EAPS postdoc Julien de Wit and his colleagues have analyzed the atmospheres of two potentially habitable exoplanets, reports Alan Yuhas for The Guardian. Based off their observations, de Wit explains that the atmospheres of the planets are probably similar to a “terrestrial planet like Mercury, Venus, Mars and Earth.”
A double transit of two Earth-sized exoplanets allowed an international team of scientists, led by postdoc Julien de Wit, to conduct an atmospheric analysis, writes Vivian Wang for The Boston Globe. The researchers found that “the planets have rocky, rather than gaseous, terrain, and compact, rather than loose, atmospheres — all further indication that they are potentially habitable.”
New findings from EAPS postoc Julien de Wit shows that two previously discovered exoplanets 40 light years from Earth have rocky surfaces, which “represent a unique opportunity to go looking for conditions that would favor life,” writes Rachel Feltman for the The Washington Post.
Prof. Kevin Esvelt is taking his genetically modified mice proposal for fighting Lyme disease to Martha’s Vineyard, says Carey Goldberg of WBUR. “Everyone would agree we should decide this in New England town hall debate at the local level, rather than handing it over to scientists like me to make unilateral decisions. I’m not for that,” says Prof. Esvelt
CSAIL researchers recently presented an algorithm that teaches computers to predict sounds, writes Kevin Hartnett for The Boston Globe. The ability to predict sounds will help robots successfully navigate the world and “make sense of what’s in front of them and figure out how to proceed,” writes Hartnett.
Indira Lackshmanan of WBUR’s Radio Boston speaks to Profs. Joe Formaggio and David Kaiser about their recent quantum theory discovery involving neutrinos. “Do they move through matter without having a definite identity? Our finding is that really they do,” says Kaiser.
In an article for Popular Science, Ryan Mandelbaum writes that a new method to detect nuclear weapons, developed by Prof. R. Scott Kemp and colleagues, could one day help countries achieve disarmanent. "Countries are trying to disarm," explains Mandelbaum, "but the weapons inspectors' existing detection methods... aren't great."
Laura Krantz writes for The Boston Globe about MIT senior Vincent Anioke’s essay on the admissions website, "part of an uncommonly open discussion being fostered at MIT about the racial tension gripping the country." Krantz also highlights posts by undergrads Ben Oberlton and Selam Jie Gano, a recent community forum, and letter from MIT President L. Rafael Reif.
Associate Prof. Scott Aaronson answers the question “Is machine learning currently overhyped?” for Forbes. “I suppose it’s less interesting to me to look at the sheer amount of machine learning hype than at its content. Almost everyone in the 1950s knew that computers were going to be important, but they were often wildly wrong about the reasons,” he writes.
Taste in music is based on culture and not biology according to a new study by Prof. Josh McDermott, writes Emily Reynolds for Wired UK. The Tsimane' tribe the researchers surveyed plays music one line at a time, not simultaneously like Western countries, and they had no preference for dissonant and consonant sounds.
Research Associate Jim Walsh discusses Turkey’s attempted coup on Here & Now with Meghna Chakrabarti. Regarding the affect the arrests of top officials will have on Turkey’s ability to fight international terrorism he says, “It sort of takes Turkey out of the game…they’re going to be concerned with their own house, they’re not going to be concerned with the region.”
Prof. R. Scott Kemp and his colleagues have created a new method for identifying nuclear warheads without revealing sensitive information, writes Emily Benson of New Scientist. "The technique offers a way out of a tricky catch-22," explains Benson.
Science magazine’s Ben Panko describes a new technique developed by Prof. R. Scott Kemp and colleagues that "nuclear inspectors can use to verify whether a warhead is active, inactive, or a fake—all without learning anything about its design." Panko refers to the method as "a kind of physical encryption that allows warhead scanning without revealing too much."
Loukia Papadopoulos explains her favorite quotes by Prof. Donald Sadoway on the future of clean energy. “When Sadoway began his work on the liquid metal battery, he purposely ignored many established paradigms in his own field and chose instead to reach across disciplines to generate new insight,” writes Papadopoulos in The Huffington Post.
In an article for Forbes, Sloan alumna Isabel Fernandez-Mateo describes research she conducted with Prof. Roberto Fernandez examining the lack of female candidates placed by hiring firms. “My research suggests that the glass ceiling starts to appear much earlier in the process than previously thought,” she writes.