In this BBC News segment, Prof. Robert Langer, winner of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, discusses his work exploring how to get the human body to respond to vital drugs. Langer explains that his approach to medicine is to “come up with engineering solutions to different medical problems.”
Professor Kerry Emanuel speaks with Associated Press reporter Seth Borenstein about how Hurricane Patricia strengthened so rapidly. "I was really astounded," says Emanuel. "It was over the juiciest part of the eastern Pacific."
Prof. Daron Acemoglu discusses the work of Angus Deaton, who won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Economics, with Washington Post reporter Ana Swanson. “I think his understanding of how the world worked at the micro level made him extremely suspicious of these get-rich-quick schemes that some people peddled at the development level,” says Acemoglu.
Prof. Heidi Williams speaks with Callie Crossley as part of WGBH’s “Genius Next Door” series, which features local winners of the MacArthur “genius grant.” Williams explains that her work focuses on “whether we're getting the right kinds of medical technologies developed.”
Prof. Tomasz Mrowka, head of the Department of Mathematics, speaks with U.S. News & World Report’s Delece Smith-Barrow about options for graduate students participating in MIT’s mathematics program. "We span the gamut of what happens in mathematics," says Mrowka.
Prof. Thomas Levenson speaks with Boston Globe reporter Amy Sutherland ahead of the publication of his new book, “The Hunt for Vulcan” about the books he likes to read and what makes for good science writing. “Science writing should convey information, but in a literary form,” Levenson explains.
Financial Times reporter Simon Kuper writes about Prof. Sherry Turkle’s new book, “Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age,” which examines the impact of smartphones on human interaction. Turkle recommends establishing “times and places when it’s socially unacceptable to be online.”
Carolina Morena writes for The Huffington Post about Prof. Junot Díaz's appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” where he discussed the importance of reading books by people from different backgrounds. "You look at this country and you look at this world and you need to understand it in complex ways," said Díaz.
In an essay adapted from her new book for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Prof. Sherry Turkle writes about teaching and learning in the digital era. Turkle explains that laptops and smartphones should be “part of our creative lives. The goal is to use them with greater intention, to live with them in greater harmony.”
Washington Post reporter Carlos Lozada reviews Prof. Sherry Turkle’s new book, “Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age.” Lozada writes that, “This is a persuasive and intimate book, one that explores the minutiae of human relationships.”
Prof. Heidi Williams, a 2015 MacArthur Fellow, speaks with Bloomberg’s John Tozzi about why drug companies are underinvesting in long-term research. Williams explains that there are “scientifically feasible projects that aren’t getting done because there aren’t sufficient incentives."
Prof. Charles Stewart III co-authored this op-ed for The Washington Post, which examines John Boehner’s resignation from the U.S. House speakership. “We see Boehner’s resignation as a signal that House leadership is undergoing a transition in how it is acquired and retained,” the authors write.
Prof. Noelle Eckley Selin writes for Forbes about the consequences of the Volkswagen diesel scandal. “My analysis shows that Volkswagen’s deception — which resulted in emissions 30 to 40 times allowable levels when driving — could exceed $100 million in economic costs from health damages,” writes Selin.
Boston Globe reporter Jeremy Goodwin reviews “Einstein’s Dreams,” a play adapted from Prof. Alan Lightman’s 1993 novel. “The conceit behind Lightman’s deeply imaginative source material is that it presents a journal of Einstein’s nocturnal musings as he developed his theories of general and special relativity,” writes Goodwin.
Prof. Sherry Turkle speaks with ABC News about the impact of constant connectivity on how people relate to one another in the digital age. “Before we had our phones, conversation was the way we satisfied our need for stimulation,” explains Turkle. Face-to-face conversation “lays the groundwork for empathy.”