Writing for CNBC, Hazma Ali reports on new MIT research showing that humans prefer to receive orders from robots rather than humans. "Our findings showed that our subjects strongly preferred when the robot scheduled the work of the team,” explains graduate student Matthew Gombolay.
In a piece for The New York Times about poverty in America, Thomas B. Edsall highlights Professor David Autor’s work examining unemployment rates of American men. Autor and graduate student Melanie Wasserman found that for boys, “growing up in a single-parent home appears to significantly decrease the probability of college attendance.”
In a piece for WBUR, Tom LeCompte interviews Professor John Leonard about the future of self-driving cars. Leonard believes that self-driving cars could be developed to handle even Boston’s notoriously difficult traffic. “Robots should just be able to navigate the way we navigate,” says Leonard.
BBC News reporter Victoria Gill writes about new MIT research showing that the tiny hairs, or cilia, on corals draw in nutrients by stirring up water. "Corals could provide a general model for understanding ciliary processes related to disease," says MIT Professor Roman Stocker.
“Labor Day traditions call for celebrating worker struggles of the past that helped produce better working conditions for all. This year we have a bona fide case in our backyard that may just usher in a new era of workplace dynamics that future labor commentators will herald,” writes Prof. Thomas Kochan in a piece for Boston.com about the Market Basket protests.
U.S. News & World Report’s Alan Neuhauser writes about the MIT taxi-sharing study. "This research shows what would happen if people have sharing as an option. And that choice is becoming increasingly popular, as the availability of real time information in our pockets allows us to make immediate, informed decisions based on our needs and resources," says Prof. Carlo Ratti.
Michael Casey of Fortune reports on the new MIT study that examines taxi sharing in New York City. The researchers found that more than 95 percent of taxi trips could be shared with only a minimal inconvenience to passengers.
BetaBoston reporter Nidhi Subbaraman examines new MIT research on the benefits of sharing a cab. The researchers found that implementing a taxi-sharing system “would translate to cuts in emissions and traffic congestion, as well as untold improvements to the sanity of commuters stuck in rush-hour traffic,” Subbaraman writes.
Kenneth Chang and Joshua Krisch report for The New York Times on the new MIT study showing that if New Yorkers shared taxis they could significantly reduce cumulative trip lengths, which would help alleviate traffic and air pollution in the city.
Nicole Skinner writes for Nature about how MIT researchers have developed a new technique to test for malaria. The new method only requires a tiny droplet of blood to check for malaria and can provide a diagnosis within minutes.
Daniel Akst of The Wall Street Journal writes about new MIT findings that could make pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) a more feasible technique for producing power from two streams of different salinity.
The Economist reports on how MIT researchers have developed an algorithm that predicts the perceived safety of different streets based off of visual cues. The researchers hope to use their research results to generate guidelines for how to make an urban area look safe and lively.
In a piece for Forbes, Josh Wolfe interviews Prof. Edward Boyden about his work with optogenetics and his new research at MIT. “I’m very excited about these new kinds of microscopes that we’re building that allow you to map all the neural activity in a complete organism,” says Boyden of his current work.
Amina Khan of the Los Angeles Times explores new MIT research into how the brain links memories with positive and negative emotions. “Recording memory is not like playing a tape recorder, but it is a creative process -- sometimes even leading to an entirely false memory,” explains Prof. Susumu Tonegawa.
Boston Magazine reporter Andrea Timpano writes about how MIT researchers have developed a technique to reverse the emotions associated with specific memories in mice. The new technique uses light to manipulate brain cells and control neuron activity.