Wired reporter Andy Greenberg writes that during an MIT Media Lab symposium Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower, and Media Lab affiliate Andrew “bunnie” Huang announced that they are developing a device that could warn journalists about whether they are the target of government surveillance.
Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray writes that Media Lab research affiliate Andrew “bunnie” Huang and NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden are developing a device to protect journalists’ smartphones from government surveillance. Bray explains that the device will “detect whether a phone is sending or receiving unauthorized radio signals.”
New York Times reporter John Markoff writes that during a Media Lab symposium, whistleblower Edward Snowden announced that he is working with research affiliate Andrew Huang to develop a smartphone to protect journalists concerned about government surveillance. Markoff notes that in addition to computer hacking, the conference focused on “controversial scientific research in areas such as genetic engineering and geoengineering.”
In a BBC News article about the resurgence of bicycling, Kent Larson, director of the Changing Places group, describes the bicycle his group is developing. “You think of the demographic profile of [a] bike rider now as quite limited,” says Larson. “We are working on an electric vehicle that we think of as democratising bike lanes."
Hae Young Yoo writes for The Boston Globe that Ori, a spinoff out of the MIT Media Lab’s CityHome research project, “is creating furniture for urban spaces -- not just smaller pieces, but smarter ones, equipped with robotics that move on demand.”
Wired reporter Margaret Rhodes writes that Media Lab spinoff Ori is developing transformable furniture to help maximize living spaces. “With the push of a button—or, with future versions of the software, at the sound of a voice or wave of a hand—pieces of Ori furniture will slide up, down, or over, reconfiguring spaces in mere moments.”
Research Scientist Caleb Harper speaks with ABC News' Justine Quart about his work developing growing chambers that can be used to cultivate plants around the world. Harper explains that he wanted to “create a tool that other people could use to solve problems. I’m just a tool maker for the next generation of farmers.”
Barbara Ortutay writes for the Associated Press about several startups aiming to make breast pumps more user-friendly. Ortutay notes that many of the startups, including Mighty Mom Hush-a-Pump, started at the Media Lab’s 2014 “Make the Breast Pump Not Suck” Hackathon.
April Glasper writes for Wired about the robot Prof. Cynthia Breazeal created specifically for domestic purposes. Glasper explains that robot, dubbed Jibo “learns by listening and asking questions. Jibo uses machine learning, speech and facial recognition, and natural language processing to learn from its interactions with people.”
Researchers at the Media Lab believe it’s possible to virtually transfer thoughts to an artificial intelligence entity that continues to live after we’ve died, writes Dan Tynan for The Guardian. “My ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between life and death by eternalizing our digital identity,” says Visiting Prof. Hossein Rahnama.
Janissa Delzo writes for CNN that MIT researchers have developed a platform to 3-D print thousands of hair-like structures in minutes. "The purpose of this project is looking beyond the aesthetic perspective," explains graduate student Jifei Ou. "What kind of new functionality can we bring to the material?"
Jordan Graham of the Boston Herald writes that the Open Music Initiative - a new collaboration between MIT, Berklee College of Music, and the music industry - will create a new standard method of calculating and tracking how artists, rights holders, music labels, and distributors get paid in the internet era.
Using data compiled by the Media Lab’s Laboratory for Social Machines concerning Twitter conversation before and after the mass shooting in Orlando, Aaron Blake of The Washington Post shows that political priorities leading up to the presidential election “may depend heavily on world and domestic events that nobody can predict.”
Andrea Shea reports for WBUR that researchers from the MIT Media Lab and the Berklee College of Music have started a new initiative aimed at tackling ownership, licensing and distribution rights within the music industry. Shea explains that the initiative is focused on “laying the groundwork for a shared, open database of ownership rights.”
Prof. Hugh Herr has been named the recipient of Spain’s 2016 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, according to the AP. Herr’s achievements “have had a major impact on people with disabilities, through adaptive knee prostheses for femoral amputees, and ankle-and-foot orthopedic prostheses for those with clubfoot or disabilities caused by cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis.”