Frank Press - a former Institute Professor, Life Member Emeritus of the MIT Corporation, and president of the National Academy of Sciences – has died at age 95, reports Neil Genzlinger for The New York Times. Genzlinger notes that Press, “was a key voice in American science policy.”
Forbes reporter Anna Powers that MIT researchers have developed a way to make sodium-ion batteries more energy efficient. Powers notes that the development “was accomplished by tuning the battery composition through the addition of manganese.”
Senior lecturer Ben Shields writes for WBUR about why it is so expensive to be a sports fan. “Giving fans the ‘ultimate social experience’ is one way to justify the price tag that comes along with sports fandom,” writes Shields. “It’s also one of the reasons the cost of being a fan has grown at such a rapid rate.”
Washington Post reporter Emily Langer memorializes the life and work of Frank Press, a former Institute Professor and Life Member Emeritus of the MIT Corporation. Press, who served as science adviser to President Jimmy Carter and president of the National Academy of Sciences, “forged his careers in science and government during a period when the two fields intersected in consequential ways.”
Financial Times columnist John Thornhill writes about a recent trip to MIT to hear “inspiring tales of entrepreneurial endeavor,” spotlighting the work of Profs. Robert Langer, Asu Ozdaglar and Kripa Varanasi. “It is my duty to make something that solves an important problem,” says Varanasi of the inspiration for his work. “It is all about the problem.”
Writing for The Boston Globe, Prof. Iyad Rahwan explores the complex issue of whether AI assistants should be designed to reveal that they are machines. “Although there is broad consensus that machines should be transparent about how they make decisions, it is less clear whether they should be transparent about who they are,” writes Rahwan.
Forbes contributor James Jennings spotlights Prof. Andrew Lo’s book “Adaptive Markets: Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought.” Jennings writes that Lo “proposes a new theory he calls the ‘Adaptive Markets Hypothesis,’ which seeks to synthesize the theories of the behavioral school of investing (investors are biased and irrational) and the efficient markets school (investors are rational, profit-maximizing machines).”
Prof. David Mindell writes for Forbes about the history of NASA spaceflight accidents. “If I were a young astronaut looking forward to an exciting career in a new era of human spaceflight,” writes Mindell, “I’d be asking some tough questions.”
President Emerita Susan Hockfield, Prof. Sangeeta Bhatia and Prof. Nancy Hopkins have convened a working group to increase the number of women in biotech. “We’ve been talking about the 40 companies that haven’t happened because women haven’t had the opportunity,” said Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president of research. “If a number of those 40 companies had come to pass, people would have treatments today that they don’t have.”
STAT reporter Sharon Begley spotlights how President Emerita Susan Hockfield and Profs. Sangeeta Bhatia and Nancy Hopkins are tackling the gender imbalance in biotech. “Our working hypothesis is that engagement [on scientific advisory boards and boards of directors] can help increase the number” of women-founded biotechs,” Bhatia explains.
Fast Company reporter Arianne Cohen writes that a new study by Prof. Arnold Barnett finds flying today is much safer than it was in the past. Barnett examined flight safety from 2008 to 2017 and found that “globally, flying today is six times safer than 30 years ago, and 22 times safer than 50 years ago.”
ArtNet reporter Zachary Small writes that Christine Sun Kim, who has an upcoming exhibition at the MIT List Visual Arts Center, will deliver her American Sign Language rendition of the National Anthem during the Super Bowl.
In an article for The Boston Globe, Damian Garde spotlights how research universities like MIT help make it possible to bring new medical treatment from the lab to fruition and contribute to the thriving biotechnology sector in Cambridge and Boston.
Prof. Andrew Sutherland writes for The Conversation about his new research that demonstrates testing investment advisors on their knowledge of ethics often leads to better behavior. “Those who were tested more rigorously on questions of ethics ended up having fewer episodes of misconduct,” writes Sutherland. “They are also less likely to tolerate scandals at their firms.”
MIT is launching a new master’s in data, economics and development policy for which students can gain admissions based on their performance in online courses, reports Paul Basken for Times Higher Education. Basken notes that the goal of the program is to enable “students from around the world who have the ability and motivation to succeed but lack the traditional credentials for entry.”