Washington Post contributor Michele L. Norris highlights Prof. Evan Lieberman’s writing about the potential consequences of collecting disaggregated racial data on Covid-19. “It is not difficult to imagine that if Covid-19 comes to be understood as a ‘Black’ epidemic,” he wrote, “this will create false impressions for many white Americans…that the virus is ‘not our problem,’ leading to decreased demand for and compliance with public health directives.”
Boston Globe reporters Kay Lazar and Felice J. Freyer spotlight a study by MIT researchers that lack of coordination in reopening strategies could lead to increased spread of Covid-19. “We don’t advocate a one-size-fits-all policy. We recognize different localities with different circumstances may need different policy responses,” explains Prof. Sinan Aral. “But our work suggests that they should coordinate with each other.”
Prof. Eran Egozy speaks with Boston Globe reporter Grace Griffin about “Comusica,” a musical celebration of the Class of 2020 that combines audio and video clips of graduating MIT students to create a cohesive song. Egozy hopes the piece creates “that feeling of coming together and celebrating and basically seeing everyone’s smiling, happy faces.”
A study by MIT researchers finds uncoordinated reopening strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic could cause regional issues, reports Jim Braude for WGBH’s Greater Boston. “One state’s or counties policies significantly affect mobility in other states or counties,” explains Prof. Sinan Aral.
Researchers from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology are developing rapid paper-based serological and diagnostic tests for Covid-19, reports BioSpectrum. Researchers “are working collaboratively to develop a rapid serological test and a rapid diagnostic test (RDT), based on protein detection, that could be used outside of laboratories, without specialised equipment or infrastructure, at places such as airports and community clinics.”
A study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that more than 200 evictions were filed in Boston before a lockdown was imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports Crystal Haynes for Boston 25. “We know that 78% of eviction filings in housing court occurred in census tracts where a majority of residents are people of color," says graduate student Benjamin Walker.
Postdoctoral associate Seth Benzell speaks with Marketplace’s David Brancaccio about a new study by MIT researchers that assesses the cumulative risk of opening different types of businesses. “Every time we have an interaction with another human, especially in a dense space, that’s a chance for the virus to spread,” says Benzell. “So we really need to ration our social contact.”
Prof. Joshua Tenenbaum speaks with Wired reporter Will Knight about the quest to bring more human-like reasoning and intelligence to AI systems. Tenenbaum believes, “AI programs will need a basic understanding of physics and psychology in order to acquire and use knowledge as efficiently as a baby,” Knight writes.
Quanta Magazine reporter Erica Klarreich explores how incoming professor and postdoctoral fellow Lisa Piccirillo solved a long-standing question about whether the Conway knot is a slice of a higher-dimensional knot. Piccirillo’s proof “fits into the mold of short, surprising proofs of elusive results that researchers in the area are able to quickly absorb, admire and seek to generalize,” says Joshua Greene, a professor at BC.
WCVB-TV reporter Erika Tarantal spotlights how the MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute, a summer program aimed at teaching high school students STEM skills, worked with teachers at Boston’s Madison Park Technical Vocational High School to help engage students in hands-on STEM learning. “If you're interested in STEM, there's not that many extra-curricular activities,” says Lisa Kelley, program manager for Beaver Works.
Reporting for NPR’s Morning Edition, Diaa Hadid highlights how the Afghan Dreamers, an all-girls robotics team, are working on developing an affordable ventilator prototype, based off an open-source design developed by MIT researchers.
MIT researchers have developed a low-cost, water collection device that could enable mail-in testing to detect heavy metals in water, reports Rachel Cromwell for Scientific American. “The device might be able to provide remote communities and well owners,” writes Cromwell, “with a feasible alternative to transporting high-volume liquid samples over long distances.”
Reporting for BBC Future, David Robson spotlights Prof. Li-Huei Tsai’s work developing a new non-invasive treatment that could potentially alleviate symptoms of dementia using a combination of flashing and clicking lights. Robson writes that Tsai’s research “represents a radical new approach to preventing and treating the most common form of dementia.”
A new study by MIT researchers examines the impacts of social isolation on the brain, reports Scott Barry Kaufman for Scientific American. The findings suggest that “people who are forced to be isolated crave social interactions in a similar way as a hungry person craves food.”
Prof. Simon Johnson writes for The Boston Globe about how to protect residents and staff of senior living facilities from Covid-19. “State testing programs should: ensure adequate capacity and supplies are in place for polymerase chain reaction testing; add scaled-up serology testing as an important part of the monitoring toolkit; and provide bridge teams for facilities facing a staffing shortage as a result of COVID-19 testing.”