MIT News Newsletter

	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
May 18, 2017
MIT News: top stories
A weekly digest of the Institute’s research and innovation

Teaching robots to teach other robots

CSAIL approach allows robots to learn a wider range of tasks using some basic knowledge and a single demo.

Biologists identify key step in lung cancer evolution

Blocking the transition to a more aggressive state could offer a new treatment strategy.

Tackling air pollution in China

Combining climate policy and vehicle emissions standards could pack a one-two punch.

Illuminating uncertainty

Youssef Marzouk aims to improve predictions of everything from underground pollution to daily weather.

Making brain implants smaller could prolong their lifespan

Thin fibers could be used to deliver drugs or electrical stimulation, with less damage to the brain.

Home strep test could save time and money

Study at MIT Medical finds most parents are capable of performing the test.

In the Media

Reporting for WBUR, Karen Weintraub speaks with Profs. Angela Belcher, Sangeeta Bhatia and Paula Hammond about their work developing tiny tools to target cancer cells. Bhatia explains that their collaboration feels like, “a dream team of people that are interested in nanoscience and nanotechnology and focusing those advances on cancer.”

A new analysis by MIT researchers shows that immigrants are a vital part of the Boston area’s economy, writes Katie Johnston for The Boston Globe. “It’s very hard to imagine our economy succeeding without immigration,” says Prof. Paul Osterman. “The economy would be strengthened if immigration increased from its present level.”

Prof. Regina Barzilay’s research group is working with MGH to use artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve cancer diagnoses, reports CNBC’s Meg Tirrell. The group also hopes to allow doctors to use “the huge quantities of data available on patients to make more personalized treatment decisions,” explains Tirrell.