In the Media

The Christian Science Monitor’s Peter Spotts reports on new MIT research that finds volcanoes may be the cause of a recent hiatus in the rise of global surface temperatures.

“With the push of a button Monday, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology resumed efforts to try to harness the process that powers the sun — nuclear fusion — in the hope of developing a stable, nonpolluting source of energy,” reports The Boston Globe’s Erin Ailworth on the restarting of MIT’s Alcator C-mod fusion reactor.

WBUR reporter Carey Goldberg highlights a new technique developed by MIT researchers, “just out in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that describes success in diagnosing cancer with a simple, paper-based test — an advance that could be particularly important for the developing countries where 70 percent of cancer deaths now occur.”

WBUR reports that, “now that federal funding has been restored for a fusion energy research project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is proposing long-term funding for the project.”

In a Scientific American podcast, Cynthia Graber reports on new findings from MIT researchers that show the End Permian extinction, the largest mass extinction, was the fastest mass extinction.

Olivia B. Waxman reports on new MIT technology that could help people with visual impairments read with greater ease. As reported in TIME, to operate the “FingerReader” users run the device over text, which is read back to them.

New York Times reporter Carl Zimmer examines Sam Bowring’s work to understand the largest mass extinction of animal life. Zimmer reports that Bowring found the extinction lasted less than 60,000 years, which could help researchers identify what triggered the die-off.

“A group of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Alpert Medical School of Brown University proposed Wednesday that fecal transplants be regulated similarly to tissue or blood,” writes Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson in a piece about fecal transplants.

MIT Professor Tonio Buonassisi speaks about the current state of the solar power industry and the future of renewable energy on NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook.

Amanda Schaffer reports on Professor Linda Griffith’s work with endometriosis in The New Yorker, explaining how Griffith, “analyzed how a whole network of cells and molecules interacts in some patients to cause inflammation, which triggers pain and may also spur the disease’s progression.”

Media Lab visiting scientist Ben Waber states his case for why he feels sumo wrestling offers the most effective model for employee retention. In sumo, wrestlers are provided with increased job security and financial incentives for loyalty and performance.

MIT graduate student Jennifer Schloss presents a seven-step survival guide for staying motivated in graduate school in this Inside Higher Ed piece.

The New York Times examines the work of MIT startup OpenBiome, which is aimed at providing doctors with, “safe, inexpensive fecal material from screened donors to treat patients with Clostridium difficile.”

Reporter Lisa Grossman interviews MIT Professor Anna Frebel about her work searching for the oldest, living stars in the universe, and her recent discovery of a star almost as old as the universe.

Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson writes about how MIT researchers have created a toolset to predict how hair curls. Findings could be used to create realistic animated characters, as well as in the telecommunications, medical, or oil and gas industries.