“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

This creed from the United States Postal Service is fitting for the students who recently participated in MIT Momentum, a design class for first and second year students sponsored by the Office of Minority Education. Boston’s recent Snowmaggedon caused a slight change-up in the Momentum schedule, but the engineering competition took place nevertheless on Friday, January 30.

To better understand what is happening with neural signals in the brain, scientists continue to develop ways to simultaneously probe and manipulate neurons during simple tasks, like moving a cursor on a screen.

Now, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology led by Polina Anikeeva, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, have created polymer probes that will enable a more detailed manipulation and analysis of neural circuits deep in the brain than achievable before.