Wired reporter Lauren Smiley speaks with a number of MIT experts about the growing use of technology as a home health care aid for the elderly. “I would always prefer the human touch over a robot,” explains Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab. “But if there’s no human available, I would take high tech in lieu of high touch.”
Boston Globe reporter Bryan Marquard memorializes the life and work of former MIT Professor Martin Rein, who died at age 89. Marquard writes that throughout his career, Rein, “studied and compared welfare programs in the United States and European countries for much of his career, and in later years examined the income sources people draw from in retirement.”
Boston 25 News reports that MIT researchers have developed a new technique that allows plants to glow in the dark and could potentially be used in the future to transform them into sources of electricity. The researchers demonstrated the technique on several different types of plants, including kale, arugula, spinach, and watercress.
Wall Street Journal reporter Philip Delves Broughton spotlights Visiting Professor and MIT alumnus Jean Tirole’s new book, “Economics for the Common Good.” The book offers, “an ambitious yet accessible summary of his ideas on the proper role of economists and the value of their ideas in informing government, business and social life.”
Prof. Michael Strano speaks with BBC News reporter Alan Kasujja about the technique his team developed to embed nanoparticles into a plant’s leaves so that it can glow in the dark. Strano explains that his team figured out, “how to control where these particles go inside the plant…We can put them right near the biochemical processes where photosynthesis occurs.”
Pamela Danziger of Forbes highlights research by Visiting Prof. Rogelio Oliva in an article about recent declines in retail staff and the resulting drop in retail sales. Retailers “could generate more sales if they staff at the correct level. Stores should staff to maximize sales and profits, not to minimize costs,” explains Oliva.
CSAIL researchers have discovered that some traffic jams are caused by tailgating, writes Thomas Tamblyn for HuffPost. Maintaining an equal distance in front of and behind a vehicle, “could have a dramatic effect in reducing travel time and fuel consumption without having to build more roads or make other changes to infrastructure,” explains Prof. Berthold Horn.
In an article for Fortune, Senior Lecturer Sharmila C. Chatterjee writes that brick-and-mortar stores can compete with online retailers by focusing on designing an attractive shopping experience for customers. “By focusing on their core competencies—one-on-one, human-to-human customer service, sensory-stimulating in-store experiences, and promise of instant gratification—traditional stores have an opportunity to excel where websites falter.”
In this video, Reuters spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a new sensor that can be applied to plant leaves and can identify when a plant is experiencing a water shortage. Prof. Michael Strano explains that the sensor allows users to, “detect the onset of water stress long before the tissue starts to be harmed.”
Forbes reporter Laurie Winkless writes that MIT researchers have found that if drivers maintained fixed distances between the cars in front of and behind them they would be able to reduce traffic jams. “We humans tend to view the world in terms of what’s ahead of us, so it might seem counter-intuitive to look backwards,” explains Prof. Berthold Horn.
Despite new discoveries regarding Henry Purcell’s opera “Dido and Aeneas,” mystery remains, writes Prof. Emeritus Ellen Harris in The New York Times. Even with the lack of certainty surrounding details that provide understanding of a piece of music, “the history of ‘Dido and Aeneas’ has only grown richer as we have discovered how little we actually know,” concludes Harris.
CNN reporter Matt McFarland writes that CSAIL researchers have proposed that outfitting cars with cruise control systems that maintain equal distances between cars could help alleviate phantom traffic jams. The researchers’ simulations showed, “keeping the same distance between the vehicle in front and the vehicle trailing a car prevents traffic jams.”
Boston Globe reporter Tim Logan writes that Roche Bros. Supermarkets will open a Brothers Market in MIT’s One Broadway Building. Steve Marsh, managing director of MIT’s Real Estate Group, explained that a grocery store was, “so important to those who live and work in Kendall that we worked to incorporate it in the earliest possible phase of our development.”
CSAIL researchers have found that if drivers could maintain an equal distance between cars they would be able to reduce the number of traffic jams, reports Matt Burgess for Wired. The researchers found that, “by adding sensors to the back of cars that take into account the speed of following vehicles, it will be possible to better regulate traffic.”
MIT spinout Ginkgo Bioworks has not only maintained its founding members, but also recently raised $275 million from investors, writes Matthew Herper for Forbes. Herper predicts that excitement surrounding synthetic biology companies will continue because “private money is getting excited about the idea of designing biology.”