Boston Globe reporter Bryan Marquard memorializes Prof. Emeritus David Gordon Wilson, known for his work in the field of mechanical engineering and for spurring interest in recumbent bicycles. Marquard notes that in addition to designing a recumbent bicycle that set a world speed record, Wilson was “decades ahead of some modern-day political proposals that aim to address climate change.”
Writing for The Washington Post, postdoctoral associate Gregory Falco argues that the computer systems operating satellites are vulnerable to cyberattacks. “Computer systems running our satellites haven’t kept up, making them prime targets for an attack,” warns Falco. “This makes our space assets a massive vulnerability — and it could get much worse if we’re not careful.”
Marina Koren writes for The Atlantic about the continued importance of the discoveries that stem from the LIGO and Virgo laser experiments. “There is something called the gravitational-wave memory effect…that comes out of Einstein’s theory of relativity, but it would be nice to see that directly,” says Salvatore Vitale, a physics professor at MIT and a LIGO scientist.
Dr. Sekar Kathiresan, a member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, speaks with NPR’s Richard Harris about his work on an experimental genetic scan that could identify people who are likely to become severely overweight. “This work hopefully will destigmatize obesity and make it very similar to every other disease, which is a combination of both lifestyle and genetics,” said Kathiresan.
In an article for Wired, K. Gretchen Greene, a research affiliate at the Media Lab, argues that the government’s proposed $2 trillion infrastructure plan should include robots. New technologies “offer the possibility of completing projects we otherwise couldn't afford, minimizing disruption, improving safety, and optimizing systems in ways humans working alone could not,” writes Greene.
A new MIT study suggests that “strings of plastic balls dangled in the ocean could harvest enough cobalt for hundreds of thousands of electric car batteries,” reports David Adam for New Scientist. The researchers think the system could “catch enough dissolved cobalt from seawater each year to make a battery for every Tesla Model 3 that has rolled off the production line so far,” says Adam.
Writing for The Conversation, Profs. David Keith and Christopher Knittel examine why the transition to electric vehicles is proving difficult. Keith and Knittel write that drivers should be encouraged to “buy plug-in hybrid vehicles. These vehicles can go up to 50 miles or more without burning any gasoline…yet they still have a gasoline engine to overcome any range anxiety that drivers may experience.”
In an article about how the social messaging app WhatsApp could have a large influence on the upcoming election in India, the Financial Times spotlights postdoctoral associate Kiran Garimella’s work examining how misinformation spreads in India through platforms such as WhatsApp.
Boston Globe reporter Bryan Marquard memorializes the life of alumna Natalie Adelman Taub, known for her pioneering work in Boston’s construction field. “Why should construction be exclusively a man’s field?” said Taub in 1954, after founding her own firm. “There are many fine women architects, designers, and decorators, so why not women contractors?”
WCVB-TV’s Mike Wankum visits the Edgerton Center to learn more about the MIT Motorsports team, a group of students engineering an electric Formula SAE car. “We are here because we love it,” explains team captain and undergraduate Serena Grown-Haeberli. “Getting to see it drive, getting to see it race, sort of caps it off.”
In a column for The Boston Globe, Linda Rodriguez McRobbie spotlights MIT Solve, which connects innovators with leaders from business, the non-profit sector, education and government to tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems. “Solve was founded to amplify good ideas, and so far, it’s working,” writes Rodriguez McRobbie.
Financial Times reporter Hugo Cox highlights how MIT researchers have developed robots that can be used to detect disease in specific regions by sampling sewage. “A local robot takes days to identify an outbreak of flu; the surge in attendance at local hospitals and surgeries typically takes weeks to register,” Cox explains. “And because the information is local, the response can be too.”
CNBC reporter Abigail Hess spotlights how MIT “is one of just a few schools in the country to be considered full-need and need-blind, meaning the school does not consider financial status during acceptance decisions and claims to meet all demonstrated financial need.”
Sky and Telescope editor Monica Young speaks with WBUR about how scientists from the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories, including MIT researchers, may have detected a black hole colliding with a neutron star. Young explains that upgrades made to both observatories should enable investigation of not only individual cosmic events, but also the study of neutron stars and black holes as populations.
Adrian Cho of Science magazine writes that the possible black hole-neutron star merger spotted by LIGO and Virgo would be a “gem for scientists,” but work remains to confirm the signal. Prof. Salvatore Vitale, a LIGO member from MIT, tells Cho: “If you ask me, ‘Would you bet a coffee, your car, or your house on this?’ I would say, ‘I’d bet your car.’”