MIT News Newsletter

	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
August 31, 2017
MIT News: top stories
A weekly digest of the Institute’s research and innovation

Drones relay RFID signals for inventory control

System could save retailers billions lost through faulty inventory records.

Experiments confirm theory of “superballistic” electron flow

Behaving like particles in a viscous fluid can help bunches of electrons squeeze through a tight space.

Strength of global stratospheric circulation measured for first time

Estimate will help gauge hang time of greenhouse gases, water vapor, and ozone in upper atmosphere.

Bradley Olsen: Designing polymers with novel features

Chemical engineer seeks to develop and understand materials that behave in radically new ways.

New robot rolls with the rules of pedestrian conduct

Approach may enable robots to move around hospitals, malls, and other areas with heavy foot traffic.

In the Media

New York Times reporter Eduardo Porter speaks with Prof. Paul Osterman about his new book, which examines the need for better home health care in the U.S. Porter writes that in his book, Osterman suggests that improving home health care jobs, “could actually improve the quality and efficiency of the entire health care system.”

Prof. Max Tegmark speaks with Ira Flatow of PRI’s Science Friday about his new book, “Life 3.0,” which examines how AI might reshape the future. “We should try to create a great future with [technology] by winning this race between the growing power of technology, and the growing wisdom with which we manage it," says Tegmark.

MIT researchers have developed a new “socially aware” robot that can follow the rules of pedestrian conduct, reports Ben Thompson for The Boston Globe. Thompson explains that the robot, “can seamlessly move with people in public spaces. The technology could eventually lead to robots that perform a variety of delivery and transportation tasks.”