More than 2,000 people from 34 countries will compete in a five-day virtual design challenge to find innovative solutions to challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams will try to engineer solutions for problems ranging from how to protect front-line healthcare workers and their families to minimizing transmission of the virus to addressing shortages of critical healthcare and medical equipment to ensuring that people have accurate information to help them make informed decisions.
Recent news from The Johns Hopkins University
This section contains regularly updated highlights of the news from around The Johns Hopkins University. Links to the complete news reports from the nine schools, the Applied Physics Laboratory and other centers and institutes are to the left, as are links to help news media contact the Johns Hopkins communications offices.
ADVISORY: Johns Hopkins Expert Available to Discuss Use of Robots to Combat COVID-19
In a new Science Robotics editorial published today, experts discuss the potential use of robots to combat COVID-19 by decreasing risks posed to humans, safely resuming halted manufacturing and making teleoperations more efficient. Much of the work required in combatting COVID-19 requires “dull, dirty, and extremely dangerous tasks for human workers but suitable to robots,” the editorial authors say, and they point to potential uses such as disinfecting operating rooms, taking temperatures at ports of entry, delivering medications and more.
Russell (Russ) Taylor, Director of the Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics at The Johns Hopkins University, and an author on the editorial, is available to talk about the future of robotics and COVID-19.
ADVISORY: Johns Hopkins University Upgrades COVID-19 Tracking Map With Local U.S. Data
The Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 tracking map, which has become a vital worldwide resource, is launching an updated dashboard to report coronavirus cases for every city and county in the United States.
Little Tissue, Big Mission: Beating Heart Tissues to Ride Aboard The ISS
Launching no earlier than March 6 at 11:50 PM EST, the Johns Hopkins University will send heart muscle tissues, contained in a specially-designed tissue chip the size of a small cellphone, up to the microgravity environment of the International Space Station (ISS) for one month of observation.
Slithering Snakes on a 2-D Plane
Snakes live in diverse environments ranging from unbearably hot deserts to lush tropical forests, where they slither up trees, rocks and shrubbery every day. By studying how these serpents move, Johns Hopkins engineers have created a snake robot that can nimbly and stably climb large steps.
What’s in Your Water?
Mixing drinking water with chlorine, the United States’ most common method of disinfecting drinking water, creates previously unidentified toxic byproducts, says Carsten Prasse from Johns Hopkins University and his collaborators from the University of California, Berkeley and Switzerland.
MEDIA ADVISORY: 500 Baltimore City Public Schools Students to Compete in Robotics Contest at JHU
More than 500 elementary, middle, and high school Baltimore City Public Schools students will compete in the Hopkins Robotics Cup, the Baltimore City VEX and VEX IQ Robotics League championship event.
ADVISORY: Expert Available to Discuss Tracking of Coronavirus
A co-director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering is available to discuss the center’s website, launched today to track the international spread of coronavirus in real time. The data visualizations are all available for download.
New Ultra-Miniaturized Scope Less Invasive, Produces Higher Quality Images
Johns Hopkins engineers have created a new lens-free ultra-miniaturized endoscope, the size of a few human hairs in width, that is less bulky and can produce higher quality images.
Sounds of Mosquito Mating Rituals Could Lead to Quieter Drones, Nontoxic Pest Control
Mosquitoes flap their wings not just to stay aloft but for two other critical purposes: to generate sound and to point that buzz in the direction of a potential mate, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have discovered. Their findings about the aerodynamics of mosquito wings could have implications for building quieter drones and for devising nontoxic methods to trap and exterminate the pests.
Don’t Miss a Beat: Computer Simulations May Treat Most Common Heart Rhythm Disorder
Scientists at Johns Hopkins have successfully created personalized digital replicas of the upper chambers of the heart and used them to guide the precise treatment of patients suffering from persistent irregular heartbeats. These simulations accurately identified where clinicians need to destroy tissue to restore the heart’s normal rhythm.
Cancer Tissue-Freezing Approach May Help More Breast Cancer Patients in Lower Income Countries
A new reusable device created by the Johns Hopkins University can help women with breast cancer in lower income countries by using carbon dioxide, a widely available and affordable gas, to power a cancer tissue-freezing probe instead of industry-standard argon.
A Snapshot in Time: Study Captures Fleeting Cell Differences That Can Alter Disease Risk
In cinema and science fiction, one small change in the past can have major, sometimes life-changing effects in the future. Using a series of snapshots, researchers recently captured such so-called “butterfly effects” in heart muscle cell development, and say this new view into the sequence of gene expression activity may lead to better understanding disease risk.
New Analysis Predicts Top 25 U.S. Counties at Risk for Measles Outbreaks
A new analysis co-led by The Johns Hopkins University identified 25 United States counties that are most likely to experience measles outbreaks in 2019. The analysis combined international air travel volume, non-medical exemptions from childhood vaccinations, population data and reported measles outbreak information.
Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Asteroids are Stronger, Harder to Destroy Than Previously Thought
A popular theme in the movies is that of an incoming asteroid that could extinguish life on the planet, and our heroes are launched into space to blow it up. But incoming asteroids may be harder to break than scientists previously thought, finds a Johns Hopkins study that used a new understanding of rock fracture and a new computer modeling method to simulate asteroid collisions.
More Flexible Nanomaterials Can Make Fuel Cell Cars Cheaper
A new method of increasing the reactivity of ultrathin nanosheets, just a few atoms thick, can someday make fuel cells for hydrogen cars cheaper, finds a new Johns Hopkins study.
Rats in Augmented Reality Help Show How the Brain Determines Location
February 11, 2019 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Chanapa Tantibanchachai Office: 443-997-5056 / Cell: 928-458-9656 chanapa@jhu.edu @JHUmediareps Before the age of GPS, humans had to orient themselves without on-screen arrows pointing down an exact street, but rather, by memorizing landmarks and using learned relationships among time, speed and distance. They had to know, for instance, that […]
Media Advisory: Hundreds of College Students to Gather at Johns Hopkins for Weekend Hackathon
February 11, 2019 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Shani McPherson Office: 410-516-4778 Cell: 510-393-7159 sprovos1@jhu.edu WHAT: More than 300 graduate and undergraduate students from around the country will gather at Johns Hopkins University this weekend for the latest HopHacks, a marathon session challenging students to realize their best software and hardware ideas and compete for cash […]
China’s Regulations Unsuccessful in Curbing Methane Emissions
China, already the world’s leading emitter of human-caused greenhouse gases, continues to pump increasing amounts of climate-changing methane into the atmosphere despite tough new regulations on gas releases from its coal mines, a new Johns Hopkins study shows.