Jon Gold reports on how MIT researchers have developed an algorithm that can identify human activity from video input. “The researchers drew on natural language processing techniques,” Gold writes, “to create a 'grammar' for each action they wanted the system to recognize.”
Professor Emerita Lotte Bailyn writes in this WBUR op-ed about the importance of paternity leave for advancing gender equality in the work place. “From a marriage and work perspective, paternity leave creates a pattern of shared care between two parents right off the bat,” writes Bailyn.
In a piece for The Huffington Post, Michael Porter writes about how researchers involved with the Social Progress Index are evaluating the success of a society in comprehensive terms independent of economic measures. The researchers found that in many ways that U.S. is not delivering.
NPR reporter Scott Neuman writes about how researchers have found that storms are, “migrating out of the tropics, reaching their peak intensity in higher latitudes, where larger populations are concentrated.”
Scientific American reporter David Biello discusses new research that shows that major storms are shifting towards the poles. “The record reveals that peak cyclone location has been shifting toward both poles at a rate of about 35 miles per decade, roughly one-half a degree of latitude,” Biello explains.
A new study co-authored by MIT’s Kerry Emanuel finds that as the Earth’s oceans have warmed, destructive storms have moved further from the equator, writes Jason Samenow for The Washington Post.
Reporting for WBZ-TV, David Wade highlights how MIT researchers have a long history of using Legos for solving real-life problems. Researcher Ira Winder is currently using Legos to study the “walkability” of a city, Wade reports.
In an article for AAAS, Mark Parker spotlights the career of the “Queen of Carbon,” Professor Mildred Dresselhaus. “Dresselhaus earned the royal nickname through her definitive research on carbon, particularly her work on superconductivity and carbon nanotubes,” Parker writes.
Benjamin Winterhalter interviews graduate student Michael Chen for this Atlantic article about the importance of scientific research that enhances our understanding of the world in general. “Without these theoretical realizations, we'll never get to new places," says Chen.
“An artsy new app under development at the MIT Media Lab has you and another person sharing daily activities like waking up, walking around and getting something to eat,” Devin Coldewey writes for MSNBC.
Professor David Autor speaks with NPR’s Tom Ashbrook about the achievement gap between boys and girls in the classroom and what this may mean for the future of the American workforce.
Laura Baverman writes about MaKey MaKey, a manufacturing kit for children developed by MIT researchers, in a piece for USA Today. The kit allows children to develop musical instruments and electronics.
In an article for CNN, Thom Patterson reports on how MIT startup Altaeros Energies has developed an airborne wind turbine that they hope can deliver power to the roughly 1 billion people in rural areas without electricity.
Slate reporter Lily Newman writes about the new phone application, called 20 Day Stranger, developed by Media Lab researchers. Newman writes that, “the app connects strangers and allows them to update each other about any and every detail of their lives for 20 days.”
Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Peter Coy writes about how researchers from MIT and other universities simulated 549 storm surges in New York City and analyzed the effectiveness of different defenses. The researchers found that the most cost-effective method is to allow storm waters to flood the city while protecting critical infrastructure.