Former MIT Professor Michael Hawley, “whose accomplishments had reached into the upper echelons of computer science and piano performance,” has died at age 58, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. “Mike was consistently way, way out ahead, showing all of us what could be — in fact, would be,” said Prof. Tod Machover,
New York Times reporter Steven Kurutz memorializes the life and work of Dennis Nagle, a workshop manager and instructor at MIT’s D-Lab. Amy Smith, senior lecturer and founding director of D-Lab, reminisced that Nagle was, “a fiercely loyal mentor to many students over the years and was a staunch supporter of the need to balance creativity and order, fun and work and anarchy and kindness.”
Popular Mechanics reporter Courtney Linder writes that MIT researchers have developed a surgical tape that can be detached without harming tissue. “The team created a liquid solution that surgeons can apply to the medical-grade tape to help dissolve it, peeling it off in a slippery gel, reminiscent of aloe vera,” writes Linder.
Forbes contributor Rahul Razdan highlights how researchers from MIT and Toyota have introduced a new dataset aimed at enabling AI research focused on movement. “In sharing this dataset, we hope to encourage researchers, the industry, and other innovators to develop new insight and direction into temporal AI modeling that enables the next generation of assisted driving and automotive safety technologies,” explains research engineer Bryan Reimer.
A new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that the economic recovery in the U.S. is most likely to be “U-shaped,” reports Yun Li for CNBC. “A ‘U’-shaped recovery is one where the economy stays longer at the bottom of the recession in its path to recovery, which typically takes up to two years,” Li explains.
Prof. Lawrence Schmidt speaks with Nova Safo of Marketplace about the impact of the Paycheck Protection Program. “It might be a little more advantageous to put into place a more targeted approach,” says Schmidt. “Because then you could send larger checks or send checks for longer periods of time to these types of sectors that are severely disrupted.”
Forbes contributor Adi Gaskell spotlights how MIT researchers analyzed the economic benefits and health risks of reopening 26 different types of businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The researchers attempted to gauge the risk from the aggregate public exposure of each business type,” writes Gaskell.
Prof. Frank Wilczek speaks with Dan Falk of Scientific American about the potential detection of axions. If axions turn out to be real, it would be “a triumph of theoretical physics—to have made this kind of aesthetic argument, and then nature says, ‘Yup, that’s right,’” says Wilczek.
MIT researchers have developed a new robotic arm that is controlled solely by finger movements and can be used to help with multitasking, reports Emmet Smith for Mashable. “The arm can be used to help with doors, elevators and even handshakes,” reports Smith.
Writing for The New York Times, Prof. Devin Michelle Bunten describes how the Trump Administration uses linguistics to erase nondiscrimination protections for trans people. “Clarity in language provides social and linguistic accommodation for those of us traditionally denied both,” writes Bunten. “The battle for civil rights is the battle over words.”
Research affiliate Ashley Nunes writes for the Financial Times about how ride-sharing companies can help reduce carbon emissions.” If ride-sharing companies really want to go green, they should start by reining in discounts,” writes Nunes. “Less demand would also mean fewer cars for hire (hardly a bad idea given the majority of ride-sharing enthusiasts already own vehicles) and ultimately, less pollution.”
Writing for The Boston Globe, MIT alumna Netia A. McCray examines the burden placed on Black Americans. “While this may be non-Black America’s first time realizing the burden they have placed on Black Americans, it is also the first time Black Americans have realized what life could be like not shouldering that burden,” writes McCray. “The result? We are not going back.”
BBC News reporter Lina Zeldovich spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a way to store a patient’s vaccine history under a person’s skin using microneedle patches. The microneedles “don't leave scars and are less invasive than the regular needles – it’s like putting on a Band-Aid,” explains research scientist Ana Jaklenec.
Rising junior Danielle Geathers, who was recently elected president of MIT’s Undergraduate Association (UA), speaks with Karen Holmes Ward of WCVB-TV about how she campaigned virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic and her goals for her presidency. Geathers notes that she wants to use the UA’s, “global platform to really focus on national policy issues.”
MIT researchers have found stiffening roadways could help improve gas mileage and reduce carbon emissions, reports Christopher Intagliata for Scientific American. "Stiffening 10 percent of the nation's roads every year could prevent 440 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over the next five decades," Intagliata reports.