Prof. Regina Barzilay speaks with Good Morning America about her work developing a new AI tool that could “revolutionize early breast cancer detection” by identifying patients at high risk of developing the disease. “If this technology is used in a uniform way,” says Barzilay, “we can identify early who are high-risk patients and intervene.”
U.S. News & World Report reporter Coryanne Hicks spotlights MIT AgeLab director Joe Coughlin’s paper which explores how Americans reevaluated their retirement plans as a result of the pandemic.
MIT scientists have concluded that nuclear fusion can be used to power electricity grids within the next decade, reports David Abel for The Boston Globe. “It may sound like science fiction, but the science of fusion is real, and the recent scientific advancements are game-changing,” says Dennis Whyte, director of the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center.
Popular Science reporter Nikita Amir writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds has identified a chemical pathway by which life could make a home for itself in Venus’ toxic clouds by producing ammonia. “Life on Venus, if it exists, is not like life on Earth,” says research affiliate Janusz Petkowski. “It’s life as we don’t know it. The only question is, to what degree it is different?”
Washington Post reporter Steve Zeitchik spotlights Prof. Regina Barzilay and graduate student Adam Yala’s work developing a new AI system, called Mirai, that could transform how breast cancer is diagnosed, “an innovation that could seriously disrupt how we think about the disease.” Zeitchik writes: “Mirai could transform how mammograms are used, open up a whole new world of testing and prevention, allow patients to avoid aggressive treatments and even save the lives of countless people who get breast cancer.”
MIT researchers have proposed testing a concept for a levitating rover that could operate by using the moon’s electric field, reports Andrew Liszewski for Gizmodo. Liszewski writes that “the researchers believe a levitating rover powered this way could potentially float even higher, or potentially be built heavier with additional scientific instrumentation on board.”
Prof. Erik Demaine speaks with Popular Mechanics reporter Sarah Wells about the surprisingly complex math behind wrapping a present. "If [the wrapping] is a square piece of paper, we know the best [way]," Demaine says. "[But] what if I gave you an eight-and-a-half by eleven rectangle? The answer turns out to be really complicated…And again, this is just wrapping a cube. If you're wrapping a general box, it's going to get even messier. Here, we don't even know the right answer."
In a letter to the Financial Times, graduate student Daniel Aronoff makes the case that the demise of local banks in the U.S. should be examined and regulatory changes should be made to enable them to operate more profitably. “A system that can make small loans to small entrepreneurs not only helps the borrowers, but also promotes a more efficient allocation of resources in the economy," Aronoff writes.
Prof. Antoinette Schoar and Igor Makarov of the London School of Economics conducted a new study that mapped out every Bitcoin transaction since 2008, reports Fortune reporter Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez. “According to the study, 90% of Bitcoin transactions are not a result of a user buying something with the currency, but rather transactions between a single user’s own crypto accounts,” writes Quiroz-Gutierrez.
Prof. Timothy Lu, Prof. Jim Collins and Philip Lee ’03 co-founded Senti Bio, a biotechnology company that uses gene circuit technology to create cell and gene therapies that can sense and respond to ailments inside the body, reports Sohini Podder for Reuters. “The way I like to think about it – just like you can program a computer with different programs or different maps, we can do the same thing with medicines,” says Lu.
A new study co-authored by Prof. Antoinette Schoar finds that the “top Bitcoin holders control a greater share of the cryptocurrency than the most affluent American households control in dollars,” reports Paul Vigna for The Wall Street Journal. “Despite having been around for 14 years and the hype it has ratcheted up, it’s still the case that it’s a very concentrated ecosystem,” explains Schoar.
Boston Globe reporter Kevin Lewis spotlights how MIT researchers surveyed thousands of Democrats and Republicans to rate the reliability of nonpolitical news headlines. “People genuinely believe that opposing partisans are more gullible, even when that stereotype is costly to them,” writes Lewis. “On the other hand, that stereotype can be corrected with evidence.”
Prof. Sara Seager speaks with New York Times reporter Dennis Overybye about the James Webb Telescope. Seager is part of a team that is planning to use the telescope to observe an exoplanet named Trappist-1e to determine if the planet has an atmosphere.
Popular Science reporter Leto Sapunar spotlights the efforts of MIT researchers who are investigating the origins of a fast blue optical transient nicknamed “the Cow.” To research scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham, “this looks like a sign that matter is closely orbiting a ‘newborn’ black hole or a type of neutron star called a magnetar, and the matter shines with x-rays each time it completes a quick orbit,” writes Sapunar.
Gizmodo reporter Mack DeGeurin writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that just .01% of Bitcoin buyers control around 27% of the 19 million cryptocurrency in circulation. “This tiny concentration of so much wealth means the Bitcoin rich will likely only get richer if the cryptocurrency continues to increase in value,” DeGeurin writes. “It also means power is less dispersed, which could make Bitcoin more susceptible to systemic risk.”