Prof. Thomas Malone and his colleagues at MIT Sloan have developed a way to analyze work, which may help predict which jobs are likely most vulnerable to AI. The researchers found that “AI mainly threatens workers who manage information. But not all of them,” writes Hiawatha Bray for The Boston Globe. “Malone noted that some industries demand human empathy, a sense of ethics, and a knack for teamwork. That’s why he thinks health care jobs are relatively safe.”
Prof. Shu-Heng Shao was one of 15 recipients of the New Horizon Prizes, a Breakthrough Prize that is awarded to early-career physicists and mathematicians. “Shao worked alongside other researchers to develop the theory of “generalized symmetries” in quantum field theory, which helped create a “new language” of possibilities in the field beyond the traditional understanding of symmetries,” reports Bryan Hecht for The Boston Globe.
Prof. Andrew Lo speaks with with Greg Iacurci at CNBC about using AI for personal finances. “One of the things about [large language models] that I find particularly concerning is that no matter what you ask it, it’ll always come back with an answer that sounds authoritative, even if it’s not,” said Lo. ″[People] should be using AI for financial planning — but it’s how they use it that’s important.”
Prof. Anette “Peko” Hosoi and Andy Harland of Loughborough University lace up their shoes to chat about how runners can optimize their marathon performance with Edgar B. Herwick III of GBH’s Curiosity Desk. The Boston Marathon “is an iconic race and it is challenging for a lot of different reasons,” Hosoi notes. “Boston starts on a downhill, so you feel great…but if you are not managing your energy by the time you get to Heartbreak Hill at mile 20 you are going to be suffering.”
President Sally Kornbluth joins Sloan Senior Lecturer Brian Halligan MBA ’05 on his podcast “Long Strange Trip: CEO to CEO” to chat leadership strategies, AI and education, and MIT's approach to preparing students for life after college. “People talk to me, alums talk to me about how MIT changed their lives. It's not because of some particular class or some particular skill they acquired. It’s the whole environment,” Kornbluth notes. She adds that when it comes to educating students, at MIT "we want them to have the kind of knowledge base and ability to navigate the world that will enable them to do anything they want to do.”
MIT scientists have developed a new model, dubbed "PlanetWaves," that predicts wave behavior on different planets, showing that the "smallest gust of wind on Titan could generate huge, roiling waves across seas of hydrocarbons," reports Andrew Paul for Popular Science. “PlanetWaves is far more than a novel simulator,” writes Paul. “Calculating fluid behaviors on distant planets and moons could help inform engineers building new spacecraft and probes.”
Prof. Simon Johnson joins Michel Martin of NPR’s Morning Edition to discuss the International Monetary Fund’s latest forecast showing the impact of the war in Iran on economic growth and inflation. Johnson notes that the war “is a big shock to energy prices. Energy prices are an important element of economies around the world...So I'm afraid a lot of countries are suffering a deceleration of growth or even some negative growth.”
MIT researchers have developed a new traffic navigation system that more accurately reflects travel time by including parking data, reports Catherine Parotta for Boston 25. “What we can do is figure out if you’re best off trying this parking lot first, even if it’s farther than the closest parking lot,” explains Prof. Cathy Wu. Graduate student Cameron Hickert adds that: “We hope that this can help people make better decisions."
Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter Clare Ansberry about how the baby boomers are shaping and transforming the future of aging. “They are reinventing old age,” he notes. Coughlin adds: “If you don’t have expectations of getting better, then you simply become satisfied with what is.”
In an article for The Financial Times, Prof. Carlo Ratti writes about his group’s new research that “reveals that those over the age of 66 have more encounters with a broader cross-section of society than younger, working-age groups.” Ratti adds: “Armed with data that shows retirement expands opportunities for social interaction, cities could be designed to support this more deliberately. Retirement communities could be woven into student neighborhoods, for example, allowing knowledge to circulate across generations. Public spaces could be optimized to encourage everyday mixing.”
Prof. Kate Brown, author of “Tiny Gardens Everywhere,” speaks with Forbes reporter Alan Ohnsman of Forbes about the benefits of home gardens. Brown notes that people can “put in some healthy soils that are rich with compost, which feeds microbes and worms and black soldier flies, all these creatures that are in the soil so the soil is alive. Then you put in plants, trees, berry bushes, lettuces, greens, whatever. And when it rains, those healthy soils soak up a lot more water… [which is] great for flooding. They sequester a lot of carbon, more than any of our aesthetic alternatives. And of course, they can feed people.”
Writing for The Boston Globe, Prof. Kate Brown and David Greenwood-Sanchez of the University of Iowa explore the growing popularity of transforming residential yards into home gardens. They emphasize: “With food prices up 27 percent since 2020, it is a good time for Massachusetts legislators to consider protecting gardeners from vegetation restrictions so that they can grow plants that, in contrast to turf grass, nurture birds, bees, and the occasional rabbit — and their own families and neighbors.”
In an article for Fortune, Aimee DeCamillo and Diane Ty highlight the Longevity Preparedness Index developed by researchers from the MIT AgeLab and John Hancock. The index highlights how “Americans are entering what could be 30- to 40-year retirements with meaningful gaps in preparedness, particularly around care, health, and the non‑financial factors — such as social connections and purpose — that shape quality of life. Better support and planning to elevate that broader view is one of the most important shifts we can make.”
Prof. Richard Binzel speaks with CBS Boston about the success of the Artemis II mission and the future of space exploration. "It's exciting we have humans back in space again," Binzel shared. "It's a real test of a spaceflight system. Surviving reentry and landing safely. That's the real accomplishment here. Showing we can go to the moon but also come back safely."
Jennifer Eagen of WCVB-TV highlights MIT Space Week, an annual series of events across MIT focused on space exploration and the space industry. Eagan notes that one of the themes for this year’s event is the space economy. "Having humans land on the moon, having built a base on the moon, learning how to operate there so eventually we can go to Mars," said keynote speaker Terry Virts, former commander of the International Space Station. "I would love to see all those things happen that would be a huge success for America and for the world, for all of humanity."