Researchers from MIT and Ford are collaborating on a new project to measure pedestrian traffic and predict the need for on-demand shuttle services, reports Kirsten Korosec for Fortune. The researchers hope to use the data they collect to predict demand for shuttles, and then "routing those vehicles to areas where they’re needed most at the corresponding times.”
Oscar Williams writes for The Huffington Post about a new prototype for a glasses-free, 3-D movie screen developed by CSAIL researchers. The prototype "harnesses a blend of lenses and mirrors to enable viewers to watch the film from any seat in the house.”
In this CBS News article, Michelle Star writes that CSAIL researchers have developed a method that allows moviegoers to see 3-D movies without wearing glasses. Star notes that the prototype “has been demonstrated in an auditorium, where all viewers saw 3-D images of a consistently high resolution.”
By projecting images through multiple lenses and mirrors, CSAIL researchers have developed a new prototype movie screen that allows viewers to see 3-D images without glasses, reports Aaron Smith for CNN Money.
Samantha Cole writes for Popular Science that researchers from MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics are developing boots that pulse and vibrate to warn the wearer of nearby obstacles. Cole explains that the researchers see the technology “as valuable not only for space walks, but for firefighters, the elderly, or those with compromised sensory systems.”
MIT researchers have developed a prototype for a cinema-sized 3-D movie screen that would allow users to watch 3-D movies without glasses, reports Mary Beth Griggs for Popular Science. As people generally sit in fixed seats in a cinema, the researchers developed a prototype that “can tailor a set of images for each individual seat in the theater.”
CSAIL researchers have developed a way for people to watch 3-D movies without glasses, writes Kevin Slane for Boston.com. The new display the researchers developed “would use a series of lenses and mirrors to allow audiences to see the same three-dimensional image from any seat in a theater.”
MIT researchers have developed a new lithium-oxygen battery concept that improves energy efficiency and longevity, and could potentially be used in long-distance electric cars and smartphones, reports Ben Woods for Wired. The new approach results in “faster charging and more efficient batteries, due to lower heat wastage,” Woods explains.
Amina Khan of The Los Angeles Times writes that a team of scientists, led by postdoc Julien de Wit, has conducted an atmospheric study of two Earth-sized exoplanets and found that they are rocky and have thin atmospheres. The findings “lend growing support to the idea that such planets might potentially be friendly to life.”
In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Mary Anastasia O’Grady argues that technology, not free trade, is the reason for the decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs. O’Grady highlights a paper by Prof. Autor examining why automation has impacted middle class jobs, which finds that “traditional middle-education jobs have been the easiest to replace with technology.”
Writing for Scientific American, Peter Bruce examines the usefulness of statistics in politics, citing a paper by Media Lab Visiting Scientist Yaneer Bar-Yam that examines why Nate Silver’s predictions concerning the Republican primaries were off. The researchers found that “he fell into one of the classic traps of non-statistical thinking: failure to take into account the property of dependence.”
In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Jason Zweig writes about how investors are buying high-risk bonds instead of high-quality bonds due to low interest rates. Zweig cites a new study co-authored by graduate student Chen Lian showing that “investors generally aren’t tantalized by risky alternatives to safe bonds until rates fall to 3%.”
Wired reporter Andy Greenberg writes that during an MIT Media Lab symposium Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower, and Media Lab affiliate Andrew “bunnie” Huang announced that they are developing a device that could warn journalists about whether they are the target of government surveillance.
Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray writes that Media Lab research affiliate Andrew “bunnie” Huang and NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden are developing a device to protect journalists’ smartphones from government surveillance. Bray explains that the device will “detect whether a phone is sending or receiving unauthorized radio signals.”
New York Times reporter John Markoff writes that during a Media Lab symposium, whistleblower Edward Snowden announced that he is working with research affiliate Andrew Huang to develop a smartphone to protect journalists concerned about government surveillance. Markoff notes that in addition to computer hacking, the conference focused on “controversial scientific research in areas such as genetic engineering and geoengineering.”