In an interview with WCVB’s Pam Cross, Professors Matthew Evans and Nergis Mavalvala describe the sounds of the recently detected gravitational waves. “We can listen to things happening in the universe, and this first signal is like the first big bump in the night,” Evans says.
David Shoemaker, director of MIT’s LIGO Lab, speaks with AFP about the day that the LIGO team detected gravitational waves. "It was just at the beginning of this run, when we were all ready to go…that the gravitational wave was observed," he said. "So it was a very exciting moment for us and it took us perfectly by surprise."
In an article and video, USA Today explores the significance of the first detection of gravitational waves. “We have now discovered something that most people don’t see because they don’t have a gravitational wave antenna, but they learn now from us that these things exist and they will learn more about this,” explains Prof. Rainer Weiss.
The New Yorker’s Nicola Twilley writes about the history of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. “Most of us thought that, when we ever saw such a thing, it would be something that you would need many, many computers and calculations to drag out of the noise,” explains Prof. Rainer Weiss.
In this Reuters video, Ben Gruber examines how MIT researchers are working on developing new treatments for diabetes. "What we developed is basically a new material that acts like an invisibility cloak,” explains Prof. Daniel Anderson. “It coats the cells but allows them to function and live but protects them from the immune system.”
Johanna Knapschaefer writes for ENR that MIT researchers have developed a new pavement-vehicle interaction test to measure the amount of fuel saved from driving on repaved highways. “For each road, we know the amount of traffic, the temperature [of the pavement], structural data, material data and GPS coordinates,” explains Prof. Franz-Joseph Ulm.
Wall Street Journal reporter Sue Shellenbarger speaks with Prof. Mitchel Resnick about the benefits of teaching children how to code. Shellenbarger writes that Resnick explained that “coding games and puzzles helps children go beyond a passive role with technology…to seeing it as a tool for creating things, expressing their ideas and sharing them with others.”
New York Times reporter Natalie Angier writes that MIT researchers have identified regions of the brain that react to music. “Why do we have music? Why do we enjoy it so much and want to dance when we hear it?” says Prof. Nancy Kanwisher. “These are the really cool first-order questions we can begin to address.”
In an article for The Boston Globe, Linda Wertheimer writes about “Turning the Tide,” a new report that aims to focus the college admissions process on the whole student. “The right thing is not to overdo it, not to have this push for quantity over quality,” explains MIT Dean of Admissions Stuart Schmill.
John Wyatt, who served as an MIT professor for 36 years and was known for his work developing retinal implants, died on Feb. 3, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. Marquard writes that Wyatt helped found the field of retinal prosthetic research, which was aimed at restoring “sight to those diagnosed with macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa.”
Natalie Angier of The New York Times chronicles her experience having her brain scanned as part of an MIT experiment that reveled the pathways in the brain that respond to music. Angier writes that, “the neuroscience of music is just getting started, and our brains can’t help but stay tuned.”
The Economist reports on a new study co-authored by Prof. David Autor that examines how increased trade between China and the U.S. has impacted American workers. The researchers found that “sudden exposure to foreign competition can depress wages and employment for at least a decade.”
A new paper co-authored by Prof. Parag Pathak found that school-choice systems designed to aid low-income children have not been effective, according to The Economist. The researchers found that while parents like these programs “they often do little for their children’s test scores.”
In an article for Forbes, Bill Hardekopf highlights a new hack-proof chip developed by MIT researchers. Hardekopf explains that the chip could help make credit cards more secure.
MIT Hyperloop team members Philippe Kirschen and Sabrina Ball speak with Mike Nikitas of NECN about the team’s approach to the SpaceX competition. “We wanted to design a pod that was safe, scalable and feasible,” explains Kirschen.” We really focused on the technology that we thought we could develop… that could possibly be applied to a full-scale hyperloop.”