2021

Mahadevan_MIT Robot Wig

Harvard and MIT Develop Hair-Brushing Robot

May 5, 2021

L. Mahadevan teamed with MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory to develop a hair-brushing robot. The robotic arm has a sensorized soft brush, camera with force feedback, and closed-loop control.

The robot, which can identify different hair types and groom accordingly, could be an assest in assistive-care settings.  MIT News shares a video of the robot in action. 

Read more about Harvard and MIT Develop Hair-Brushing Robot
Roe Deer courtesy of Nathan Ranc

Memory Drives the Foraging Behavior of Large Wild Mammals

April 13, 2021

A recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that the foraging decisions of roe deer are guided primarily by memory, and not sensory perception alone.

The cognitive processes underlying the foraging decisions of large mammals in nature are not well understood, in part because it has been difficult to disentangle the effects of sensory perception and memory on the animals’ movements. Nathan Ranc (Ph'D '...

Read more about Memory Drives the Foraging Behavior of Large Wild Mammals
Naomi Pierce and Benton Taylor 2021 Climate Fund

Naomi Pierce and Benton Taylor awarded Harvard Climate Change Solutions Fund

April 22, 2021

Professors Naomi Pierce and Benton Taylor along with seven other Harvard research teams will share $1 million in the seventh round of the Climate Change Solutions Fund (CCSF). The award was established by President Emerita Drew Gilpin Faust in 2014 to support research and policy initiatives intended to reduce the risks of climate change.

Naomi Pierce won for her proposal, "Prospecting for Functional Materials in the Entomology...

Read more about Naomi Pierce and Benton Taylor awarded Harvard Climate Change Solutions Fund
DANNCE in Motion

3D deep neural network precisely reconstructs freely-behaving animal's movements

April 19, 2021

Animals are constantly moving and behaving in response to instructions from the brain. But while there are advanced techniques for measuring these instructions in terms of neural activity, there is a paucity of techniques for quantifying the behavior itself in freely moving animals. This inability to measure the key output of the brain limits our understanding of the nervous system and how it changes in disease.

A new study by researchers at Duke University and Harvard University introduces an automated tool that can readily capture behavior of freely behaving animals and...

Read more about 3D deep neural network precisely reconstructs freely-behaving animal's movements
Leprich, et al., Bailey Geobiology Research Group, University of Minnesota

Deep-Sea Bacteria Release Excess Carbon into the Ocean and Atmosphere

April 12, 2021

Professor Peter Girguis teamed with researchers at University of Minnesota to examine collected samples of carbonate rocks from the Del Mar East methane seep. The study published in The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology discovered that deep-sea bacteria are dissolving the rocks, releasing excess carbon into the ocean and atmosphere. 

“If CO2 is being released into the ocean, it’s also being released into the atmosphere, because they’re constantly...

Read more about Deep-Sea Bacteria Release Excess Carbon into the Ocean and Atmosphere

Pages