Scientists at MIT have developed spinach plants that can detect and alert people about explosives, reports Matthew Gunther for Scientific American. Grad student Min Hao Wong explains that plants are good sensors as “through the transpiration process, plants draw up water and other analytes from the ground, and can accumulate even trace levels of analytes within [their] tissues.”
President L. Rafael Reif speaks with Cory Johnson of Bloomberg TV about The Engine, a new entity from MIT to support startups tackling humanity’s biggest problems. Reif explains that our innovation ecosystem is geared toward maximizing profits, "but we have a lot of innovation and ideas that are to maximize societal impact and those ought to find a way to the marketplace.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Lee Hotz writes that MIT engineers have developed a flexible airplane wing that could improve a plane’s fuel consumption by improving the wing’s aerodynamics. Hotz explains that the wing’s “elastic airfoil can morph continuously to reduce drag, increase stall angle, and reduce vibration control flutter.”
In a letter to The Boston Globe, graduate student Elizabeth Setren writes about her study examining whether charter schools can help benefit special education and English-language learners. Setren writes that her findings “paint a picture of impressive gains and increased inclusion for special-education students and English-language learners at Boston charters.”
Mickey Edwards of The Los Angeles Times reviews Prof. Heather Hendershot’s book about William Buckley. “Hendershot is clever to have used his 'Firing Line' television show as an introduction to both Buckley and the rise of conservative intellectual opposition to the liberal orthodoxy,” writes Edwards.
CBS News reporter Brian Mastroianni writes that MIT researchers have engineered spinach plants to serve as sensors by embedding the leaves with carbon nanotubes. Mastroianni explains that the researchers feel this work shows that “plants could ultimately serve as great collaborators in helping people better understand the environment around them.”
The Washington Post’s Karin Brulliard writes that MIT researchers have found that like health care costs for humans, the cost of health care spending on pets is rising. Brulliard explains that the researchers found it was “‘noteworthy’ that the parallels between the two systems exist even though insurance and government regulation…are less prevalent in pet health care.”
A study by MIT researchers finds that people who sweat during a low-pressure tasks performed better in stressful conditions than those who didn’t sweat, writes Martha of Money. “Our hypothesis is that the people who were getting a little bit stressed in the calibration [initial] round were getting mentally prepared to do the task,” says Prof. Tauhid Zaman.
In an article for The Atlantic about college museums, Jacoba Urist highlights MIT’s List Visual Arts Center as an example of a campus art institution that also serves as an experimental museum. Urist writes that the List "considers itself a research lab, engaged in a form of scientific inquiry."
Washington Post reporter Sarah Kaplan writes that MIT researchers have developed bionic spinach plants that can detect explosives. Kaplan explains that the researchers were able to “turn plants into bomb-sniffing machines with the help of tiny cylinders of carbon that can detect ‘nitroaromatics’ — chemical compounds often used in explosives.”
Kate Samuelson writes for TIME that MIT engineers have created a method for turning spinach plants into bomb detectors that can wirelessly transmit warning signals. The research "opens the door to the use of wild-type plants for infrared communication in wide areas, and real-time monitoring of environments,” explains Samuelson.
MIT researchers have created bomb-detecting spinach by embedding fluorescent nanoparticles into the plant’s leaves, The Guardian reports. Plants are ideal for this detection system because they “have built-in power sources and are able to move fluids around very efficiently,” explains Prof. Michael Strano.
Quentin Palfrey of J-PAL North America writes for The Hill about steps the Commission on Evidence-based Policymaking can take to support research and policymaking. “Analyzing administrative data to adjust government programs may seem like dry, behind-the-scenes work, but when scaled up to redirect national policies, it can have a significant impact on millions of Americans.”
A study co-authored by MIT researchers finds African-American ridesharing passengers are more likely to experience cancellations and higher wait times, reports Chelsea Bailey for NBC News. "The patterns of discrimination were quite clear and consistent in both cities – and one can only assume it's happening all across the country," explains Prof. Christopher Knittel.
Prof. Christopher Knittel speaks with Lewis Wallace of Marketplace about his study that shows that Uber or Lyft passengers with “African-American sounding” names were more likely to be cancelled on or experience long wait times. “The chances that an Uber driver accepted their ride, observed their name, and then cancelled their ride more than doubled,” says Knittel.