Writing for Science, Derek Lowe spotlights how MIT researchers are developing a platform that could be used to automate the production of molecules for use in medicine, solar energy and more. “The eventual hope is to unite the software and the hardware in this area,” reports Lowe, “and come up with a system that can produce new compounds with a minimum of human intervention.”
Forbes contributor Alex Ledsom highlights a study by MIT researchers examining how a spike in attendance at the Louvre has impacted visitor behavior. “People stay for shorter periods of time visiting artwork if there are more people,” Ledsom explains, “but interestingly, people move about the Louvre in the same way regardless of whether they stay for one hour or six. They simply move around the space quicker.”
ELLE reporter Molly Langmuir spotlights the work of Prof. Neri Oxman, who is known for “producing radically interdisciplinary work.” Oxman has produced everything from “a silk pavilion—a suspended dome of silk fibers spun by a robotic arm, completed by 6,500 live silkworms—to a design concept for a wearable digestive system incorporating photosynthetic bacteria that convert solar energy into sugar.”
A study by Prof. Jessika Trancik examines how cheap energy storage must be for the U.S. to rely on renewable energy, reports David Roberts for Vox. The research demonstrates how “a US energy grid run entirely on renewable energy (at least 95 percent of the time), leaning primarily on energy storage to provide grid flexibility, may be more realistic, and closer to hand, than conventional wisdom has it,” writes Roberts.
WCVB-TV’s Mike Wankum visits MIT to learn about the Solar Electric Vehicle Team. “We are trying to prove that we can move away from cars that rely on gasoline or diesel,” explains undergraduate Salem Ali, “and move towards more electric vehicles, and potentially even vehicles that you don’t have to plug in.”
Writing for The New York Times, Prof. Yasheng Huang examines how the U.S.-China trade war is influencing public perceptions in China. “Maximum-pressure tactics have delivered no meaningful results — other than undermining the good will of the Chinese public and its liberals toward America,” writes Huang. “The United States should de-escalate tensions and help China come back to the negotiating table.”
Prof. David Keith argues in The Boston Globe for implementing congestion pricing to help alleviate traffic congestion in the Greater Boston area. “Pricing access to roads moderates demand for driving at peak times,” writes Keith, “while also generating revenue from drivers that can be reinvested in building a 21st century mobility infrastructure.”
A study by MIT researchers finds that, compared to India’s current policy of inducing states to buy electricity from renewable sources, increasing the price of coal is a cheaper way to reduce carbon emissions in India, reports Kuwar Singh for Quartz. The researchers found that implementing “a tax on carbon consumption or a carbon market for selling and buying permits will be more than 10 times cheaper in lowering CO2 emissions of the Indian economy.”
Fast Company reporter Katharine Schwab spotlights MIT startup Embr Labs, which has developed a wearable device that can help keep users cool. “Cooling individuals could be a lot cheaper and less wasteful than cooling entire buildings,” writes Schwab.
A study by Prof. John Sterman finds that “burning wood for power releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per unit of electricity than coal,” reports Charlie McGee for The Wall Street Journal.
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, spotlights a video created by Prof. Kwanghun Chung that takes viewers on a voyage through a region of the brain that controls voluntary movement. Thanks to imaging techniques like Chung’s, “mapping the biocircuitry of the brain just keeps getting better all the time,” Collins explains.
Optimus Ride, a startup founded by MIT alumni, will start a self-driving car shuttle service at an industrial park in New York City, reports the Associated Press. “The free service is expected to transport some 500 passengers daily on the yard’s internal roads,” the AP explains.
MIT startup Optimus Ride is launching a self-driving shuttle service at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, reports Andrew J. Hawkins for The Verge.
Prof. Emeritus Daniel Freedman has been awarded the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for his work devising the theory of supergravity, reports Philip Ball for Scientific American. Freedman notes that the award, “takes the cake—it is the cap of my long career.”
Boston Globe reporter Martin Finucane reports that Prof. Emeritus Daniel Freedman has been named a recipient of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for his discovery of supergravity. “The discovery of supergravity was the beginning of including quantum variables in describing the dynamics of spacetime,” explains Edward Witten, chairman of the selection committee.