CNBC reporter Diana Olick spotlights Quaise Energy, an MIT spinoff developing geothermal energy technology. “We intend to build the first in the world superhot, or super critical geothermal power plant, to show exactly that 10X output that you get by going hotter,” says Carlos Araque '01 MS '02.
Guy Consolmagno '74, SM '75, director of the Vatican Observatory, speaks with Rebecca Mead of The New Yorker about his journey from suburban Detroit to MIT to his current role as the Pope’s Astronomer, and the intersection between science and religion. “If people think you have to be a weird kind of scientist to be religious, or a weird kind of religious to be a scientist, then we’ve missed the point,” says Consolmagno. “The point is that our faith—our ordinary faith—fits perfectly with our ordinary, but wonderful, delightful science.”
Researchers at MIT have found that “tropical forests populated with a diversity of seed-dispersing animals can accumulate carbon up to four times as fast as fragmented forests where these animals are absent or their movement is restricted,” reports James Dinneen for New Scientist. “This shows a linkage between animal biodiversity loss and a process that exacerbates climate change,” says research scientist Evan Fricke. “We’re losing the regrowth potential of tropical forests.”
Graduate student Isabella Macias speaks with CBS News about her experience studying astronomy and planetary formation at the Vatican Observatory. “The Vatican has such a deep, rich history of working with astronomers,” says Macias. “It shows that science is not only for global superpowers around the world, but it's for students, it's for humanity.” Br. Guy Consolmagno '74, SM '75, director of the Vatican Observatory, shares how he feels astronomy can help unite people around the world.
Leah Ellis, a former MIT postdoc and co-founder of MIT startup Sublime Systems, speaks with Nature reporter Emma Ulker about the company’s mission to reduce carbon emissions from cement production, how her work with co-founder Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang helped inspire her entrepreneurial journey, and her philosophy as a science entrepreneur. “At Sublime, we are tackling a hard problem — pun intended — because the cement industry is one of the most difficult to approach, owing to its sheer scale,” explains Ellis. “The motivation for our work is that change in cement-making technology has a significant impact — it’s really only once in a millennium that you get to rethink such a foundational and monumental building material.”
Researchers at MIT have found that “pedestrians in three major northeastern U.S. cities – Boston, New York and Philadelphia —are moving 15 percent faster than they did in 1980,” reports Lucy Notarantonio for Newsweek. Notarantonio explains that: “The researchers hope their work will inform how cities design and redesign public areas — especially at a time when digital polarization is reshaping how people connect in real life.”
Physicists at MIT have provided new insights into the world of quantum mechanics after successfully performing the double-slit experiment with “incredible atomic precision,” reports Mrigakshi Dixit for Interesting Engineering. The researchers “discovered a clear relationship: the more precisely they determined a photon’s path (confirming its particle-like behavior), the more the wave-like interference pattern faded,” explains Dixit. “The researchers observed that the wave interference pattern weakened any time an atom was nudged by a photon passing by. This confirmed that getting information about the photon’s route automatically erased its wave-like properties.”
Prof. David Autor speaks with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria about how China moving into sectors like robotics, AI, quantum computing, fusion power, telecommunications, aviation and more could significantly impact the U.S. economy. Autor notes that by focusing on the last trade war with China, “the U.S. is distracting itself from the really formidable challenge we find ourselves facing now from China’s incredible innovative capacity and very, very intensive investment.”
Popular Science reporter Mack DeGeurin spotlights Foodres.Ai Printer, an AI-assisted 3D printer developed by MIT researchers that is “capable of converting food scraps into coasters, cups, and other everyday kitchen items.” The researchers hope their invention “can repurpose waste before it reaches trash cans or compost bins, helping to foster ‘hyper-local circular economies.’”
Prof. Julien de Wit speaks with CNN reporter Ashley Strickland about asteroid 2024 YR4 and the importance of monitoring and studying asteroids to help keep Earth safe.
Prof. Andrew Lo speaks with NBC Boston reporter Daniela Gonzalez about how AI tools could be used as a starting point to help people manage their monthly expenses and improve their savings strategies. Lo notes that AI tools “can tell you, given the kind of things you're looking to purchase, where the various deals might be.” He added that “once you get the feedback, you have to make sure that what you're getting is legit, versus what they call hallucinations that large language models are likely to do on occasion.”
Writing for Financial Times, Prof. Kristin Forbes explains how to approach to tariff trade-offs. “If even a fraction of the tariffs that have recently been announced are implemented, inflation will pick up and domestic activity will slow — at least over the next year or so,” explains Forbes. “The Fed will need to trade off mitigating the impact of another round of inflation with supporting employment.”
WBUR reporter Carol Iaciofano Aucoin spotlights “You Belong Here,” a new book by Megan Miranda ‘02. “Miranda’s taut storytelling underscores how the tiniest turn of fate can transform a youthful misstep into a life-warping calamity or a danger-averted close call — a comment in a bar answered or ignored, a decision to stay at an event or leave early,” writes Aucoin.
Prof. Andrew Lo speaks with Bloomberg reporter Lu Wang about how AI tools could be applied to the financial services industry, working alongside humans to help manage money, balance risk, tailor strategies and possibly even act in a client’s best interest. “I believe that within the next five years we’re going to see a revolution in how humans interact with AI,” says Lo. He adds that “the financial services industry has extra layers of protection that needs to be built before these tools can be useful.”
Researchers at MIT have uncovered a variety of obstacles of AI in software development, reports Rob Wile for NBC News. They have found “the main obstacles come when AI programs are asked to develop code at scale, or with more complex logic,” writes Wile.