In the Media

As part of the Underworlds program, MIT researchers are testing sewage samples for insight into disease outbreaks, superbugs and other health issues in communities. “By testing raw sewage, public-health officials may be able to conduct a health checkup on a city or neighborhood in real time,” writes Lisa Ward for The Wall Street Journal.

Prof. Neil Gershenfeld speaks with Adam Shaw of BBC Horizons about how the fabrication labs he started at the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms have spread around the world. Gershenfeld explains that Fab Labs “are places where ordinary people can go and they can turn data into things and things into data,” adding that they are part of the maker revolution.

WBUR’s Will Sullivan spoke with Research Scientist Felice Frankel about the new MIT Museum exhibit on science photography, which features images by Frankel, the late MIT Prof. Harold "Doc" Edgerton and Berenice Abbott. Frankel explains that to her science photography is “an art of discovery.”

Ian Sample of The Guardian writes that a new study co-authored by Prof. Iyad Rahwan highlights forthcoming issues for autonomous vehicles. “[D]riverless cars that occasionally sacrificed their drivers for the greater good were a fine idea, but only for other people,” says Sample.

John Markoff writes for The New York Times that a new study co-authored by MIT Prof. Iyad Rahwan finds that drivers are conflicted when it comes to the ethics of autonomous vehicles. Prof. Rahwan and his colleagues found that “what people really want to ride in is an autonomous vehicle that puts its passengers first.”

Prof. David Autor spoke with The Economist about the impact of artificial intelligence and automation on jobs. “This notion that there’s only a finite amount of work to do, and therefore that if you automate some of it there’s less for people to do, is just totally wrong,” he says.

A study by Prof. Iyad Rahwan of the Media Lab finds that while people want autonomous vehicles that minimize casualties, they ultimately want the car they’re driving in to prioritize passengers over pedestrians, writes Amy Dockser Marcus of The Wall Street Journal.

Dean of Admissions Stuart Schmill spoke with The Boston Globe’s Michael Levenson about the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold affirmative action. The decision “reaffirms the value of diversity in higher education and our ability to achieve that diversity,” said Schmill.

A new study co-authored by Prof. Iyad Rahwan grapples with the ethics of autonomous vehicles, writes Hal Hodson for New Scientist. When it comes to saving passengers versus pedestrians, researcher worry the findings will “[limit] the promise of this technology to dramatically cut road deaths.”

Researchers at the Media Lab believe it’s possible to virtually transfer thoughts to an artificial intelligence entity that continues to live after we’ve died, writes Dan Tynan for The Guardian. “My ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between life and death by eternalizing our digital identity,” says Visiting Prof. Hossein Rahnama.

Ethan Zuckerman, Director of the Center for Civic Media, writes for The Atlantic about technology’s role in solving social problems. “[I]t’s rare that technology provides a robust solution to a social problem by itself. Successful technological approaches to solving social problems usually require changes in laws and norms, as well as market incentives to make change at scale.”

CSAIL researchers used videos of popular TV shows to train an algorithm to predict how two people will greet one another. “[T]he algorithm got it right more than 43 percent of the time, as compared to the shoddier 36 percent accuracy achieved by algorithms without the TV training,” notes Janet Burns in Forbes.

Baby Boomers are counting on technology to make aging easier, writes Robert Weisman for The Boston Globe. Prof. Joe Coughlin’s work at the AgeLab, and companies by Prof. Bob Langer and Prof. Leonard Guarente, are cited for their attempts to do just that.

Prof. Kevin Esvelt and his team at the Media Lab hope to make gene drives safer by splitting genes into three or more elements, writes New Scientist. “If it works, it could allow a gene drive to be tested locally, to combat malaria, say, without spreading to other cities,” the article notes.

Janissa Delzo writes for CNN that MIT researchers have developed a platform to 3-D print thousands of hair-like structures in minutes. "The purpose of this project is looking beyond the aesthetic perspective," explains graduate student Jifei Ou. "What kind of new functionality can we bring to the material?"