A new study by MIT researchers finds that temperature increases caused by climate change could lead to a reduction in the energy produced by solar panels, reports Scott Snowden for Forbes. The researchers found that “on average, photovoltaic power output reduces by 0.45% for each degree increase in temperature.”
MIT researchers have developed a battery-free underwater sensor and communication system, reports Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch. The system could “allow for real-time sea temperature and marine life monitoring, without requiring regular equipment and power swaps,” explains Etherington.
CSAIL researchers have developed a system that delivers high-quality video streams to multiple devices simultaneously, reports Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch. The system “minimizes stutters due to buffering, and pixelation due to downgraded stream,” Etherington explains, and could have “huge potential benefits for streaming services like Netflix and Hulu that increasingly serve multiple members of a household at once.”
Five MOOCs offered by MIT were named to Class Central’s list of the “Top 100 Online Courses Of All Time,” reports Dhawal Shah for Class Central. MIT was one of only three universities to have five courses in the top 100.
Writing for the Financial Times, graduate student Daniel Aronoff examines the impact of the FedNow banking service, which aims to process and settle individual payments within seconds. FedNow will have a “revolutionary impact on the banking industry and monetary policy,” writes Aronoff. “When depositors are able to move funds costlessly and instantaneously between accounts, it will become feasible to arbitrage between banks in real time.”
A working paper by Prof. Christopher Knittel finds that even “modest” carbon taxes could help reduce carbon emissions as much as vehicle and power plant regulations, reports Ben Geman for Axios. Knittel explains that the study’s findings “underscore the economic power of a carbon tax" compared to "economically inefficient" regulations.
MIT alumna Payal Kadakia speaks with New York Times reporter David Gelles about her startup ClassPass, a platform that allows users to access a myriad of fitness classes. Kadakia explains that she was inspired to attend MIT, as “the curriculum is so mathematical. Everything is numbers. It was this idea of this world that I lived in.”
STAT reporter Kate Sheridan spotlights MIT startup Lyra Therapeutics, which is developing a long-acting treatment for chronic rhinosinusitis.
Verge reporter Justine Calma writes that states in the Midwest and Great Lakes region could see $4.7 billion in health benefits by maintaining current renewable energy standards. “This research shows that renewables pay for themselves through health benefits alone,” explains Emil Dimanchev, senior research associate at MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
A new study by MIT researchers examining the impact of energy policies that reduce fine particulates in the air finds that there are “substantial health benefits in Rust Belt states when utilities are required to supply escalating amounts of renewable power,” reports Ben Geman for Axios.
MIT researchers have developed an AI system that can predict Alzheimer’s risk by forecasting how patients will perform on a test measuring cognitive decline up to two years in advance, reports Casey Ross for STAT.
Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray writes that MIT startup DUST Identity has developed a technique that uses diamond dust to identify counterfeit products. The diamond dust is sprayed onto a product to tag it, and “because the bits of diamond are distributed at random inside the material, no two tags will ever be the same,” Bray explains.
A new paper by MIT researchers finds that instead of raising prices, companies are replying on “shrinkflation - reducing the size of products or their quality while charging the same price,” reports Dion Rabouin for Axios.
Writing for Science, Derek Lowe spotlights how MIT researchers are developing a platform that could be used to automate the production of molecules for use in medicine, solar energy and more. “The eventual hope is to unite the software and the hardware in this area,” reports Lowe, “and come up with a system that can produce new compounds with a minimum of human intervention.”
Forbes contributor Alex Ledsom highlights a study by MIT researchers examining how a spike in attendance at the Louvre has impacted visitor behavior. “People stay for shorter periods of time visiting artwork if there are more people,” Ledsom explains, “but interestingly, people move about the Louvre in the same way regardless of whether they stay for one hour or six. They simply move around the space quicker.”