Prof. Emeritus Henry Jacoby writes for The Guardian about how economic incentives such as carbon dividends could be used to help tackle climate change. “Marshaling the power of the price system to rebalance the whole economy away from carbon-intensive industries – while supporting those on lower incomes – seems like a wonderful place to start,” writes Jacoby.
Forbes contributor Sharon Goldman spotlights Prof. Yossi Sheffi’s new book, “The New (Ab)Normal,” which examines how companies shifted their operations during the Covid-19 pandemic. Goldman writes that in the book, Sheffi “details how businesses grappled with the chaos of the pandemic, and explores what enterprises are likely to do to survive and thrive in 2021 and beyond, after the pandemic starts to subside.”
A new survey by researchers from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab found that long waiting times were more common for early voters during the 2020 presidential election than than they were on Election Day, reports Kevin Quealy and Alicia Parlapiano for The New York Times. The researchers found “14 percent of Election Day voters waited more than 30 minutes to vote, an increase from 2016.”
Prof. Kieran Setiya talks with Kate Kent of Wisconsin Public Radio about what we can learn about ourselves and our world from this hard year.
In an article for The Boston Globe, Scott Kirsner spotlights Inrupt, an MIT startup that has developed new technology that “proposes a major change in how personal data are stored that would give you much more control.”
Writing for The Washington Post, Prof. Alan Lightman notes the importance of movie theaters and the need to ensure they survive the Covid-19 pandemic. “Although movies will undoubtedly still be made and streamed into private homes, if theaters do not survive, something irreplaceable will have been lost,” writes Lightman. “We are social creatures. No matter how comfortable our living rooms and sophisticated our technology, we need community, we need physical contact with one another.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic, MIT developed a conceptual online swim class aimed at helping to keep students safe and inspiring them to learn to swim, in lieu of the traditional swim test requirement, reports Wall Street Journal reporter Jem Bartholomew. “We owe it to our students to teach them how to swim,” says Prof. Carrie Sampson Moore, director of physical education and wellness. Moore adds that she hopes that “for those who were very familiar with the activity” they’d see the benefit of conceptual learning on technique, safety or the “history of swimming.”
A series of papers by MIT researchers demonstrates how their design for a new nuclear fusion reactor should work, reports Oscar Schwartz for The Guardian. “Fusion seems like one of the possible solutions to get ourselves out of our impending climate disaster,” says Martin Greenwald, deputy director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center.
Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung spotlights how the development of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine demonstrates the success of the Massachusetts life sciences sector. “For more than half a century, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been the epicenter of that curiosity, with a focus on molecular biology — initially to find a cure for cancer,” writes Leung. “There have been Nobel laureates collaborating on cancer, genetics, and immunology, along with future laureates making discoveries in how RNA, a molecule that is as fundamental as DNA to cell function, can be used in medicine.”
Writing for The Boston Globe, Prof. Ramesh Raskar underscores the importance of ensuring that every American has the opportunity to receive the Covid-19 vaccine without cost or without giving up their privacy. “By effectively communicating the privacy benefits of decentralized data collection and anonymized data reporting, mobile apps might diminish barriers to vaccination that exist due to privacy concerns,” writes Raskar.
Reporting for CBS News, Grace Segers spotlights how Alex Padilla ’94 has been selected for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ Senate seat. “Alex Padilla worked his way from humble beginnings to the halls of MIT, the Los Angeles City Council and the State Senate, and has become a national defender of voting rights as California's Secretary of State,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Alex Padilla ’94 has been appointed to fill the Senate seat held by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, reports Shawn Hubler for The New York Times. Padilla, who will be the first Latino senator from California, said of his appointment: “I love public service and I’ve been doing it for more than 20 years, and I’d like to continue as long as I’m effective and they’ll continue to have me.”
Alex Padilla ’94 has been selected to replace Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in the Senate, and will be the first Latino from California to join the Senate, reports Domenico Montanaro for NPR. “From those struggling to make ends meet to the small businesses fighting to keep their doors open to the health care workers looking for relief, please know that I am going to the Senate to fight for you,” said Padilla. “We will get through this pandemic together and rebuild our economy in a way that doesn't leave working families behind."
Vice President for Open Leaning Sanjay Sarma speaks with Jeffrey Young of EdSurge about how the brain works when understanding new concepts. "I question a lot of the structures and dogmas in education that are very closely held, but not necessarily based on science,” says Sarma. “And if we have the courage to reexamine these assumptions and reconstitute education, there's an incredible opportunity to change the game.”
Prof. Dava Newman speaks with WBUR’s Max Larkin about being selected as the new director of the MIT Media Lab. Larkin highlights how Newman, an aerospace engineer and former deputy administrator of NASA, “comes into the role with a stellar resume.” Newman remarks that “superstars and genius come in all forms and shapes.” As director, she says she hopes to celebrate the lab’s “‘infinite diversity in infinite combinations.’”