New York Times reporter Carl Zimmer writes that Prof. Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute, has been nominated to serve as director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and to serve as a presidential science advisor. MIT Vice President for Research Maria Zuber will co-chair the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
A new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that claims about superweapons are not realistic, reports William J. Broad for The New York Times. “There’re lots of claims and not many numbers,” says research affiliate David Wright. “If you put in the numbers, you find that the claims are nonsense.”
MIT researchers have developed an online interactive tool aimed at helping consumers quantify the costs of buying an electric or gas-powered vehicle. The tool demonstrates how electric vehicles may initially be more expensive, but are often cheaper in the long-run, reports Veronica Penny for The New York Times. Prof. Jessika Trancik notes that she hopes the tool will “help people learn about how those upfront costs are spread over the lifetime of the car.”
Forbes contributor Adi Gaskell spotlights how the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future recently released a comprehensive report examining the future of work. Gaskell writes that the Task Force's report emphasizes the “pressing issues of our time as one of improving the quality of jobs to ensure that prosperity is shared across the economy.”
Writing for Fast Company, Prof. Ramesh Raskar explores how to help improve distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine. Raskar and his co-author write that, “We must apply modern techniques like data analytics, user research, and usability testing to learn about the vaccine and immunization process from the perspective of different Americans, all while preserving privacy and people’s right to remain anonymous.”
Boston Globe reporter Jon Chesto writes that MIT, Harvard, several research hospitals and life-sciences companies have selected a site for a new biologics manufacturing and innovation center. The project is aimed at expediting “discoveries for biotech treatments in university labs by allowing researchers to bypass the long waits that are common at contract manufacturers,” writesChesto.
Scientific American reporter Prachi Patel spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a solar-powered system that can extract drinkable water from the air. “The $100 setup yields almost six liters an hour in the lab and about half of that outdoors,” writes Patel.
Visiting Prof. Jordan Nickerson speaks with Stephen Duber of Freakonomics about his new study that explores whether car seat laws have contributed to declining birth rates. “The prediction would be that when I have two children that are both required to be put in car seats, it’s going to make it more difficult to have a third child,” Nickerson explains.
Popular Mechanics reporter Mike Darling spotlights a math problem from an 1876 MIT entrance exam. The prompt read as follows: “A father said to his son, Two years ago I was three times as old as you; but in fourteen years I shall be only twice as old as you. What were the ages of each?’”
Senior research associate Jim Walsh speaks with Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd about national security following the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week.
Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, writes for Forbes about the importance of including story-based planning when anticipating retirement. “Crafting a retirement story explains why we do certain things, helps us share and discuss with others what is important to us and why, and enables us to anticipate possible futures – both desired and undesired,” writes Coughlin.
“Dealing with the present constitutional crisis requires more than removing Donald Trump from office," writes Professor Charles Stewart III. "It requires creating the conditions for electoral politics to marginalize opponents of constitutional government.”
New York Times reporter Steve Lohr spotlights Inrupt, an MIT startup founded by Prof. Tim Berners-Lee, which is aimed at providing people more control over their personal data. “Tim has become increasingly concerned as power in the digital world is weighted against the individual,” explains Daniel Weitzner, a principal research scientist at CSAIL.
Writing for STAT, Prof. Kevin Esvelt explores how we can stop the spread of the B-117, a variant of SARS-CoV-2. Going forward, Esvelt and his co-author argue that “over the next few years we must build a genomic monitoring system to detect evolutionary changes in viral, bacterial, and other pathogens that could require new measures to protect public health, and that could detect new pandemic pathogens of any provenance early enough to intervene.”
Graduate student Carmelo Ignaccolo speaks with New York Times reporter Emma Bubola about how young professionals are returning to Italy during the Covid-19 pandemic. Bubola spotlights Ignaccolo's efforts to help an organization map and identify small rural towns in Italy in which it would be possible to facilitate remote-working opportunities as a tool to revamp local economies.