CBS Boston reporter Louisa Moller spotlights a study by MIT researchers that finds race is an important indicator in determining who will die of Covid-19. “We controlled for that share of the population that has health insurance, diabetes, smoking, obesity,” explains Prof. Christopher Knittel. “It could be something like the quality of the insurance or the quality of the health care system.”
A study by MIT researchers finds that “race may be as important as age in gauging a person’s likelihood of dying" of Covid-19, writes Sharon Begley for STAT. “If I were a public official,” says Prof. Christopher Knittel, “I’d be looking at differences in the quality of insurance, conditions such as chronic stress, and systemic discrimination.”
Fast Company reporter Arianne Cohen writes that MIT researchers have analyzed 26 types of businesses to help gauge the tradeoffs between economic value and public health risk. “The insightful research aims to guide policymakers in choosing which commerce to reopen, and, as cases rise, which to close first or regulate,” writes Cohen.
TechCrunch reporter Kirsten Korosec writes that MIT researchers have found that changes in how roads are resurfaced could improve gas mileage for heavy vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The researchers found “making pavements stiffer improves mileage efficiency,” writes Korosec.
Sanjay Sarma, Vice President for Open Learning, speaks with CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout about the future of online learning. “We will use simulations, we will use virtual reality, you can explore a virtual world, maybe you can go to ancient Greece and see Socrates speaks,” says Sarma of how educators can use technology to make online learning more interactive in the future.
Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Visiting Lecturer Irving Wladawsky-Berger highlights “Building the New Economy,” a book by Prof. Alex “Sandy” Pentland, technology officer Thomas Hardjono and others. “Building a new post-pandemic economy requires the creation of more agile, resilient systems and institutions to help us better adapt to an unpredictable future and withstand turbulent events like Covid-19,” writes Wladawsky-Berger.
A study co-authored by MIT researchers examines the impact of social distancing on adolescents, reports Philippa Roxby for BBC News. The researchers found “reduced face-to-face contact among teenagers and their friends during the pandemic could have damaging long-term consequences.”
A new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds, “fewer face-to-face encounters among teens may harm mental health and growth, and governments should weigh this effect as they consider the need for extended pandemic social-distancing measures,” writes Janice Kew for Bloomberg News.
Axios reporter Alison Snyder writes that MIT researchers are examining single cells as part of an effort to better understand the impact of Covid-19. “Understanding how inflammation impacts different cells in different target tissues — whether due to infection, cancer or autoimmune disease — could help to identify the immune memories that can be erased or enhanced to take someone back to a healthy state,” writes Snyder.
Popular Mechanics reporter Courtney Linder writes that MIT researchers have developed a “brain-on-a-chip” that brings togethers thousands of artificial brain synapses. “The goal is to produce tiny devices that can pack the punch of artificial intelligence, locally, without having to connect to the cloud, or rely on a supercomputer,” writes Linder.
CNN reporter Jen Christensen highlights a study by MIT researchers that analyses the risks and benefits of reopening different types of locations and businesses. The researchers performed a “cost benefit analysis of 26 different location types to determine what the tradeoff would be between someone's relative risk of getting infected during a visit and the importance of that establishment.”
Eco-Business reporter Neo Chai Chin writes that a new study by MIT researchers finds that large areas of Southeast Asia’s peatlands are subsiding. “The extensive damage has worrying implications for carbon emissions because peatlands—wetlands made up of organic decomposing matter—are rich stores of carbon.”
Verge reporter Nick Statt notes that, “Much of the foundational work showing the flaws of modern facial recognition tech with regard to racial bias is thanks to Joy Buolamwini, a researcher at the MIT Media Lab, and Timnit Gebru, a member at Microsoft Research.”
Quartz reporter Nicolas Rivero notes that IBM’s decision to end its facial recognition program was inspired by “one influential piece of research: the Gender Shades project, from MIT Media Lab’s Joy Buolamwini and Microsoft Research’s Timnit Gebru.” Buolamwini and Gebru found that “commercial facial recognition software was significantly less accurate for darker-skinned women than for lighter-skinned men. “
Prof. Danielle Wood discusses her research aimed at providing equal access to the benefits of space exploration. “Our team has been doing research that addresses racial inequity,” says Wood. “You don’t have to leave aerospace to be confident you’re working against injustice, but you do have to change the way you’re doing the aerospace work.”