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A consortium led by MIT has won a competition to host a federally funded research program focused on bringing the textile industry into the digital age, reports Jon Chesto for The Boston Globe. “Here is a bold vision that’s not just manufacturing stuff that we know about but also enabling a whole new interpretation of the fabric industry,” says Prof. Yoel Fink.
Brian Barrett writes for Wired about the new system CSAIL researchers developed to increase the speed at which websites load. “When there’s a lot of objects on the page, that’s where Polaris can really help, because it’s important to prioritize some over the others,” explains graduate student Ravi Netravali.
Popular Science reporter Dave Gershgorn writes that MIT researchers have developed a new system that cuts down on the amount of time it takes for webpages to load. The system allows browsers to download web pages "more effectively, saving up to 34 percent of load time.”
CSAIL researchers have developed a new system that allows websites to load 34 percent faster than with a standard web browser, reports Charlotte Wilder for Boston.com. Wilder writes that, “the researchers tried out their code on 200 different websites, including Weather.com and ESPN, and found the load time was significantly less across the board.”
Christian Science Monitor reporter Jack Detsch writes about the “Cambridge 2 Cambridge” hackathon, which brought together students from MIT and Cambridge University to hack websites and discover built-in vulnerabilities. “It’s not a law of nature that machines are insecure,” says CSAIL’s Howard Shrobe. This hackathon “is the first step of piquing curiosity to fix it.”
MIT researchers have developed a tool, dubbed Eyebrowse, that allows users control over how their Internet activity is shared, reports Dan Misener for CBC News. Graduate student Amy Zhang explains that without a tool like Eyebrowse “people that actually create the data don't get to see their own data.”
Matt McMarland writes for The Washington Post that a CSAIL researcher has developed a computer system that can produce tweets that read like they are written by presidential candidate Donald Trump. McFarland explains that postdoc Brad Hayes “wanted a fun way to familiarize himself with some statistical modeling techniques for his research on human and robot interactions.”
Boston Magazine reporter Michael Damiano writes that Prof. Russ Tedrake is developing software that will allow NASA’s Valkyrie robot to work on a space mission. Damiano explains that Tedrake’s lab “will refine Valkyrie’s software for NASA’s international Space Robotics Challenge, where teams from the world’s leading robotics laboratories will then make Valkyrie even more capable.”
MIT researchers have developed the lightest and thinnest solar cells ever produced, reports Lindsey Kratochwill for Popular Science. “Instead of the usual method of fabricating each layer separately, and then depositing the layers onto the substrate, the MIT researchers made all three parts of their solar cell at the same time."
Wendy Koch of National Geographic spoke with members of the MIT Hyperloop team about their work transforming their design for a levitating pod that could transport people at hundreds of miles an hour into an operational prototype. “It’s a great opportunity to learn and possibly to change the future of transportation,” says project manager and graduate student John Mayo.
John Wyatt, who served as an MIT professor for 36 years and was known for his work developing retinal implants, died on Feb. 3, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. Marquard writes that Wyatt helped found the field of retinal prosthetic research, which was aimed at restoring “sight to those diagnosed with macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.”
In an article for Forbes, Bill Hardekopf highlights a new hack-proof chip developed by MIT researchers. Hardekopf explains that the chip could help make credit cards more secure.
MIT Hyperloop team members Philippe Kirschen and Sabrina Ball speak with Mike Nikitas of NECN about the team’s approach to the SpaceX competition. “We wanted to design a pod that was safe, scalable and feasible,” explains Kirschen.” We really focused on the technology that we thought we could develop… that could possibly be applied to a full-scale hyperloop.”
Boston.com reporter Hilary Sargent writes that MIT researchers have developed a new device that could help guide the visually impaired. Sargent explains that a prototype system the researchers developed “is about the size of a binoculars case and is designed to be worn around someone’s neck.”
Wired reporter Alex Davies speaks with graduate student Phillipe Kirschen, team captain of the MIT Hyperloop team, about the team’s strategy. Kirschen explains that the team is focused on developing a “pod that is gonna go really fast, that is gonna levitate, that can have good attitude control, and that can brake well.”