During a Times Higher Ed summit, Prof. Shigeru Miyagawa, senior associate dean for open learning, emphasized the importance of integrating attention to ethical implications into AI education, reports Paul Baskin. “My plan is to educate a new generation of young people who will have intuition behind computational thinking,” says Miyagawa.
STAT reporter Sharon Begley writes that Prof. Feng Zhang and his colleagues have turned “a jumping gene — aka a transposon, or mobile genetic element — into a mini TaskRabbit gig worker: With an assist from CRISPR enzymes, it zips over to the part of the genome whose address it is given and delivers a package of DNA, pronto.”
Popular Mechanics reporter Daisy Hernandez writes that MIT researchers have developed an autonomous aquatic boat that can target and latch onto one another to form new structures. Hernandez writes that the boats were conceived “as a way to explore new modes of transportation and help improve traffic flow.”
Boston Business Journal reporter Hilary Burns spotlights the diligent preparation that goes into the reading of graduates’ names and ensuring that MIT’s Commencement ceremony runs smoothly. “We practice. It can be too slow or too fast,” explains Sarah Gallop, one of eight readers. “There is a magic sweet spot in the pace.”
Prof. Amy Glasmeier speaks with New York Times reporter Eric Ravenscraft about the Living Wage Calculator, which uses specific data to estimate the cost of living in different areas of the country. “The question is, can you live on a minimum wage? And the answer is basically, no,” explains Glasmeier.
Mashable highlights how MIT researchers have developed a new system of computationally simple robots inspired by biological cells that can connect in large groups to move around, transport objects and complete tasks. Mashable explains that robots made up of simplistic components, “could enable more scalable, flexible and robust systems.”
TechCrunch reporter Darrell Etherington writes that MIT researchers have developed a new system that enables autonomous boats to latch onto one another to create new structures. Etherington explains that the researchers envision fleets of autonomous boats forming “on-demand urban infrastructure, including stages for concerts, walking bridges or even entire outdoor markets.”
In an article for the Financial Times, Thomas Hale and Andy Bounds spotlights MIT’s role in making Kendall Square an innovation hub. Hale and Bounds write that a 2014 Brookings report noted that MIT “has always emphasised partnerships between the university and industry.”
Motherboard reporter Rob Dozier writes about Glitch, an MIT startup that uses machine learning to design clothing. “These tools are meant to empower human designers,” explains graduate student Emily Salvador. “What I think is really cool about these creative-focused AI tools is that there’s still this really compelling need for a human to intervene with the algorithm.”
Telegraph reporter David Millward explores how MIT researchers are helping make the Greater Boston area a hub for robotics research. “MIT has been really focused on how to accelerate innovation at the university and facilitate its transition outside the university into viable businesses,” explains Elisabeth Reynolds, executive director of the Work of the Future project.
On Science Friday, Prof. David Kaiser speaks with Ira Flatow and Annie Minoff about Albert Michelson, a physicist who was known for his work trying to detect evidence of the luminiferous ether, the hypothetical matter that for years scientists believed light traveled through.
Forbes reporter Joe McKendrick highlights a Nature review article by MIT researchers that calls for expanding the study of AI. “We’re seeing the rise of machines with agency, machines that are actors making decisions and taking actions autonomously," they write. "This calls for a new field of scientific study that looks at them not solely as products of engineering and computer science.”
MIT researchers have found that the universe’s first stars exploded in an aspherical manner, spewing heavy metals into the universe, reports Rachel Cromwell for Scientific American. “This is a beautiful paper,” says Volker Bromm of the University of Texas at Austin, noting that this type of stellar sleuthing is possible only with very high-quality data.
Reporting for NPR, Zeninjor Enwemeka spotlights MIT’s Ethics of Technology course, in which students explore how ethics is essential to their work as engineers and computer scientists. “I'm an ethicist, and I'm especially interested in these questions around ethics of things we make," explains postdoc and course instructor Abby Everett Jaques.
Writing for CNN about designing a spacesuit suitable for Mars, Jackie Wattles spotlights Prof. Dava Newman’s work developing the BioSuit. “Space flight for me is about raising up all of our potential, and it's also about answering the hardest problems I can think of," says Newman. "Designing a suit for an astronaut to go to Mars is about the biggest challenge I can think of.”