Cynthia Graber of Scientific American reports on the new MIT technique to use solar energy to generate steam. Graber reports that the new system reaches, “85 percent efficiency in converting the solar energy into steam."
Rachel Feltman of The Washington Post examines the new MIT algorithm that can reconstruct sound by examining the visual vibrations of sound waves. “This is a new dimension to how you can image objects,” explains graduate student Abe Davis.
In a piece for Popular Science, Douglas Main writes on the new technique developed by MIT researchers that can reconstruct speech from visual information. The researchers showed that, “an impressive amount of information about the audio (although not its content) could also be recorded with a regular DSLR that films at 60 frames per second.”
Writing for Slate, Elliot Hannon reports on the new technology developed by MIT researchers that allows audio to be extracted from visual information by processing the vibrations of sound waves as they move through objects.
Hal Hodson of New Scientist reports on the new algorithm developed by MIT researchers that can turn visual images into sound. "We were able to recover intelligible speech from maybe 15 feet away, from a bag of chips behind soundproof glass," explains Abe Davis, a graduate student at MIT.
Michael Morisy writes for BetaBoston about an algorithm developed by MIT researchers that can recreate speech by analyzing material vibrations. “The sound re-creation technique typically required cameras shooting at thousands of frames per second,” writes Morisy.
In a piece about potential global catastrophes, Sarah Gray of Salon highlights new research from Prof. Colette Heald that indicates future global food production is threatened by climate change and air pollution. The study found that the impacts of climate change and ozone pollution on crop production could cause malnutrition rates to rise significantly in developing countries in the coming decades.
The Economist highlights a new study by Prof. Chris Warshaw that analyzed how accurately the policies of local leaders reflect their constituents’ views. “They found that the most ideologically liberal cities end up spending twice per capita as much as the most conservative cities, have higher taxes and less regressive tax systems,” The Economist reports.
Carolyn Johnson of The Boston Globe reports that a device designed by MIT researchers to demonstrate that it is possible to produce oxygen from carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere will be included on NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. “When humans go to Mars, we’d like to get them there, but we’d also like to get them home,” explains Dr. Michael Hecht.
Sky News reports that a device developed by Dr. Michael Hecht of MIT to turn carbon dioxide on Mars into breathable oxygen will be included on the rover NASA plans to send to Mars in 2020. The device, “aims to see if Martian air could be converted for astronauts to breathe,” Sky News reports.
“Designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Mars Oxygen ISRU (in situ research utilization) Experiment (MOXIE) aims to see if Martian air could be converted for astronauts to breathe,” the AFP reports. MOXIE will be one of the systems aboard a robotic vehicle slated to go to Mars in 2020.
Sam Sturgis of CityLab examines a new study by MIT Professor Chris Warshaw that shows that municipal governments, regardless of their structure, tend to mirror the ideological preferences of their electorate. The researchers, “aggregated a collection of nationwide survey results to determine the political leanings of 1,600 U.S. cities and towns,” Sturgis writes.
Wired reporter Katie Collins examines the new display technology developed by MIT researchers that automatically corrects for visual defects, allowing individuals to watch TV or use their iPhone without their glasses.
Huffington Post reporter Sara Gates highlights new research that shows tidal and rotational forces have cause the moon to be shaped like a lemon. Gates explains that MIT researchers, “created a topographical model that sealed many of the moon's crevices in order to paint a more complete picture of what the moon looked like billions of years ago."
Forbes reporter Jay McGregor writes that researchers at MIT have developed a new vision-correcting display that automatically adjusts for people with visual impairments. “The idea is that the technology will predict how the users’ eyes will distort whatever is on screen and correct it beforehand,” McGregor explains.