In the Media

John McDermott of The Financial Times interviews Professor Junot Díaz about his childhood, his career as an author and teaching at MIT.  

Callum Borchers of The Boston Globe writes about MIT startup Phoodeez, an online catering service that, “handles just about every aspect of a client’s meal plan. It can supply a smorgasbord of cuisines, keeps track of gluten-free dishes and other dietary needs, and plans a different menu for the office every week.”

In a piece for Wired, Robert McMillan examines new MIT research showing that computers “powered by the latest ‘deep learning’ algorithms,” are catching up in tests that compare their intelligence to those of monkeys. 

Wall Street Journal reporter Elizabeth Yuan writes about the OrigamiUSA convention and Professor Erik Demaine’s talk about his work designing multi-functional origami systems that can be programmed. “You can imagine a piece of furniture that turns into a chair, folds into an umbrella, anything you want,” Demaine explains. 

Gill Plimmer of The Financial Times interviews Professor Graham Jones about how social media has influenced how people gossip. “English speakers are increasingly talking not just about what other people say and do, but about the thoughts and feelings behind their words,” writes Plimmer. 

Hal Hodson writes for The New Scientist about the Smart Morphable Surface developed by Professor Pedro Reis. The surface dimples into different depths and patterns to create the best aerodynamics for the conditions.

In a piece for Slate, Jane Hu examines a new study that finds that elite male faculty members in the life sciences tend to hire fewer women than their female counterparts. “Fifty-two percent of biology Ph.D.s are women, but their representation shrinks to 39 percent at the postdoc level, and only 18 percent at the tenured professor level,” Hu reports. 

Nature reporter Elizabeth Gibney examines a new study that highlights gender bias in elite research labs. “We do think that maybe this shows the need for elite faculty members to make a stronger, more proactive effort to reach out to talented women,” says graduate student Jason Sheltzer.

New York Times reporter Dennis Overbye reviews “The Signal,” a new film based on three fictional MIT students. 

BBC News reports on new efforts to integrate robot-assisted training into the rehabilitation process for stroke victims. "The whole concept is revolutionising the practice of rehabilitation medicine by applying robotics that can assist and enhance recovery," explains Dr. Hermano Igo Krebs.

Carolyn Johnson writes for The Boston Globe about research by graduate student Jason Sheltzer that indicates that male professors are less likely to employ females at top U.S. research institutions. “[M]ale professors employed 11 percent fewer female graduate students and 22 percent fewer female postdoctoral researchers than do women professors," writes Johnson.

Institute Professor Noam Chomsky writes for The Huffington Post about how U.S. foreign policy is determined. Chomsky argues that U.S. policy urgently needs reexamination in order to address proximate and existential threats such as nuclear weapons and climate change.

“The study suggests that when female trainees are shut out of the top labs, they don’t get access to the resources, networking, and other opportunities that are critical to advancing their careers in academic science,” The Chronicle of Higher Education writes of a new study on gender bias in elite research labs.  

“Of particular concern, men who have achieved elite status by virtue of awards they have won -- in other words, the men whose labs may be the best launching pads for careers -- are the least likely to hire women who are grad students and postdocs,” writes Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed. 

“Solar-powered benches, called Soofas, will pop up in Boston parks over the next week,” writes Joey Cosco for Slate about a project by Changing Environments out of the MIT Media Lab. The benches collect environmental data and allow users to charge their mobile devices.