In the Media

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have uncovered a phonetic alphabet used by sperm whales, which provides “key breakthroughs in our understanding of cetacean communication,” reports Brain Heater for TechCrunch. “This phonetic alphabet makes it possible to systematically explain the observed variability in the coda structure,” says Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL. “We believe that it’s possible that this is the first instance outside of human language where a communication provides an example of the linguistic concept of duality of patterning. That refers to a set of individually meaningless elements that can be combined to form larger meaningful units, sort of like combining syllables into words.”

Associated Press reporter Maria Cheng spotlights a new study by MIT researchers that identifies a “phonetic alphabet” used by whales when communicating. “It doesn’t appear that they have a fixed set of codas,” says graduate student Pratyusha Sharma. “That gives the whales access to a much larger communication system.” 

Using machine learning, MIT researchers have discovered that sperm whales use “a bigger lexicon of sound patterns” that indicates a far more complex communication style than previously thought, reports Lauren Sommers for NPR. “Our results show there is much more complexity than previously believed and this is challenging the current state of the art or state of beliefs about the animal world," says Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL. 

MIT researchers have discovered that sperm whales use a “much richer set of sounds than previously known, which they call a ‘sperm whale phonetic alphabet,’” reports Carl Zimmer for The New York Times. “The researchers identified 156 different codas, each with distinct combinations of tempo, rhythm, rubato and ornamentation,” Zimmer explains. “This variation is strikingly similar to the way humans combine movements in our lips and tongue to produce a set of phonetic sounds.”

Prof. Giovanni Traverso and colleagues have developed a new ingestible sensor that could be used to help diagnose gastrointestinal conditions, reports Jeremy Hsu for New Scientist. “Eventually, the futuristic device could provide treatments for gut illnesses through electrical stimulation via additional electrodes embedded in the sensor,” Hsu notes.  

Prof. John Sterman speaks with New York Times reporter Susan Shain about the effectiveness of flight offsets. Sterman explains that few offset project results are verifiable, immediate and durable, part of his criteria for legitimacy. Better recommendations include insulating your home or buying an electric car.

Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno talks with Steve Curwood of Living on Earth about new investments in nuclear power generation, advanced reactors and waste disposal. He notes roughly half the clean energy in the U.S. comes from nuclear, with great potential due to its adaptability. “The nice thing about nuclear is that it’s a fairly versatile energy source,” explains Buongiorno. “It can give you heat, if you want heat. It can give you electricity if you want electricity. It can give you hydrogen if you need hydrogen, or some kind of synthetic fuel for transportation." 

Prof. Carlo Ratti and the WeBuildGroup have developed a proposal to help rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, reports Anna Cooban for CNN. Ratti explained that the blueprint was designed to “produce a safer bridge by widening the channels through which ships can pass, among other measures.” The design will help prevent “the risk of a tragedy such as the one of March 26 happening again,” Ratti explains. 

Prof. Linda Griffith and Stuart Orkin '67 were named to this year’s Time 100 Health list, which recognizes innovators leading the way to new health solutions. Griffith, who was honored for her work engineering a uterine organoid to study endometriosis, explains that in the future engineered organoids could be used to find the most effective treatments for patients. “We have all the genetic information and all the information from the patient’s exposure to infections, environmental chemicals, and stress that would cause the tissues to become deranged in some way, all captured in that organoid,” Griffith explains. 

Boston Globe reporter Mark Feeney spotlights “Drawing After Modernism,” a new exhibit at the MIT Museum that showcases various architectural sketches in different mediums. “There are some 50 items on display, not just artworks but also colored pencils, an airbrush, and exhibition cards for a 1977 exhibition at New York’s Leo Castelli gallery,” explains Feeney. “The MIT show is pretty much an ideal size: small enough for a visitor to comfortably take everything in, big enough to be varied and wide-ranging.” 

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have investigated “how several species of parrots interacted when placed on brief video calls with one another,” reports Mack Degeurin for Popular Science. “The results were shocking,” explains Degeurin. “In almost all cases, the birds’ caretakers claim the video calls improved their well-being. Some of the birds even appeared to learn new skills, like foraging or improved flight, after observing other birds doing so.”

Prof. Yoon Kim speaks with USA Today reporter Eve Chen about how AI can be used in everyday tasks such as travel planning. “AI is generally everywhere,” says Kim. “For example, when you search for something – let’s say you search for something on TripAdvisor, Hotels.com – there is likely an AI-based system that gives you a list of matches based on your query.” 

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have used an AI model to develop a “new approach to finding money laundering on Bitcoin’s blockchain,” reports Andy Greenberg for Wired. “Rather than try to identify cryptocurrency wallets or clusters of addresses associated with criminal entities such as dark-web black markets, thieves, or scammers, the researchers collected patterns of bitcoin transactions that led from one of those known bad actors to a cryptocurrency exchange where dirty crypto might be cashed out,” explains Greenberg. 

Axios reporter Alex Fitzpatrick spotlights MightyFly, an aviation startup founded by Manal Habib ’11 that is developing a large, autonomous electric vehicle takeoff and landing cargo drone that has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for a flight corridor. "The use case is B2B expedited logistics," says Habib. "Think of deliveries from a manufacturer to suppliers. Think of deliveries from a lab to a hospital, or from a warehouse or pharmacy, as well as to improve deliveries to an oil rig or to a farm or a mining site, as well as for DOD use cases."

 A new report by Principal Research Scientist Andrew McAfee explores the “implications of generative AI in economic growth, looking at everything from its possible effects on job skills and wages to how it may transform entire industries to its potential risks and pitfalls,” reports Sheryl Estrada for Fortune.