Prof. Frank Wilczek speaks with Dan Falk of Scientific American about the potential detection of axions. If axions turn out to be real, it would be “a triumph of theoretical physics—to have made this kind of aesthetic argument, and then nature says, ‘Yup, that’s right,’” says Wilczek.
MIT researchers have developed a new robotic arm that is controlled solely by finger movements and can be used to help with multitasking, reports Emmet Smith for Mashable. “The arm can be used to help with doors, elevators and even handshakes,” reports Smith.
Writing for The New York Times, Prof. Devin Michelle Bunten describes how the Trump Administration uses linguistics to erase nondiscrimination protections for trans people. “Clarity in language provides social and linguistic accommodation for those of us traditionally denied both,” writes Bunten. “The battle for civil rights is the battle over words.”
Forbes contributor Adi Gaskell spotlights how MIT researchers analyzed the economic benefits and health risks of reopening 26 different types of businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The researchers attempted to gauge the risk from the aggregate public exposure of each business type,” writes Gaskell.
Research affiliate Ashley Nunes writes for the Financial Times about how ride-sharing companies can help reduce carbon emissions.” If ride-sharing companies really want to go green, they should start by reining in discounts,” writes Nunes. “Less demand would also mean fewer cars for hire (hardly a bad idea given the majority of ride-sharing enthusiasts already own vehicles) and ultimately, less pollution.”
Writing for The Boston Globe, MIT alumna Netia A. McCray examines the burden placed on Black Americans. “While this may be non-Black America’s first time realizing the burden they have placed on Black Americans, it is also the first time Black Americans have realized what life could be like not shouldering that burden,” writes McCray. “The result? We are not going back.”
BBC News reporter Lina Zeldovich spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a way to store a patient’s vaccine history under a person’s skin using microneedle patches. The microneedles “don't leave scars and are less invasive than the regular needles – it’s like putting on a Band-Aid,” explains research scientist Ana Jaklenec.
Rising junior Danielle Geathers, who was recently elected president of MIT’s Undergraduate Association (UA), speaks with Karen Holmes Ward of WCVB-TV about how she campaigned virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic and her goals for her presidency. Geathers notes that she wants to use the UA’s, “global platform to really focus on national policy issues.”
MIT researchers have found stiffening roadways could help improve gas mileage and reduce carbon emissions, reports Christopher Intagliata for Scientific American. "Stiffening 10 percent of the nation's roads every year could prevent 440 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over the next five decades," Intagliata reports.
Astronomers from MIT and other institutions have detected a repeating pattern of fast radio bursts (FRBs) from 500 million light years away, reports Caroline Enos for The Boston Globe. “FRBs are a mysterious phenomenon that elude an easy ‘origins’ theory,” says graduate student Kaitlyn Shin said. “The observation of periodic activity in this FRB gives us a hint.”
Prof. Li-Huei Tsai speaks with Anthony Everett of WCVB-TV’s Chronicle about her work developing a non-invasive technique that uses the power of light and sound and could potentially help treat or even cure Alzheimer’s disease. “I believe if this is really effective in humans, this will become the most accessible approach for treatment," explains Tsai.
Graduate student Maya Nasr speaks with New York Times reporter Miriam Jordan about her desire to continue working in aerospace engineering in the U.S. “By the time I finish my Ph.D., I will have spent 10 years in the U.S. researching what I am passionate about — getting people to Mars and human space exploration,” said Nasr. “I would really like to stay here and work in this field.”
Forbes contributor Igor Bosilkovski spotlights Wise Systems, an autonomous dispatch and routing system aimed at optimizing delivery operations. Bosilkovski notes that the system, “allows dispatchers and fleet managers options like real-time visibility of all vehicles, status updates on drivers, ability to automatically assign orders to drivers, and rearrange route schedules.”
Prof. Kristin Forbes writes for The Washington Post about how countries can manage debt accumulated during the Covid-19 pandemic. “A better way to put a country’s debt on a sustainable path is to contractually link future debt payments to different growth outcomes using growth-indexed debt,” writes Forbes.
Popular Mechanics reporter Caroline Delbert writes that a new study by MIT researchers sheds light on a classic optical illusion called simultaneous brightness contrast. “Over the course of three experiments, the scientists say they believe the phenomenon occurs in each eye, even before the information from both eyes is merged together,” writes Delbert.