Tamara Dietrich writes for the Daily Press that postdoctoral fellow Or Hen has been awarded the Jefferson Science Associates Thesis Prize, which is “awarded every year for the best Ph.D. student thesis on research conducted at Jefferson Laboratory in Newport News.”
Prof. Ricardo Caballero and his colleagues have found that due to the integrated nature of the world’s financial markets, “a slump in some economies can eventually engulf all of them.” The Economist notes that the researchers found “once a few economies become stuck in the zero-rate trap, their current-account surpluses exert a pull which threatens to drag in everyone else.”
A leading cause of wage stagnation and income inequality is the decline in the number of unions, writes Prof. Thomas Kochan in a Salon article. The solution, he explains, is to reward employees with “their fair share of the profits they help produce” after “drawing on their knowledge, skills and motivation to achieve high levels of productivity and customer service.”
In an NPR article about the difficulty of dispelling political rumors, Danielle Kurtzleben cites a study by Prof. Adam Berinsky that shows trying to correct political myths may only entrench them further.
Carl Straumsheim writes for Inside Higher Ed that instructor grading will be offered in an MITx philosophy MOOC this fall. “You can still achieve scale through partially automating courses, but keeping some bits of human interaction that are really important, like the interaction between you and the person you are writing a paper to,” explains Prof. Caspar Hare.
Edd Gent writes for LiveScience that MIT researchers “have devised a new fabrication process that uses ultraviolet (UV) light to print successive layers of polymers into 3D, Transformer-like structures that ‘remember’ their shapes.”
Graduate student Max Kaplan speaks on PRI’s Science Friday about his work recording the soundscapes of coral reefs. Kaplan explains that researchers can decipher “the health of the reef by listening over relatively long periods of time and looking at what you see in the acoustic records.”
Brian Anthony, director of MIT’s master of engineering in manufacturing program, speaks with Anna Louie Sussman of The Wall Street Journal about preparing workers for today’s manufacturing jobs. Anthony explains that his goal is to make the MIT manufacturing program a “template for then making sector-specific degree programs.”
Michelle Miller reports for CBS This Morning that Rendever, an MIT startup, is developing customized virtual reality experiences for senior citizens. Miller explains that the company is working “towards a future where the physical limitations many seniors face won’t prevent them from attending, say, a granddaughter’s wedding. They’ll be able to travel virtually.”
Paola Cigui highlights how the MIT Museum offers free admission on the last Sunday of the month, from September through June, in Boston Magazine’s list of free things to in Boston. “Take a look at some of their current exhibitions involving photography, artificial intelligence, holography, and many other scientific fields,” Cigui suggests.
A new book by Prof. Carlo Ratti and graduate student Matthew Claudel focuses on the impact technology has on cities, writes Kate Abbey-Lambertz for The Huffington Post. “Ratti and Claudel envision a potential future where new technology ― from individualized heating grids to neighborhood 3D-printing fabrication studios ― ‘weaves into a tapestry of citizen empowerment’.”
MIT researchers have developed a method to 3-D print heat-responsive materials that can remember their original form, reports Rachel Zimmerman for WBUR. Prof. Nicholas Fang explains that this development is "critical for drug delivery — you could deliver a smaller, more tailored dose depending on the temperature change."
Melissa Lott writes for Scientific American that MIT researchers have created a device that generates steam using sunlight and does not require mirrors or lenses to concentrate the sun’s heat. The device could provide an “inexpensive option for applications ranging from the large scale (e.g. desalination and wastewater treatment) to smaller applications (e.g. residential water heating).”
GE is joining MITEI as a sustaining member and will participate in several Low-Carbon Energy Centers, reports Curt Woodward for The Boston Globe. “It’s not enough for a university to develop a technology,” says Robert Armstrong, director of MITEI. “It’s critical to have a partner like GE who can help you get it to people.”
Colin Young and Andy Metzger of State House News write that MIT experts spoke about the need for government investment in long-term energy research during the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers. “A lot of what we really need to truly change our energy infrastructure is going to take a lot more than five years,” Prof. Kristala Prather noted.