In the Media

For The New York Times Magazine’s interactive project “The Revolution Through the Eyes of Seven Everyday Founders” Adjunct Prof. Marjoleine Kars tells the story of Baptist preacher John Leland who championed religious freedom and the separation of church and state through the 18th century New Lights movement. “Leland proclaimed that all should be free to worship ‘either one God, three Gods, no God, or twenty Gods,’" says Kars. “It was precisely such convictions about spiritual independence that led Leland to yoke his pulpit to political activism.”

Prof. Simon Johnson discusses the impact of AI on jobs in an interview with Financial Times (FT) reporters Delphine Strauss and Sam Fleming for the FT’s “Economists Exchange” series. “We are trying very hard at MIT to find ways to incorporate AI into the curriculum but to push harder on the entrepreneurship angle, the creation of new products and services, the development of critical thinking,” says Johnson.

In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Senior Fellow Brian Deese and writer Anna Pasnau highlight the potential for AI infrastructure such as large data centers to increase jobs for electricians, welders and plumbers. “AI’s potential as a collaborator — ‘extending human judgment, enabling new tasks, and accelerating skill acquisition’ — is as significant as its capacity to automate,” they write.

Prof. David Kaiser joins GBH “Particles of Thought” podcast host Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi to discuss his hunt for primordial black holes. “It’s a lot easier to find stuff coming off of a very bright, hot source, than a cold, dim one. So, the Hawking temperature of a black hole that has the same mass as our sun, or a little bigger would be so cold we would literally never be able to measure [its] radiation,” says Kaiser. “You’ll never see it [Hawking Radiation] from stellar collapse black holes, you’ll never see it from supermassive black holes, or even colder. The only hope to ever see it would be a smaller mass black hole.”

Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray features LymeAlert, a 15-minute home test kit created by alumna Erin Dawicki ‘24, that can detect Lyme disease from up to five ticks at a time. “For the people who find a tick, and it’s positive, we can give them one dose of antibiotic and have a pretty good chance of preventing the disease,” Dawicki explains. 

Jay Fox of the Ohio News Network joins Ohio 10 WBNS to discuss his conversation with President Sally Kornbluth about how life-changing scientific innovations in university research labs have helped build our nation’s technological prowess and ensured our strength and stability, explaining how federal research cuts threaten future medical and technological advances. “What’s at risk are the kind of cures and technological advances that we’ll enjoy as we age, as our children get older and their children’s children get older. It’s really the future that is being mortgaged at this point,” said Kornbluth during her discussion with Fox. 

As part of a special Scientific American series devoted to the future of scientific research in the U.S., President Sally Kornbluth emphasizes the importance of curiosity-driven research, noting that discovery “is part of our American DNA and has yielded vast returns to the citizens of this country and the world.” Kornbluth notes: “What’s needed is a rededication to public investment in American science. Even if I were not the leader of a premier scientific institution, this is what I’d say. Investing in American science is not a gamble; if you look back in time, there is no question about the benefits.” 

Visiting Scientist Alice Stanton speaks with Scientific American reporter Tanya Lewis about her work developing miBrain, a 3D model of the human aimed at helping scientists “better understand neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s so researchers can develop personalized treatments for them.” Says Stanton of the need for stable support for scientific research: “When we have a loved one who gets sick, we want a treatment—we want something to cure them. It doesn’t come out of thin air.”

Fast Company reporter Jude Cramer spotlights a new study by MIT researchers that finds individuals who rely on AI to verify facts saw a 15% decline in their ability to detect fake news when unassisted by AI. “AIs that ‘tell’ by providing direct answers are more likely to foster reliance, while those that ‘ask’ via Socratic questioning are better at engaging someone to actually learn how to discern the truth on their own,” says graduate student Valdemar Danry. “But it’s very much a trade-off between speed and effort.”

For the Scientific American special section, “The Young American Scientists,” reporter Megha Satyanarayana speaks with Institute Prof. Robert Langer about the “spectacular” history of American innovation and education and why he feels it’s important to celebrate scientific achievements in the same way we honor celebrities and sports stars. “I’m just a big believer in the resilience of people,” says Langer. “I look at the history of American innovation and education over the past 250 years, and it’s been spectacular. We’ve had world wars, you know, we’ve had depressions, and people keep persisting and keep learning. They keep discovering and they keep inventing.”

For Scientific American’s special section “The Young American Scientists” Bob Mumgaard PhD ‘15, co-founder and CEO of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, speaks with Tara Haelle about the commercialization of fusion science and how automated tools have accelerated research. “Whether in areas such as fusion—or in drugs by design for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s or in [the creation of] materials we never thought possible—our ability to use new tools to tackle some of these big, meaty problems is super exciting,” says Mumgaard. 

Prof. Alan Lightman details how his childhood fascinations with science experiments and writing helped shape his self-confidence, humanity, and connection to the physical world in an essay for Scientific American’s special section, “The Young American Scientists.” Lightman writes: “Science has given us automobiles, antibiotics, computers. The humanities have given us values and guidance on how to live our lives. Now more than ever, when much of the world, including the U.S., has lost its moral compass, leading to a dog-eat-dog mentality, we need science combined with literature, philosophy, history and art.”

For Scientific American’s “The Young American Scientists” special section, reporter Tara Haelle interviews Prof. John Urschel, a former NFL player, exploring his views on the benefits for aspiring young scientists of having a broad background to draw upon. “A lot of good research happens when people can draw on tools, techniques and insights from different areas, disciplines and even fields,” says Urschel. “I hope we can encourage promising young scientists to establish strong, broad backgrounds and to communicate frequently with those outside their particular areas.” 

Prof. Alan Guth chats with Scientific American reporter Joseph Howlett about the future of the field of cosmology and his advice for early-career physicists for “The Young American Scientists” special section. Guth shares that thanks to advances in technology, “we’re able to unravel, to make sense out of, what we’re observing. A lot of progress has been made on those lines.” 

In an interview conducted by Scientific American reporter Andrea Thompson for “The Young American Scientists” special section, seismologist Lucy Jones, PhD ‘81, emphasizes the importance of collaboration between scientists and policymakers to develop solutions to big issues, including natural disasters. “Solutions have to be done in collaboration, which means spending time with policymakers,” says Thompson. She adds: “I do see a change in attitude about the worthiness of applying science—of activation. That’s relatively new and really important.”