Prof. Junot Díaz speaks with Boston Globe reporter James Sullivan about his new children’s book, “Islandborn.” The book was inspired by two of his godchildren, who asked him to write a book featuring kids that looked like them. Díaz related to their request, noting that as a child, he felt “the world I was immersed in wasn’t represented at all.”
UPI reporter Alan Mozes writes that MIT researchers have developed a new capsule that could be used to deliver a week’s worth of HIV medications in a single dose. “The new pill sits in the stomach for a full week, as each of seven pill compartments opens up, one-by-one, to deliver a 24-hour dose of three HAART drugs,” Mozes explains.
During a broad-ranging conversation with Tom Moroney of Bloomberg News, President L. Rafael Reif discusses why education, the free-flow of talent and federal investment in fundamental scientific research are key components to America's success. Reif explains that, in his view, the foundation of our future is, “talent and believing that our research and investments will benefit the American economy.”
Neural networks developed by CSAIL researchers that can identify the contents of images, videos, and audio are the basis for a new system that has added background sound to Google Street View, writes Mark Wilson of Co.Design.
WBUR’s Fred Thys reports on how MIT faculty members are drawing on their experience with online courses to design more immersive case studies. “We really want students to feel like they're on the ground with us, investigating with us what is going on in a particular place,” explains Danya Sherman of the MIT Case Study Initiative.
Writing for HuffPost, Senior Lecturer Otto Scharmer reviews some of the major events of 2017 and looks forward to the potential for change in the new year. “Although as a civilization we are still heading in the wrong direction on many counts, many innovative and eco-system-aware people are doing great work in numerous contexts,” writes Schramer.
Prof. Kerry Emanuel spoke about the work of former MIT professor Fred Sanders, who is credited with coining the term “bombogenesis." “Sanders described it kind of like a storm supercharged by a bomb…That term was quickly adopted in weather circles and, increasingly now, in popular parlance,” writes Edgar B. Herwick III for WGBH.
A new study by MIT researchers found that the Clean Air Act has had a larger impact on reducing the mortality rate than originally thought, reports Alan Moses for U.S. News & World Report. The researchers found that, “the decline in organic aerosol may account for more lives saved than the EPA had estimated.”
Researchers at MIT have developed a process that can produce strong ultrafine nanofibers that can potentially be used in armor, reports Xinhua. The newly developed fibers “combine the desirable qualities of strength, stiffness and toughness in ways that outperform glass fibers or steel wire,” the article explains.
Prof. Michael Strano spoke with CNN’s Nicola Davison about his recent work making plants glow. "We're thinking about how we can engineer plants to replace functions of the devices that we encounter every day. The things that we make out of plastic and circuit boards -- can we replace those with a living plant?" said Strano.
In a Vox article about the increasing scalability of solar photovoltaic power, David Roberts highlights solar cells developed by Prof. Vladimir Bulovic. The solar cells are, “so small and light they could sit atop a soap bubble without popping it,” explains Roberts.
Washington Post reporter Matthew Cappucci highlights how the late MIT Prof. Frederick Sanders coined the term “bomb cyclone” to describe a rapid drop in atmospheric pressure. Sanders’ former student, Prof. John R. Gyakum, explained that the term was created in an effort to, “help raise awareness that damaging ocean storms don’t just happen during the summer.”
Writing for The Washington Post, Prof. Charles Stewart examines the disbanding of the election integrity commission and possible next steps for improving voting security. “The two most important issues right now are replacing the nation’s aging voting machines and making the information systems surrounding elections more secure and resilient in the face of mounting threats."
Boston Globe reporter David Weininger spotlights Prof. Peter Child’s new work, “Lamentations.” Child explains that the piece focuses on, “the crisis we’re living through in terms of migrant people and refugees and undocumented people here in the United States . . . whole peoples being maligned and ignored who are suffering and are constantly stateless.”
Tony Dokoupil of CBS This Morning visits MIT to learn more about how researchers are working on developing robots that will improve our daily lives. Dokoupil highlights how researchers are, “perfecting the material for a new breed of robot – one that's light and flexible,” adding that the researchers hope, “we'll be able to wear the robot like Tony Stark in ‘Iron Man’."