In the Media

“It was just kind of one of those things that I’d always wanted to do,” said rising sophomore Matt Guthmiller. Guthmiller plans to spend the summer attempting to become the youngest person to fly around the world solo.

Japanese video artist Sputniko! will be joining the faculty at the Media Lab as an assistant professor, reports Paul Glader for Forbes. “As an emerging player in Japan’s creative industries, Sputniko! represents a bridge between Britain, Japan and the US,” writes Glader.

Mark Shanahan and Meredith Goldstein of The Boston Globe report on a World Cup kick-off party hosted by the MIT Museum and the MIT-Brazil program. “The day’s program included a ball juggling competition, music, and a lesson from MIT applied mathematics professor John Bush about the physics of the sport,” they write.

Washington Post reporter Nia-Malika Henderson highlights several projects being presented at this year’s White House Science Fair, including the search-and-rescue vehicle developed by Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam students Katelyn Sweeney and Olivia Van Amsterdam. 

Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson writes about how Boston researchers are building brain implants aimed at treating mental illnesses suffered by combat veterans.  

“According to a paper by Mr. Autor published Thursday in the journal Science, the true cost of a college degree is about negative $500,000,” David Leonhardt writes in a New York Times piece about David Autor’s research on inequality. 

In this New York Times video, Zach Wise reports on EyeWire, the citizen neuroscience game developed by MIT researchers to map the human brain. “In order to look at the structures of neurons, we have to analyze images, a lot of images. Those images can’t be analyzed completely automatically by computers; we actually need human intelligence,” Sebastian Seung explains. 

New York Times reporter James Gorman explains how EyeWire, the citizen science game developed at MIT to map the human brain, works. “Anyone can sign up online, learn to use the software and start working on what Amy Robinson, the creative director of Eyewire, calls a ‘3-D coloring book,’” Gorman writes.

James Gorman features the work of former MIT Professor Sebastian Seung. Gorman highlights Seung’s work with the citizen science game EyeWire at MIT. 

CNN features a new park bench from the Media Lab designed to use solar energy to charge mobile devices. Researchers hope that technologies like the solar-powered bench will help cities use energy more efficiently.

Shira Springer interviews Dr. Kim Blair, founding director of MIT’s Sports Innovation Program, for this Boston Globe article on wearable technology for athletes. “When wearables become ubiquitous and part of our lives, that’s when they’ve really arrived,” said Blair.

In a piece for The Boston Globe, Kevin Hartnett writes that MIT researchers have developed a new technique for transforming fog into drinking water. 

“Researchers at MIT have teamed up with The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values to launch an iPhone app called 20 Day Stranger, which connects two anonymous strangers for 20 days,” writes Emily Thomas of The Huffington Post. 

CBS Boston reports on freshman Matt Guthmiller, who is attempting to be the youngest person to fly solo around the world. Through his flight, Guthmiller hopes to raise funds for technology education. 

“The dynamic at the Federal Reserve may be about to change,” writes Sara Eisen of CNBC about MIT alumnus and former professor Stanley Fischer’s appointment to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. “Fischer's presence is likely to change the shape of the Fed in a variety of ways.”