Writing for The Washington Post, Prof. Charles Stewart and his colleagues examine the feasibility of allowing participants in the 2020 election to vote by mail. “Many voters who might otherwise not have the opportunity will be happy to cast their ballots at home this November,” writes Stewart. “But rushing to put it into place nationwide would surely bring some unpleasant and unintended consequences.”
Popular Mechanics reporter Daisy Hernandez spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a new peptide that “may have the ability to disengage and block COVID-19 from entering our cells.”
MIT researchers have translated the structure of the coronavirus into music, reports Vineeth Venugopal for Science. “The new format can help scientists find sites on the protein where antibodies or drugs might be able to bind—simply by searching for specific musical sequences that correspond to these sites,” Venugopal explains.
An analysis of data from the 1918 flu pandemic by MIT and Federal Reserve researchers finds cities that committed earlier and longer to social distancing measures fared better economically, reports Emily Badger and Quoctrung Bui for The New York Times. Stricter interventions “actually make it safer for economic activity to resume, and they mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic itself on mortality,” explains Prof. Emil Verner.
TechCrunch reporter Darrell Etherington writes that Prof. Feng Zhang and Ben Silbermann of Pinterest are launching a mobile app that collects information on how users feel to help track the spread of Covid-19. The app “could be a very effective leading indicator of new or emerging viral hotspots, or provide scientific researches with other valuable insights when used in combination with other signals.”
Popular Mechanics reporter Courtney Linder writes that MIT researchers have developed a design for a device that could convert high-frequency tetrahertz waves into a direct current. In the future, the researchers hope such a device “could be used to power implants in the human body, meaning surgery would no longer be required to change its batteries.”
Wired reporter Jon Gertner spotlight Rivian, an MIT startup that is developing electric trucks and SUVs.
In an article for The Atlantic, Prof. Alan Lightman writes that the Covid-19 pandemic may force “many of us to slow down, to spend more time in personal reflection, away from the noise and heave of the world. With more quiet time, more privacy, more stillness, we have an opportunity to think about who we are, as individuals and as a society.”
MIT researchers are developed a new mobile phone application that would collect information from people about how they are feeling, in an effort to help predict the spread of Covid-19, reports David Halbfinger for The New York Times.
Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray writes that MIT researchers have designed a new face shield that can be rapidly manufactured and delivered to hospitals. “In about a five-day span, thanks to the brilliance of the MIT engineers, we were able to put all this together," said Derek Gagnon, general manager for Polymershapes, the factory producing the shields.
WBUR reporter Zeninjor Enwemeka writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds aggressive measures aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19 could also aid economic recovery. "Our findings suggest that reopening the local economy and lifting these restrictions too rapidly may actually be bad for the economy down the road,” explains Prof. Emil Verner.
Researchers from MIT and the Federal Reserve have found that public health measures like social distancing can help the economy rebound after a pandemic, reports Travis Anderson for The Boston Globe. The researchers found “cities that implemented social distancing and other measures 10 days earlier than other municipalities saw a 5 percent 'relative increase' in manufacturing employment when the pandemic ended, through 1923.”
Newsweek reporter Jason Murdock writes that MIT researchers have developed a blueprint for a device that could convert high-frequency terahertz waves into usable energy. "In theory, the energy could be used to power a cell phone by soaking up the ambient T-waves and using them to help charge the device via an add-on,” writes Murdock.
MIT researchers have developed a potential new drug candidate that could block the coronaviruses’ ability to enter human cells, reports Fast Company. “The researchers have shown that their new peptide can bind to the viral protein that the coronavirus uses to enter human cells, potentially disarming it.”
Boston Globe correspondent Vijee Venkatraman spotlights Point Five, a new nonalcoholic beer created by MIT graduate Ronan McGovern. Venkatraman notes that what makes the Point Five innovation different is “its cold filtration process has greater accuracy of separation, so there is no need to add flavors back.”