Martin Finucane writes for The Boston Globe about a “thought-provoking new report” from the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future. “There is a lot of alarmist rhetoric about how the robots are coming,” said Elisabeth Beck Reynolds, executive director of the task force. “MIT’s job is to cut through some of this hype and bring some perspective to this discussion.”
A new study by MIT researchers examines how tech workers adjust when certain skill set declines in importance, reports Michelle Cheng for Quartz. “The findings suggest that when their skills became obsolete, the IT workers who adjusted were thinking about the long term and were capable of learning by doing,” Cheng explains.
MIT was ranked the number two college in the country in the latest Times Higher Education/Wall Street Journal rankings, reports Abbi Matheson for The Boston Globe. Matheson explains that the rankings are “based on an assessment of outcomes, resources, engagement, and environment.”
TechCrunch reporter Jordan Crook writes that the Event Horizon Telescope Team was honored for their work capturing the first-ever image of a supermassive black hole with a Breakthrough prize in Fundamental Physics. Prof. Emeritus Daniel Freedman was also honored with a Special Breakthrough Prize for the invention of supergravity.
National Geographic reporter Nadia Drake writes that scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope team, including a number of MIT researchers, have received the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. The team was honored for their work creating “humankind’s first image of a monster black hole.”
National Geographic reporter Nadia Drake writes that scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope team, including a number of MIT researchers, have received the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. The team was honored for their work creating “humankind’s first image of a monster black hole.”
The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, which includes a number of MIT researchers, has been honored with the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their work capturing the first image of a black hole, reports Martin Finucane for The Boston Globe. Prof. Max Metlitski was also honored with a New Horizons Prize.
Bloomberg columnist Noah Smith highlights Prof. Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson’s new book that advocates “for a bold program to boost federal spending on science and technology, focusing on regions where growth is lagging” in an effort to help revive economic growth in the U.S.
TechCrunch reporter Ingrid Lunden spotlights Ginger, an MIT startup “that works with organizations and their healthcare providers to provide employees with an app-based way to connect with coaches to talk through their issues and suggest ways forward,” reports Ingrid Lunden for TechCrunch.
MIT has been named the number two college in the nation in The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings, reports Melissa Korn and Douglas Belkin for The Wall Street Journal. The rankings “emphasize how well a college will prepare students for life after graduation.”
Bloomberg's Peter Coy spotlights a report by the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future that examines how to help workers build stable and fulfilling careers. The Task Force finds, “countries that make well-targeted, forward-looking investments in education and skills training should be able to deliver jobs with favorable earnings and employment security.”
A study by Prof. Pierre Azoulay finds that the death of star scientists can benefit their fields of research by opening the door for an influx of new ideas and contributors, reports Colleen Flaherty for Inside Higher Ed. Flaherty explains that the findings provide “a reason for journal editors and funding agencies to think even harder about who they’re supporting, and why.”
Quartz reporter Jenny Anderson writes about how Blakeley Payne developed an ethics in AI program this summer for middle-school students. Anderson explains that Payne hopes the course will help kids become “more conscious of how AI is designed and how it can manipulate them. These lessons also help prepare them for the jobs of the future, and potentially become AI designers rather than just consumers.”
Quartz reporter Olivia Goldhill writes that a new study by MIT researchers examines the issue of ongoing election interference. Goldhill explains that the researchers call for “scientists to study election interference, and for social media companies to release the data that makes research possible.”
Writing for Scientific American, Tim Hornyak highlights how MIT researchers have developed a robotic system that consists of multiple units and can operate as a cluster. “In our system, each particle is very simple, and there is no central control over the cluster,” explains Prof. Daniela Rus. The units “work together without relying on any particular individuals.”