Financial Times reporter Clive Cookson writes that Prof. Feng Zhang and his colleagues have engineered CRISPR so that it can edit single RNA letters in human cells. Cookson explains that the researchers believe that, “RNA editing offers a safer and more flexible way to make corrections than the permanent changes involved in DNA editing.”
CNN reporter Jacqueline Howard highlights a new study by MIT researchers examining how children interpret an adult’s emotional response to a situation. "The results were surprising in the sense that we found infants were able to make fine-grained distinctions among positive emotions," explains graduate student Yang Wu.
A new study by MIT researchers shows that different types of learning correspond with different brainwave frequencies, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. The findings, “could help doctors diagnose and treat learning disabilities and cognitive diseases.”
A new study by MIT researchers shows that children as young as 15 months can learn tenacity from watching their parents, reports Dennis Thompson for U.S. News & World Report. Graduate student Julia Leonard explains that the study shows, "infants are watching your behavior intently and actually learning from what you do."
Scientific American reporter Yasemin Saplakoglu writes that MIT researchers have found that watching an adult struggle and then succeed can inspire infants to try harder at their own task. Saplakoglu explains that the study shows, “babies can also infer values—such as when it is worth it to keep trying—from adults’ behaviors.”
AP reporter Malcom Ritter writes that children as young as 15 months old can be inspired to try harder at a task when they see adults struggle before succeeding. Prof. Laura Schulz explained that the findings show young children, “can learn the value of effort from just a couple of examples.”
Prof. Feng Zhang has been awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize, reports Sharon Begley for STAT. Zhang was honored for his, “track record of innovations and of coming up with big ideas that change fields,” explains Prof. Michael Cima, faculty director of the award. “Zhang is one of those individuals who move through groups of talented people sparking new ideas.”
After studying more than 100 languages, Prof. Edward Gibson has “discovered a pattern in the way different cultures discern and label colors,” writes Ben Thompson for the Boston Globe.
A new study from Prof. Edward Gibson examines the way different languages describe colors. “If you were to take the spectrum of colors that are perceptibly different to humans and chop it in half, every language would have more words for describing the warm half than the cool half,” writes Rachel Gutman for The Atlantic.
A new study by MIT researchers examines how people who speak different languages describe colors, reports Zach Zorich for Science. The researchers found that, “the ability to describe colors isn’t as rooted in our biology as many scientists thought. And that means that language development may be far more rooted in our culture than in how we literally see the world.”
IBM is joining forces with MIT to establish a new lab dedicated to fundamental AI research, reports the AP. The new lab will focus on, “advancing the hardware, software and algorithms used for artificial intelligence. It also will tackle some of the economic and ethical implications of intelligent machines and look at its commercial application.”
IBM has invested $240 million to develop a new AI research lab with MIT, reports Jing Cao for Bloomberg News. “The MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab will fund projects in four broad areas, including creating better hardware to handle complex computations and figuring out applications of AI in specific industries,” Cao explains.
CNBC reporter Jordan Novet writes that MIT and IBM have established a new lab to pursue fundamental AI research. Novet notes that MIT, “was home to one of the first AI labs and continues to be well regarded as a place to do work in the sector.”
Boston Globe reporter Andy Rosen writes that MIT and IBM have established a new AI research lab. “It’s amazing that we have a company that’s also interested in the fundamental research,” explains Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of the School of Engineering. “That’s very basic research that may not be in a product next year, but provides very important insights.”
Writing for Fortune, Barb Darrow highlights how IBM has committed $240 million to establish a new joint AI lab with MIT. Darrow explains that, “the resulting MIT–IBM Watson AI Lab will focus on a handful of key AI areas including the development of new 'deep learning' algorithms.”