Innovation & Opportunity

A recent story from NPR profiles the development of “modular” or “mini”reactors. The idea is that these smaller versions of nuclear vessels will be less expensive and safer.

Not everyone is convinced that nuclear power on a small scale will have that many advantages. Click here to read the article.

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Dr. Maysam Ghovanloo, MI G ’04, is conducting clinical trials on new technology that allows wheelchair users with paralysis to steer their wheelchair with their tongue.

Piercing the wheelchair user’s tongue with a magnetic stud and “wearing a headset with sensors picks up the magnetic signals from the tongue ring.” For more information, read the full story from The New York Times

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NASA is funding a new Centennial Challenge and has published the draft rules through Worcester Polytechnic Institute. A basic summary of the competition is as follows: teams must build a fully autonomous robot that will acquire “samples” from an outdoor field.

To learn more about the competition read the explanation from The Space Review.

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