MIT News Newsletter

	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
September 15, 2017
MIT News: top stories
A weekly digest of the Institute’s research and innovation

How neural networks think

General-purpose technique sheds light on inner workings of neural nets trained to process language.

Studies help explain link between autism, severe infection during pregnancy

Bacterial populations in mother’s GI tract may play a central role.

MIT map offers real-time, crowd-sourced flood reporting during Hurricane Irma

Via social media, residents can contribute to public map that increases safety and helps response planning.

“Peel-and-go” printable structures fold themselves

Expanding polymer enables self-folding without heating or immersion in water.

Stick, peel, or bounce: Controlling a freezing droplet’s fate

MIT study reveals a new way to enhance or reduce the adhesion of freezing droplets.

Investigating a big dam concrete problem

Researchers working to address concrete durability get a close look at the impacts of a chemical reaction known to cause structural problems.

In the Media

In an article for Popular Science, Kate Baggaley highlights Prof. Markus Buehler’s work developing materials that mimic a conch shell’s armor. “The actual material doesn’t matter—it’s the way the material is built together in forming these architectures,” explains Buehler.

Writing for the Associated Press about autonomous boats, Matt O’Brien spotlights Prof. Carlo Ratti’s work developing self-navigating vessels that will launch in Amsterdam next year. O’Brien notes that Ratti is, “also looking at ways small vessels could coordinate with each other in ‘swarms.’”

Boston Magazine reporter Jamie Ducharme writes about BioBot Analytics, an MIT startup focused on bringing cities public health information by drawing on the data found in sewage systems. Ducharme writes that by, “analyzing samples from the sewer…Biobot is adapting individualized methods of studying the human microbiome” on an urban scale.

Bloomberg News reporters Tim Loh and Patrick Martin feature Prof. Jeffrey Grossman’s work turning coal into thin strips of durable film that can conduct electricity. “You can get them up to like 300 Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit),” Grossman explains. “That is by far much, much better than other kinds of thin-film heaters.’’