MIT study: Cyborg spinach plants send emails when detecting explosives
Spinach is often touted as a superfood for its extraordinary nutritional profile. But the leafy vegetable’s abilities to impress go beyond nutrition — as recently demonstrated by MIT researchers who hacked the spinach plant to send emails. You heard that right, in a bid to break the Read More...
MIT scientists are figuring out how to grow wooden furniture in a lab
We’ve written a whole lot about cell-cultured meat grown in a lab, but today we’re here to tell you about an entirely different lab-grown endeavor: lab-grown wood. In an attempt to mitigate the environmental harm of the logging industry, scientists at MIT are growing wood-like plant tissue from Read More...
Scientists develop AI that detects Covid-19 by listening to your coughs
MIT scientists have developed AI that can detect Covid-19 by listening to a person force out a cough, even if that person is otherwise asymptomatic. To make this possible, the scientists developed neural networks that can distinguish subtle changes indicative of the novel coronavirus’ effects. Read More...
This novel device developed by MIT grads could revolutionize dermatology
Seeking to deliver skincare treatments in a way that doesn’t involve needles or creams, two MIT grads started developing a device five years ago that delivers over the counter skincare actives by penetrating the skin with a fast-moving mist. Now, the recently launched technology holds promise to Read More...
MIT’s autonomous water cabs are almost ready to take to the canals
Autonomous cars may be all the rage now in the world of land transportation but over the course of the last four years, some researchers at MIT have been busy developing a different kind of self-driving vehicle. Enter the Roboat — a smart boat that navigates on its own to transport passengers and Read More...
This skin-like device could help ALS patients communicate more easily
People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) gradually lose control over the muscles that allow them to speak. And while there are some communication devices for ALS patients, most of them are quite cumbersome to use on a daily basis because of their bulky size and the fact that they’re Read More...
Artificial intelligence may soon help linguists decipher ancient languages
Needless to say, deciphering an ancient language when there’s no one left alive who speaks it can be rather daunting. But historical linguists may soon get a helping hand thanks to an AI-based system developed by researchers at MIT. A team of researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Read More...
MIT creates sensor to alert consumers of food spoilage
It may be easy to know when milk is rotten, but there are some spoiled foods that are indistinguishable from their fresh counterparts. This is especially true for foods contaminated by bacteria such as E. Coli and Salmonella. Only once you’re battling food poisoning will you know that they were Read More...
Dr. Spot: Meet the robot dog testing coronavirus patients
At one point or another, you must have seen Boston Dynamics’ Spot robots while surfing the web. Spot robots are these somewhat creepy four-legged robot dogs that are designed to nimbly navigate areas wheeled robots cannot, either autonomously or via remote control. From herding sheep in New Read More...
AI system knows when to make a medical diagnosis or defer to a human
While artificial intelligence can be used to detect many types of cancer, figuring out when to rely on experts versus the algorithms of AI is still tricky. It’s not simply a matter of who is “better” at making a diagnosis or prediction. Factors like how much time medical professionals have Read More...