A new study by MIT researchers provides evidence that babies and toddlers understand people have a close relationship if they are willing to share saliva via sharing food or kissing, reports Nell Greenfieldboyce for NPR. "From a really young age, without much experience at all with these things, infants are able to understand not only who is connected but how they are connected," says postdoc Ashley Thomas. "They are able to distinguish between different kinds of cooperative relationships."
Boston Globe reporter Pranshu Verma spotlights MIT startup Biobot Analytics, co-founded by Mariana Matus ’18 and Newsha Ghaeli ’17, for their work studying sewage data to better predict the spread of Covid-19 in communities. “For health officials, it [the data] confirms whether Covid spikes in the community are real, and not due to increased testing or other factors,” writes Verma. “Moreover, Covid levels in waste water are a leading indicator for new clinical cases, giving health officials a few days’ notice if they’ll see more sick patients showing symptoms.”
MIT scientists have discovered that infants use saliva sharing as a cue in distinguishing close relationships, reports Andrew Joseph for STAT. “Saliva-sharing interactions provide externally observable cues of thick relationships, and young humans can use these cues to make predictions about subsequent social interactions,” the researchers explain.
Science reporter Bridget Alex spotlights a new study by MIT researchers that finds children as young as 8-months-old can infer the social significance in swapping saliva with those they are closely bonded with. This is a “big step in this new science of what preverbal infants already know about human sociality,” explains Prof. Alan Fiske of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Writing for the Financial Times, Prof. Kristin Forbes emphasizes the importance of central banks reducing their balance sheets during economic recoveries. “Now is an opportune moment to use their balance sheets to fight inflation while supporting a balanced and sustainable recovery,” writes Forbes.
Prof. Muriel Médard speaks with NBC Boston reporter Raul Martinez about 5G technologies and helps demystify the concerns surrounding 5G networks and airline safety.
A new white paper by MIT researchers underscores the importance of regaining the U.S.’s innovation leadership in the area of semiconductor manufacturing and calls for increased investment at the research level to help advance this field, reports Stephen Shankland for CNET. "The hollowing out of semiconductor manufacturing in the US is compromising our ability to innovate in this space and puts at risk our command of the next technological revolution,” write the report’s authors. “To ensure long-term leadership, leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing in the US must be prioritized and universities activities have to get closer to it."
The Haystack Observatory will be hosting a virtual climate change forum on Jan. 27, featuring Haystack’s director Colin Lonsdale and research scientist Pedro Elosegui, reports John Laidler for The Boston Globe. “Lonsdale will provide general information about the work of Haystack and climate science,” writes Laidler. “Elosegui will discuss Haystack’s polar research, which includes studies of global climate and sea-level change.”
Forbes reporter Richard Kestenbaum spotlights “The Age of AI And Our Human Future,” a new book written by Schwarzman College of Computing Dean Daniel Huttenlocher, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger that explores how software is creating a new reality for us. In the book, Huttenlocher, Schmidt, and Kissinger note that “now is the time to establish guidelines for how AI will act and what its north star will be,” writes Kestenbaum.
GBH reporter Megan Smith spotlights how the Educational Justice Institute at MIT, which offers learning programs to incarcerated individuals, was able to expand its reach through a new virtual platform that allows for real-time interaction, and provides an opportunity to bring together students from different facilities and local universities. “I really enjoy the humanity in the course because over a period of time you realize — it’s not about ‘inside’ students or ‘outside’ students, really,” said Mackenzie Kelley, a student in the program. “It’s just, we’re all human and we all make mistakes.”
A new study by MIT researchers finds people are more likely to interact with a smart device if it demonstrates more humanlike attributes, reports Brian Heater for TechCrunch. The researchers found “users are more likely to engage with both the device — and each other — more when it exhibits some form of social cues,” writes Heater. “That can mean something as simple as the face/screen of the device rotating to meet the speaker’s gaze.”
National Geographic reporter Sadie Dingfelder writes that MIT scientists are using piezoelectric materials to develop a battery-free, underwater navigation system. “There are a lot of potential applications,” says Prof. Fadel Adib. “For instance, a scuba diver could use these sensors to figure out the exact place they took a particular picture.”
STAT reporters Katie Palmer and Casey Ross spotlight how Prof. Regina Barzilay has developed an AI tool called Mirai that can identify early signs of breast cancer from mammograms. “Mirai’s predictions were rolled into a screening tool called Tempo, which resulted in earlier detection compared to a standard annual screening,” writes Palmer and Ross.
Forbes has named Raya Ani ’94, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala MCP PhD ’81, ’78, and former postdoc Shulamit Levenberg to their 50 Over 50 list, which highlights women from Europe, the Middle East and Asia who are leading the way, reports Maggie McGrath for Forbes. “Women around the world are proving that 50 and beyond is the new golden age,” writes McGrath.
Salon reporter Elizabeth Landau spotlights the work of researchers from MIT and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in uncovering how Covid-19 can affect the ear. Viruses such as Covid-19, “all have these tentacles that seem to touch the ear, but nobody’s been able to study them because the ear is so inaccessible,” says Prof. Lee Gehrke. “So that’s the part that I think I get most excited about. Now we have a way to look at these things in a way that we were not able to do before.”