Huffington Post reporter Jacqueline Howard writes about how MIT researchers have uncovered what causes the rapid draining of the meltwater lakes atop Greenland’s ice sheet. Howard explains that, “the finding could help scientists better predict how much meltwater from the ice sheet is contributing to rising sea levels, especially as the climate in the region becomes warmer.”
Washington Post reporter Chris Mooney writes that MIT researchers have found that giant cracks allow for the rapid draining of lakes on Greenland’s ice sheet. “We know that the ice sheet will continue to increase its contribution to sea level rise over the coming years,” explains lead author Laura Stevens. “The implications of this study show us more of how these processes will play out.”
MIT researchers have uncovered how the meltwater lakes atop Greenland’s ice sheet drain, reports Richard Valdmanis for Reuters. Lead author Laura Stevens explains that the findings will help “predict more accurately how supraglacial lakes will affect ice sheet flow and sea level rise.”
Research affiliate Bina Venkataraman and Kari Smith of the MIT Institute Archives and Special Collections speak with WBUR’s Meghna Chakrabarti about preserving digital data. Smith explains that as an archivist she tries to ensure that information is preserved so that people “have that ability to go back and to look at things and to have those lessons learned over time.”
Carl Franzen reports for Popular Science that the researchers behind MIT’s robotic cheetah have developed new algorithms that allow the robot to detect and jump over obstacles. “Now that the Cheetah 2 is capable of trotting, galloping, and jumping, it might be time to crown a new king of the concrete jungle,” writes Franzen.
The robotic cheetah developed by MIT researchers is now capable of jumping over obstacles without human assistance, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. “As the robot approaches and detects a hurdle, algorithms plan its jumping trajectory unaided by its minders, each adjusting for the speed and position of the robot and the height of the hurdle,” Subbaraman explains.
A team of researchers from MIT, Northeastern, and Harvard has found links between cell phone usage and unemployment, reports Janelle Nanos for BetaBoston. The researchers found that “cellphone use and mobility dropped significantly in areas which eventually reported massive unemployment spikes,” Nanos explains.
Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Zumbrun writes about a new study co-authored by MIT researchers that found that cell-phone records can indicate if a person has been laid off. The researchers found that “people’s social lives and mobility contracted following a layoff.”
Team Raptor Maps received the top prize in MIT’s annual $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. Founded by three MIT students, Raptor Maps “proposes to use camera-carrying drones to survey farmland and pinpoint damage before pests and diseases can decimate crops.”
Jordan Graham writes for The Boston Herald about a system created by Prof. Brian Williams that allows unpiloted underwater vehicles to make decisions without human intervention. Williams explains that the system was developed so that an underwater robot would not need low-level commands, “you just give it your goals.”
Brooks Hays of UPI writes that Prof. Brian Williams has developed a new system that allows autonomous underwater vehicles to operate independently. Robots using the new system “are able to navigate underwater expanses and execute research tasks on their own. Researchers simply dictate high-level goals, and the submersible calculates the most efficient path forward."
MIT researchers have developed a new system that gives underwater robots more decision-making capabilities, reports Kelsey Atherton for Popular Science. Atherton explains that developing machines that can operate without human control could “usher in a whole new age of discovery.”
Lauren Beavin of Boston Magazine speaks with A.M. Turing Award recipient Michael Stonebraker about why Boston is such a great place for computer scientists. The Boston tech scene "is way above critical mass, and the quality of life here is very, very high,” Stonebraker explains.
The ACM has awarded the A.M. Turing Award, widely regarded as the “Nobel Prize in Computing,” to CSAIL researcher and adjunct professor Michael Stonebraker, reports Barb Darrow for Fortune. Stonebraker is “famous for arguing that database is not a one-size-fits-all category."
Michael Stonebraker, a principal investigator at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab and an adjunct professor at MIT, has won the A.M. Turning Award for his work with database management systems, reports Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. “This is every computer scientist’s lifetime dream, and it came true for me,” said Stonebraker.