In the Media

Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, speaks with Popular Science reporter Charlotte Hu about the field of artificial intelligence, explaining the difference between AI, robotics and machine learning, and exploring the future of AI. “[AI algorithms] can do really extraordinary things much faster than we can. But the way to think about it is that they’re tools that are supposed to augment and enhance how we operate,” says Rus. “And like any other tools, these solutions are not inherently good or bad. They are what we choose to do with them.”

Research scientist Mary Knapp and her collaborators are working on a concept for The Great Observatory for Long Wavelengths (Go-LoW), a space-based observatory comprised of small satellites aimed at making low-frequency radio waves visible, reports Ashley Strickland for CNN. “I learned back in my undergrad days that there was this part of the spectrum we couldn’t see,” Knapp explains. “It really just struck me that there was this unexplored part of the universe, and I want to explore this part of the sky for the first time.”

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have studied the mind of polyglots and uncovered how language-specific regions of the brain respond to different and familiar languages, reports Natalia Mesa for Science. The researchers found that “the activity in the brain’s language network fluctuated based on how well participants understood a language. The more familiar the language, the larger the response,” writes Mesa. “There was one exception to the rule: when participants heard their native tongue, their language networks were actually quieter than when they heard other familiar languages.”

MIT researchers have found that air pollution can impact the performance of chess players, reports Sharon Udasin for The Hill. "With just a modest rise in pollution levels, the researchers saw that a player’s probability of making an error increased by 2.1 percentage points,” Udasin writes.

Researchers at MIT have discovered what makes ancient Roman concrete “exponentially more durable than modern concrete,” reports Jim Morrison for Wired. “Creating a modern equivalent that lasts longer than existing materials could reduce climate emissions and become a key component of resilient infrastructure,” writes Morrison.

The Women’s and Gender Studies program is hosting the annual “Women Take the Reel Film Festival” throughout March, reports Natalie Gale for Boston.com. “Each film or documentary is free and open to the public and focuses on women’s issues,” writes Gale.

Prof. Juan Palacios speaks with The Guardian reporter Helena Horton about how air pollution can lead to more mistakes in chess players. “We find that when individuals are exposed to higher levels of air pollution, they make more mistakes, and they make larger mistakes,” says Palacios.

Prof. David Hsu speaks with WBUR reporter Paula Moura about the importance of providing equitable access to electric vehicle charging stations. “The city definitely should provide equal access to services to everybody,” says Hsu. “There are barriers to doing that, but the government’s job is to overcome those barriers for everybody.”

MIT researchers devised a new way to arrange LED pixels to create screens with a much higher resolution than is currently possible, reports The Economist. The new technique, which involves stacking micro LEDS, could also be used to make “VR images that appear far more lifelike than today’s.”

Prof. Philip Sharp speaks with Biomarker blogger Dylan Neel about his journey through academia as a student, professor, Nobel laureate and biotech pioneer. “Science has become such an important part of our day-to-day lives: our immediate health, the food we eat, the cars we drive, the way we communicate,” says Sharp. “If you take a portion of the tools we use in our day-to-day lives and trace them all back: it's new technology, maybe not over 30 years old. It is very empowering. Life and progress are better than ever before.” 

Researchers at MIT have developed an autonomous vehicle with “mini sensors to allow it to see the world and also with an artificially intelligent computer brain that can allow it to drive,” explains postdoctoral associate Alexander Amini in an interview with Mashable. “Our autonomous vehicles are able to learn directly from humans how to drive a car so they can be deployed and interact in brand new environments that they’ve never seen before,” Amini notes.

MIT researchers have developed a new AI tool called Sybil that could help predict whether a patient will get lung cancer up to six years in advance, reports Pranshu Verma for The Washington Post.  “Much of the technology involves analyzing large troves of medical scans, data sets or images, then feeding them into complex artificial intelligence software,” Verma explains. “From there, computers are trained to spot images of tumors or other abnormalities.”

An MIT study has found that the wide spread adoption of self-driving cars could lead to increased carbon emissions, reports Rima Sabina Aouf for Dezeen. “The study found that with a mass global take up of autonomous vehicles, the powerful onboard computers needed to run them could generate as many greenhouse gas emissions as all the data centers in operation today,” writes Aouf.

Principal Research Scientist Eric Heginbotham writes for Newsweek that in simulations of a possible invasion of Taiwan, he and his colleagues found that “China would lose—so long as the United States continues to invest in maintaining deterrence and chooses to intervene directly and vigorously.” Heginbotham adds: “The United States should ensure that the political relationship with China remains positive in those areas that do not directly compromise America's position and — consistent with U.S. policy for half a century—that avoid promoting de jure independence for Taiwan.”

Writing for CNBC, senior lecturer Tara Swart shares four tips to avoid brain fog and forgetfulness. “By articulating your goals to yourself out loud, you can start to be more intentional about changing your habits,” writes Swart. “And through that repetition, your brain and body will start to follow suit.”