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Assistant Professor Catherine D’Ignazio uses data and computational techniques to work toward gender and racial equity. MIT News spoke with her about the current boom in Covid-19 data visualizations, and how data visualizers can help us make sense of the pandemic’s uncertain numbers.

3 Questions: Catherine D’Ignazio on visualizing Covid-19 data

“Data scientists and visualization designers need to take their civic role very seriously in a pandemic,” says the MIT assistant professor.

April 13, 2020

MIT researchers have observed mysterious Majorana fermions in islands of gold. The discovery could lead to new family of robust qubits for quantum computing.

First sighting of mysterious Majorana fermion on a common metal

Physicists’ discovery could lead to a new family of robust qubits for quantum computing.

April 10, 2020

This visualization shows the magnetic field around Earth, or the magnetosphere. Earth’s magnetic field origins are still a mystery, a new MIT study finds.

Origins of Earth’s magnetic field remain a mystery

The existence of a magnetic field beyond 3.5 billion years ago is still up for debate.

April 8, 2020

New “refrigerator” super-cools molecules to nanokelvin temperatures

Technique may enable molecule-based quantum computing.

April 8, 2020

MIT researchers have 3-D-printed soft electronically active polymers into a number of devices, including a pliable neural electrode, and (shown here) a flexible circuit.

Engineers 3D print soft, rubbery brain implants

Technique may enable speedy, on-demand design of softer, safer neural devices.

March 30, 2020

Terahertz waves are pervasive in our daily lives, and if harnessed, their concentrated power could potentially serve as an alternate energy source. Imagine, for instance, a cellphone add-on that passively soaks up ambient T-rays and uses their energy to charge your phone.

Energy-harvesting design aims to turn high-frequency electromagnetic waves into usable power

Device for harnessing terahertz radiation might help power some portable electronics.

March 27, 2020

I expected to feel lonely during my six months in space, but it was quite the opposite. Having a daily sense of purpose, countless tasks and experiments to perform, and communication with people all over the world provided so much engagement with the world that loneliness was not a factor. There are some lessons here, perhaps, for everyone who now has to stay at home during this crisis. — Greg C...

A message from MIT astronauts: Accept the mission and find your motivators

To help us navigate this time of social distancing, three MIT astronauts share lessons of isolated living aboard the International Space Station.

March 24, 2020

MIT joins a consortium of supercomputing resources to help speed the search for Covid-19 solutions.

MIT joins White House supercomputing effort to speed up search for Covid-19 solutions

Consortium includes industry, government, and academic institutions.

March 23, 2020

MIT researchers observe ripples across a newly fertilized egg that are similar to other systems, from ocean and atmospheric circulations to quantum fluids.

The growth of an organism rides on a pattern of waves

Study shows ripples across a newly fertilized egg are similar to other systems, from ocean and atmospheric circulations to quantum fluids.

March 23, 2020

MIT researchers have found that much of the current emission of CFC-11 and CFC-12 likely stems from large CFC “banks” — old equipment such as building insulation foam, refrigerators and cooling systems, and foam insulation, that was manufactured before the global phaseout of CFCs and is still leaking the gases into the atmosphere.

Emissions of several ozone-depleting chemicals are larger than expected

Recovering and safely destroying the sources of these chemicals could speed ozone recovery and reduce climate change.

March 17, 2020

On Maui (shown here) and Hawaii’s other islands, MIT researchers find that the rate of coastal erosion depends on the size of the average wave.

Scientists quantify how wave power drives coastal erosion

The average power of waves hitting a coastline can predict how fast that coast will erode.

March 16, 2020

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient, emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab.

Covid-19 diagnostic based on MIT technology might be tested on patient samples soon

A variety of MIT research projects could aid efforts to detect and prevent the spread of coronavirus.

March 12, 2020

Hand lotion, yogurt, and toothpaste are some examples of colloidal gels, which MIT researchers have now characterized in detail by studying movies of their microstructure.

Probing microscopic wiggles in squishy materials

Technique could help improve design of soft materials to withstand jostling during transport or settling due to gravity.

March 3, 2020

MIT researchers have used a neural network to identify low-frequency seismic waves hidden in earthquake data. The technique may help scientists more accurately map the Earth’s interior.

Machine learning picks out hidden vibrations from earthquake data

Technique may help scientists more accurately map vast underground geologic structures.

February 28, 2020

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have compared “snapshots” of pairs of nucleons separated by various distances, and for the first time observed a key transition in the behavior of the strong nuclear force — the glue that binds the building blocks of matter.

The force is strong in neutron stars

Study identifies a transition in the strong nuclear force that illuminates the structure of a neutron star’s core.

February 26, 2020

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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