MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Writing for The Hill, Principal Research Scientist Randolph Kirchain and Research Scientist Hessam Azarijafari address the impact of the nation’s road system on transportation emissions. “Investing in a higher-performance road system is a level within state control that will improve the efficiency and carbon emissions of all vehicles, regardless of how each is powered,” write Kirchain and Azarijafari. “Smoother, stiffer roads allow cars to travel along it more efficiently. Every time a car tire traverses a bump, crack, or pothole, energy is wasted. These imperfections in the road cause energy to be dissipated through the vehicle’s suspension.”

Arthur Musah '04, MEng '05 and Philip Abel '15 speak with GBH “Under The Radar” host Callie Crossley about Musah’s documentary, “Brief Tender Light,” which follows the life of four African-born students on their personal and academic experiences at MIT. “The takeaway for me is about how we all belong in all spaces all around the world,” says Musah. “For me, the film has always been about celebrating the lives of African students and Black people at institutions like MIT.”

Writing for The Boston Globe, Prof. Gang Chen emphasizes the harm caused by the “China Initiative.” Chen notes that “some initiatives by the government, such as the China Initiative and the National Institutes of Health’s investigation into academics’ collaborations with China, weaken rather than strengthen US national security. American scientific prowess has been built on the United States’ ability to attract the best and the brightest minds from around the world.” He adds that the China Initiative has been deterring scientists from pursuing their research and careers in the United States.”

Scientific American reporter Payal Dhar spotlights how MIT engineers developed a beating, biorobotic replica of the human heart that could be used to “simulate the workings of both a healthy organ and a diseased one.” The replica, "which pumps a clear fluid instead of blood, is hooked up to instruments that measure blood flow, blood pressure, and more," writes Dhar. "It’s also customizable: the user can change the heart rate, blood pressure and other parameters, then watch how these changes affect the heart’s function in real time.”

Boston Globe reporter Malcom Gay writes that Michael John Gorman, “a museum professional who has created and run several organizations devoted to science and the arts,” has been named the next director of the MIT Museum. At the MIT Museum, "Gorman inherits a dynamic new cultural venue replete with gallery space, forum areas, learning labs, a public maker hub, and collection of some 1.5 million objects,” Gay writes.

Lynn Yamada Davis '77, “a TikTok creator who brought joy to millions of people with her zany style and cooking tips on her account, Cooking With Lynja,” has died at 67, writes Claire Moses for The New York Times. Before becoming a TikTok star, Davis “had this whole chapter as a groundbreaking female engineer, and she was very proud of that,” her daughter Hannah Shofet explained. Her son, Sean Davis noted that the final chapter of her life spent travelling the world, meeting people and cooking and eating amazing food was “exactly how she would have wanted it to be written.”

Forbes contributor Jamie Carter spotlights a new study co-authored by MIT scientists that suggests, “the absence of carbon dioxide in a rocky planet’s atmosphere—relative to others in the same star system—may indicate the presence of liquid water on the planet’s surface.”

Keelin Caldwell, director of engagement for the MIT Museum, speaks with GBH host Jared Bowen about the MIT Museum’s After Dark series, including their upcoming event, “Beyond The Fold,” which will allow participants to explore the art and science of folding. Caldwell explains that the After Dark series happens monthly, noting “there is always a different theme, and that theme is an opportunity to both narrow in but stay broad, and we really try to have activities that appeal to a lot of different people.”

Writing for Wired, Institute Prof. Daron Acemoglu predicts that expectations for generative AI will need to recalibrated during the year ahead. Acemoglu notes that he believes in 2024, “generative AI will have been adopted by many companies, but it will prove to be just ‘so-so automation’ of the type that displaces workers but fails to deliver huge productivity improvements.”

Writing for STAT, Prof. Joseph Doyle addresses new research that suggests food “as medicine can improve health and lower health care costs.” “Researchers, clinicians and policymakers all share a common goal to fight food insecurity and improve population health,” writes Doyle. “Randomized clinical trials are key tools for discerning what works best, for whom and why, information that we should all be hungry for.”

WBUR reporter Solon Kelleher spotlights “List Projects 29” – the final show in a series at the MIT List Visual Arts Center that focuses on “collaborations between artists.” The show features work from Brittni Ann Harvey and Harry Gould Harvey IV. “The artists co-founded the Fall River Museum of Contemporary Art and share a vision for artist-led spaces and art that engages with the wider community,” writes Kelleher.