Testing for COVID-19 is a crucial part of keeping people safe and stopping the spread of the virus. But doing so is often a complicated process. Now, a new test by MIT and colleagues promises to make testing so cheap and effective that people could potentially do it every day. Researchers at MIT and the … Continued
This week, MIT began piloting a wastewater testing program as a new tool to help keep the campus community safe this semester. In a project that will run through the fall semester, wastewater from seven buildings on campus will be tested each day for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. The project is designed to determine … Continued
A CRISPR-based test developed at MIT and the Broad Institute can detect nearly as many cases as the standard Covid-19 diagnostic. The new test, known as STOPCovid, is still in the research stage but, in principle, could be made cheaply enough that people could test themselves every day.
One of the most consistent pieces of advice from health organizations about COVID-19 has been that everyone do their utmost to limit contact with people who may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus that causes the disease. That’s difficult in a hospital setting, where medical professionals regularly have to take patient vital sign measurements … Continued
The current guidance for safe social distancing may not be enough to stop the spread of COVID-19, a new analysis suggests. In the report, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Oxford say other factors, such as ventilation, crowd size, exposure time and whether face coverings are worn, need to be considered, … Continued
Americans have debated the risks of getting on a plane during the COVID-19 pandemic — especially during the summer vacation season — with few clear answers or evidence to guide their decisions… A new working paper by MIT Sloan professor and aviation safety expert Arnold Barnett, “COVID-19 Risk Among Airline Passengers: Should the Middle Seat … Continued
Artificial intelligence has the power to help put an end to the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only can techniques of machine learning and natural language processing be used to track and report Covid-19 infection rates, but other AI techniques can also be used to make smarter decisions about everything from when states should reopen to how … Continued
What if you could safely sanitize and reuse an N95 protective face mask instead of disposing of it? A group of engineers and researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital may have found a way to do exactly that. The group has a created a new prototype for a reusable silicone face mask that … Continued
In an effort to fight COVID-19, a team of researchers at MIT has developed a robot that helps disinfect the Greater Boston Food Bank warehouse. It’s safe to say it’s not your typical run-of-the-mill Roomba.
A heavyweight partnership between industry and academic sciences is throwing their considerable weight into an important task: Creating a new low-cost, rapid diagnostic test for COVID-19. Chemical industry leader 3M has partnered with MIT to create a diagnostic tool for COVID-19 that’s easy-to-use, and that can be manufactured cheaply and in large volume for mass … Continued