hua Law for Reuters. The new technique could help provide clean water to people in developing countries.
Writing for Scientific American, Geoffrey Giller explores a new device developed by MIT researchers that combines elements of both photovoltaic cells and solar-thermal thermal systems to generate power from the sun.
NPR’s Joe Palca reports on MIT Professor Rohit Karnik’s work to develop a cheap and effective way to filter water. Karnik’s new solution is a filter made from a pinewood branch peeled of its bark.
Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson writes that Professor Rohit Karnik has developed a, “promising next-generation water filter that might be effective, cheap, and biodegradable.”
“Now, researchers at MIT, in Cambridge, Mass., and the Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie (UPMC), in Paris, are teasing out the physics of curly hair,” writes Denise Chow of new MIT research to understand why and how hair curls.
“The function of xylem's filtration formed the basis of a paper published this week by a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” Jason Tetro writes of Rohit Karnik’s work with water filtration in the Huffington Post. “The premise was that xylem could help to filter water and make it safe to drink.”
Amanda Schaffer reports on Professor Linda Griffith’s work with endometriosis in The New Yorker, explaining how Griffith, “analyzed how a whole network of cells and molecules interacts in some patients to cause inflammation, which triggers pain and may also spur the disease’s progression.”
Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson writes about how MIT researchers have created a toolset to predict how hair curls. Findings could be used to create realistic animated characters, as well as in the telecommunications, medical, or oil and gas industries.