In the Media

CBS Boston spotlights how Andrea Ghez ’87 has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for her work discovering a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. “It really represents the basic research - you don’t always know how it is going to affect our lives here on Earth, but it is pushing the frontier of our knowledge forward," says Ghez, "both from the point of view of pure physics (understanding what a black hole is), and then also their astrophysical world in the formation and evolution of galaxies.”

Writing for Wired, principal research scientist Andrew McAfee argues that human populations and economies have continued to grow, while also identifying ways to reduce their carbon footprints. “To ensure that these greenhouse gas declines continue to spread and accelerate, we should apply the lessons we've learned from previous pollution reduction success. In particular, we should make it expensive to emit carbon,” writes McAfee.

AP reporter Mark Pratt writes that the Broad Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital are launching a “six-month study of 10,000 people to help them better understand the prevalence of COVID-19 in the area and to help identify potential surges during the fall and winter.

The Broad Institute and Brigham and Women’s are launching a large-scale research study aimed at testing people for Covid-19 at home, reports Travis Anderson and Emily Sweeney for The Boston Globe. The initiative will “provide information on the prevalence of the virus in the area and could offer an early warning sign of a surge of new cases in the fall and winter,” Sweeney and Anderson explain.

Fast Company reporter Steven Melendez spotlights Minglr, an open-source tool that is aimed at connecting attendees at virtual conferences for brief video conversations. “If you’re in a group like a conference, one thing people might do is contact people they know,” says Prof. Thomas Malone. “Other people could contact people they have heard of but not met.”

Researchers from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized Medicine (CAMP) research group have been awarded new research grants aimed at supporting work exploring personalized medicine and cell therapy, reports Health Europa. “In addition to our existing research on our three flagship projects, we hope to develop breakthroughs in manufacturing other cell therapy platforms that will enable better medical treatments and outcomes for society,” says Associate Provost Krystyn Van Vliet.

Writing for Forbes, research engineer Bryan Reimer explores the Massachusetts ballot question that would augment the state’s right to repair law. Reimer writes that the question is “a referendum on how traditional independent automotive repair shops and aftermarket part suppliers are going to function as part of tomorrow’s automotive ecosystem.”

A new white paper by Prof. Daron Acemoglu and graduate student Andrea Mandera finds that the U.S. tax code incentivizes companies to invest in automation rather than employees, reports Peter Coy for Bloomberg. “Favorable taxation of capital leads to excessive automation,” explains Acemoglu.

Writing for Fast Company, edX President Anant Agarwal about how educators can use technology to create the most engaging educational experience for students who are learning both in person and remotely. “This unprecedented period in history has taught us that online education is a thoughtful practice of designing learning experiences for the medium,” writes Agarwal.

WBUR’s Carey Goldberg chronicles how the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard is processing over 70,000 Covid-19 tests a day for Massachusetts nursing homes, hot spots and over 100 colleges. Goldberg notes that the Broad’s testing capacity, “is now allowing thousands of college students to be on campus across the region.”

Scientific American reporter Robin Lloyd spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a new app that “allows users to adjust parameters such as mask usage, ventilation, and room size to estimate the indoor transmission risk for SARS-CoV-2 among a given number of people in various types of spaces.”

Writing for the Financial Times, research affiliate Ashley Nunes explores Vice President Joe Biden’s climate change policy. “If Americans are serious about addressing climate change, it’s time we accept a seldom-discussed truth,” writes Nunes. “Doing more for the planet starts with having less.”

Scientific American reporter Daniel Garisto spotlights how a team of MIT researchers has uncovered hints of anomalous activity in heavy isotopes. “We’re not claiming to have discovered anything like a new particle,” says Prof. Vladan Vuletić. “Most likely, we are measuring new nuclear physics, but there is the possibility of something else going on.” 

The MIT Sloan School of Management was ranked as the top Business Analytics MBA program by U.S. News & World Report, writes Ilana Kowarski.

MIT researchers have published a series of new papers demonstrating that the design for the SPARC compact nuclear fusion reactor “is both technically feasible and could produce 10 times the energy it consumes,” reports Dino Grandoni for The Washington Post.