Just in time for Halloween, MIT researchers have launched a website that uses algorithms to generate scary images based off of pictures of popular landmarks and public figures, reports Rebecca Hersher for NPR. The deep-learning algorithm creates “artistic images of high perceptual quality based on examples of images created by humans,” Hersher reports.
Alyssa Newcomb writes for NBC News about the Nightmare Machine, a new system developed by MIT researchers that generates scary images based off of familiar faces and locations. “The Nightmare Machine gets scarier with help from humans, who are asked to vote on which images are the scariest,” Newcomb explains.
A study by MIT researchers is providing more information about how the brain stores and processes social memories, writes Hallie Smith for Boston Magazine. Smith explains that, in the future, the findings may be applicable to autism research and therapy.
President L. Rafael Reif speaks with Federico Kukso of El País about the MIT Campaign for a Better World and the need to educate students prepared to tackle society’s most pressing challenges. MIT is “an intellectually explosive, unique place,” says Reif, adding that “we value intelligence, passion, curiosity.”
STAT reporter Meghana Keshavan speaks with Prof. Guoping Feng about his new research that shows glial cells “very actively participate in direct neuronal function — particularly in the brain areas that control appetite, energy and metabolism.” The findings could help spur the development of weight loss medications.
In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Sparshott writes that a study co-authored by Prof. Scott Stern shows that while tech companies in Massachusetts are generating ideas and creating companies “those ventures aren’t breaking out into successful big companies.”
President L. Rafael Reif appeared on CBS This Morning to discuss innovation and research for a better world with Charlie Rose and Margaret Brennan. “At MIT, and places like MIT, you can actually see the future,” said Reif.
Boston Globe reporter Sebastian Smee writes about Edgar Arceneaux’s new exhibit “Written in Smoke and Fire,” which is currently on display at the MIT List Visual Arts Center. Smee writes that Arceneaux’s installation “'Until, Until, Until. . .’ is a brilliant work.”
Scott Clement of The Washington Post writes that researchers at the Laboratory for Social Machines have found that while the majority of Twitter conversation concerning the presidential campaign has centered around Donald Trump over the past week and a half, “battlegrounds differed in what particular issues or themes they focused on.”
Advanced LIGO, the gravitational wave detection system developed by MIT and Caltech, is featured on a Popular Science list of the greatest innovations of the year. Shannon Palus and Jenn Schwartz write that observing gravitational waves “lets scientists plot the history of the universe and spot events like supernovas.”
In an article for The Washington Post, Prof. Charles Stewart III explains that since the 2012 election, voter confidence in the election process has become increasingly polarized. “Democrats are now more confident in an accurate vote count — for their vote or nationwide. Republicans, meanwhile, have changed little,” Prof. Stewart writes.
MIT, Boston Medical Center and Post Office Square Redevelopment Corp. are joining forces to purchase solar power from a new solar farm being constructed in North Carolina, writes Jessica Bartlett for the Boston Business Journal. Bartlett writes that the project is “the largest renewable-energy project ever to be constructed in the U.S. through an alliance of different buyers.”
BostInno reporter Olivia Vanni writes that MIT, Boston Medical Center and Post Office Square Redevelopment Corp. have formed an alliance to purchase energy from a new solar power installation. “The amount of yearly clean energy generated from the project is 146 gigawatt-hours, which could lead to a reduction of 119,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions,” writes Vanni.
Washington Post reporter Carolyn Johnson writes that a study by Prof. Amy Finkelstein finds that expanding Medicaid access increases emergency room visits. “People who gained Medicaid visited the emergency room about 65 percent more often than individuals who did not gain Medicaid in the first six months -- and the trend continued out to two years.”
Writing for The Huffington Post, Adi Gaskell highlights how CSAIL researchers have developed system to help robots work together successfully. Gaskell explains that the system allows three robots to “work successfully together to ensure items are delivered accurately in an unpredictable environment.”