MIT Media Lab

In Nature Review Materials (Nature Portfolio), Media Lab Professor Canan Dagdeviren and researchers from the Conformable Decoders group and Seoul National University discuss the use of conformable electronic devices for decoding tissue biomechanics—the physical deformation and variations in the intrinsic mechanical properties of biological tissues. Understanding the human body’s tissue biomechanics has considerable potential in health monitoring, disease diagnosis, and bioengineering. However, the devices currently used for decoding tissue biomechanics are often rigid and bulky, which may result in inaccurate measurements and cause discomfort or even pain. Conformable electronic devices, by contrast, are made of soft, flexible materials, which can increase both comfort and accuracy. Authors: Hyeokjun Yoon, Jin-Hoon Kim, David Sadat, Arjun Barrett, Seung Hwan Ko, and Canan Dagdeviren https://lnkd.in/gaDVKRyi

Once upon a time, Leonardo Bonanni—then a PhD student in the Tangible Media group at the Media Lab—set out to discover what happens in the Lab, late at night. #HappyHalloween #TBT #ThrowbackThursday

In Nature Communications Chemistry (Nature Portfolio), Media Lab Professor Deblina Sarkar and researchers from the Nano-Cybernetic Biotrek group and MIT Chemical Engineering (ChemE) introduce wearable devices for cells. Made of a soft polymer and actuated with light, these battery-free, subcellular-sized devices can gently wrap around different parts of neurons. They could be used to measure or modulate a neuron’s electrical and metabolic activity at a subcellular level. This could lead to the development of tiny circuits that could measure and modulate individual cells, or be used to create synthetic myelin sheaths for treating diseases like multiple sclerosis. “The concept and platform technology we introduce here is like a founding stone that brings about immense possibilities for future research,” Professor Sarkar says. Authors: Marta J. I. Airaghi Leccardi, Benoît X. E. Desbiolles, Anna Y. Haddad, Baju C Joy, Chen Song, and Deblina Sarkar #WearablesForCells #wearable #wearables #cells https://lnkd.in/gYvVzjSK

The TED Radio Hour explores advances in tech that may enhance human capabilities, including work from the Media Lab’s Biomechatronics group and the K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics at MIT.

More than 50,000 people participated in this year’s Cambridge Science Festival, a week-long celebration of creativity, ingenuity, and innovation hosted by the MIT Museum! The Media Lab was thrilled to be part of this amazing program. MIT News has more about all of the events: https://lnkd.in/gkX-RvbU

Interested in applying to the Media Lab? Applications to the Program in Media Arts and Sciences (MAS) are open through December 15, 2024! All MAS students begin at the master's level and can then apply to the PhD program during their second year of study.

On CNN’s Tomorrow Transformed, Professor Canan Dagdeviren talks about her work developing wearable ultrasound scanners that could be used for early detection of breast cancer, and how it inspired her students in the Conformable Decoders group to create small silicone patches that can scan for cancers and other health conditions elsewhere in the body.

Little Language Models, developed by Media Lab PhD students Manuj Dhariwal and Shruti Dhariwal, helps kids learn how AI models work by giving them tools to build small-scale versions of their own. It starts with a pair of virtual dice, used to demonstrate probabilistic thinking, and proceeds through more advanced concepts like Markov chains, where the probability of a future event depends on the variables that come before it. Little Language Models, which is being trialed in schools over the next month, runs inside coco.build—a learning platform, also developed by the Dhariwals, that empowers educators to engage students in creative computing experiences with peers.

Pop balloons and set a new high score with Eric's latest #OctoStudio tutorial 🎈🎉 Watch here: https://lnkd.in/exBiCVpr

Research from the Media Lab's Conformable Decoders group, “Design Approaches and Electromechanical Modeling of Conformable Piezoelectric-Based Ultrasound Systems,” has been featured on the cover of Advanced Sensor Research (Wiley), for its October 2024 issue. https://lnkd.in/gHc_zBtM