An AI system created by MIT researchers can predict how physical objects move through the world with human-like accuracy, reports Curt Woodward for BetaBoston. “Where humans learn to make such judgments intuitively, we essentially had to teach the system each of these properties,” explains postdoc Ilker Yildirim.
In an article for New Scientist, Liz Else writes about Prof. Sherry Turkle’s new book, in which she calls for people to put down their phones and talk to one another in person. Else writes that Turkle “is really making a passionate bid for us to remain human in the way we always have been.”
A study by researchers from MIT and Dartmouth finds that an airline tarmac rule may lead to more delays, reports Hugo Martin for The Los Angeles Times. The study finds that airlines are “more likely to cancel flights that are delayed to avoid being fined by the Department of Transportation, thus creating more passenger delays.”
Senior Lecturer Bill Aulet writes for The Boston Globe about whether Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker can “pull off something rarely seen in business and even less often in politics — to be both a great manager and a great leader.”
Jonathan Webb reports for BBC News that MIT researchers have developed a “molten glass sewing machine.” "It does exactly what a sewing machine does," explains applied mathematics instructor Pierre-Thomas Brun. "You go from a thread, to patterns which are tied to each other like stitching patterns - but this time they're made out of glass."
In an article for a Wall Street Journal section on predictions for 2016, Prof. Frank Wilczek writes that physicists will soon be able to detect gravitational waves. Gravitational waves will, Wilczek explains, allow scientists to “monitor some of the most violent, dramatic events the universe has to offer.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Brenda Cronin writes that MIT researchers have identified a group of consumers that routinely buy products that fail. “You’ve got to think about who’s buying” the product, explains Prof. Duncan Simester. “If it’s these harbingers buying them….and if they keep buying them…then you’ve got a problem.”
MIT researchers have created an algorithm that can identify what traits make an image memorable, reports Matt McFarland for The Washington Post. The algorithm could prove useful in developing educational tools as “textbooks and teaching aids could start to use visual aids that have been proven to stick in our heads,” McFarland explains.
MIT solar, wind, energy storage, and nuclear innovations are among the eight technology breakthroughs of 2015 recognized by National Geographic editor Wendy Koch. Discussing MIT’s approach to addressing climate change, MIT Energy Initiative Director Robert Armstrong says, “We’re problem solvers here, so there’s nothing like a great challenge.”
MIT researchers are developing a new computer chip to increase efficiency and decrease the carbon footprint of cloud computing, reports Daniela Hernandez for The Huffington Post. Hernandez explains that the chip “uses light, instead of electricity, as the highway for information.”
MIT researchers have found that few incentives exist to encourage research on disease prevention, reports Austin Frakt for The New York Times. “R & D on cancer prevention and treatment of early-stage cancer is very socially valuable,” Profs. Heidi Williams and Ben Roin explain, “yet our work shows that society provides private firms…surprisingly few incentives.”
In an article for The Washington Post about artificial intelligence, Joel Achenbach speaks with MIT researchers about the future of the field. Speaking about the current state of AI, Prof. Daniela Rus explains that “there are tasks that are very easy for humans — clearing your dinner table, loading the dishwasher, cleaning up your house — that are surprisingly difficult for machines.”
Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham writes about the MIT team working to develop a Hyperloop transportation system. “The Hyperloop would be a system of near-vacuum tubes that sends levitating pods from one place to another at 760 miles per hour,” Graham explains.
Writing for The Boston Globe, Sebastian Smee writes that 2015 “was a banner year for great artists and curators who just happened to be women.” In his article, Smee highlights the work of Prof. Emeritus Joan Jonas, who represented the U.S. at the Venice Biennale this year.
Prof. Jeremiah Johnson has been named one of STAT's people to watch in Kendall Square in 2016. "The focus in Kendall square tends to be on commercializing discoveries, but Johnson is one of many scientists whose work shows basic research still has a home in the neighborhood," writes reporter Andrew Joseph.