In the Media

CNBC reporter Greg Iacurci writes that a new paper by members of MIT’s Task Force on the Work of the Future demonstrates how the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed flaws in unemployment benefits for American workers.

Three years after President L. Rafael Reif delivered an “intellectual call to arms” to examine the impact of technology on jobs, the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future has published its final set of recommendations. “In an extraordinarily comprehensive effort, they included labor market analysis, field studies and policy suggestions for changes in skills-training programs, the tax code, labor laws and minimum-wage rates,” writes Steve Lohr for The New York Times.

Prof. James Collins speaks with Boston 25 reporter Julianne Lima about the growing issue of antibiotic resistant bacteria and his work using AI to identify new antibiotics. Collins explains that a new platform he developed with Prof. Regina Barzilay uncovered “a host of new antibiotics including one that we call halicin that has remarkable activity against multi drug-resistant pathogens.”

Visiting Professor Susan Blumenthal writes for CNN about the need for face mask standards to help stem the spread of Covid-19. “Developing a national certification and labeling system for mask effectiveness, educating about their power for preventing infection, and mandating their use are essential components of protecting individuals and communities from viral spread in America's battle against this pandemic,” writes Blumenthal and her co-author.

Multimedia artist, filmmaker and poet Aldo Tambellini, a former fellow at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies, died on Nov. 12, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. “With multimedia you create an effect that is not based on previous experience,” said Tambellini in an interview in 1967. “You saturate the audience with images. It happens now; it has a live quality. It’s a total experience in itself.”

Fast Company reporter Adele Peters writes that a new mask developed by Prof. Giovanni Traverso is embedded with sensors that change colors when it is properly positioned. “When you put on the mask, if the edge is in contact with the skin, you will have that temperature change indicating that you have contact,” says Traverso. “If not, then there won’t be that color change, and you can tell immediately.”

Popular Mechanics reporter Kyro Mitchell spotlights how MIT researchers have created a new material, inspired by camel fur, that could be used to help insulate food and medical supplies. “Field tests on the new material show that it can provide cooling of more than seven degrees Celsius,” writes Mitchell. “It can also maintain that low temperature for five times longer than using hydrogel alone.”

Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, speaks with Jason Bisnoff of Forbes about how financial advisors should stay engaged with their clients during the Covid-19 pandemic. “If you haven’t had these conversations, you have not displayed that you care about these clients and, by the way, this is the new normal,” says Coughlin.

New York Times reporter J. Hoberman chronicles the life and work of Aldo Tambellini, “a sculptor turned avant-garde filmmaker, pioneer video artist and veteran practitioner of multimedia installations,” who was a fellow at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies from 1976-1984.

Fast Company reporter KC Ifeanyi writes about “Coded Bias,” which explores how graduate student Joy Buolamwini’s “groundbreaking discovery and subsequent studies on the biases in facial recognition software against darker-skinned individuals and women led to some of the biggest companies including Amazon and IBM rethinking their practices.”

New York Times reporter Devika Girish reviews “Coded Bias,” a new documentary that chronicles graduate student Joy Buolamwini’s work uncovering how many AI systems can perpetuate race and gender-based inequities. “When you think of A.I., it’s forward-looking,” says Buolamwini. “But A.I. is based on data, and data is a reflection of our history.”

Smithsonian reporter Corryn Wetzel spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a new technology inspired by camel fur that could be used to keep food and medical supplies chilled. The researchers hope the new system could be applied to “lots of areas that require passive cooling—meaning no external energy needs to power the process. Possible applications include insulating food storage, medical supplies and buildings.”

MIT researchers have created a new material that mimics camel fur and could be used to help keep food and medical supplies cool without electricity, reports Layal Liverpool for New Scientist. “We achieve evaporation and insulation at the same time, extending the cooling period significantly,” explains Prof. Jeffrey Grossman.

Shigeru Miyagawa, senior associate dean for Open Learning, and instructor Meghan Perdue write for Inside Higher Ed about how the transition to online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic may change how educators teach. "What struck us is that this uncontrolled experiment, as a scientist might put it, may lead to a fundamental change in the way we approach education," they write.

Graduate student Lilly Chin, winner of the 2017 Jeopardy! College Championship, reminisces with Tiziana Dearing of Radio Boston about "Jeopardy!" game show host Alex Trebek. “Alex really enjoyed being on the job, but also enjoyed sort of being an uncle to the contestants, as well as America at large,” recalls Chin.