Justine Hofherr writes for Boston.com about Prof. Dava Newman, highlighting her new role as deputy administrator of NASA, her work planning for a manned mission to Mars and her goal to encourage more young girls to pursue careers in STEM. “I’m motivated every single day because my passion is exploration,” says Newman.
The Economist highlights Prof. César Hidalgo’s new book, which examines how economies grow. “His aim is nothing less than to lay out a universal theory of information—one that applies to everything, from the lifeless to the living, and to all scales, from atoms to economies.”
Prof. and Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek provides readers of The Wall Street Journal with a glimpse into his everyday routines in this piece chronicling a week in his life. Wilczek writes that he spends most of one day “on my recent obsession: expanding perception.”
Boston Globe Magazine reporter Neil Swidey profiles Prof. Emeritus Ernest Moniz, the Secretary of Energy, chronicling his childhood in Fall River, his time at MIT, and his current role in the Iran nuclear deal. “He’s one of the best prepared energy secretaries we’ve ever had,” says Bill Richardson, a former US energy secretary.
AP reporter Josh Lederman highlights the role Prof. Emeritus Ernest Moniz, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, played in negotiating the Iran nuclear deal. Lederman writes that by all accounts Moniz played a “pivotal role in reaching the historic nuclear accord.”
Felicia Gans writes for The Boston Globe that the images and information gathered by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has changed the way that Prof. Richard Binzel and other scientists think about Pluto. “We had expected to be surprised by what Pluto had to offer, but this is beyond anything we imagined,” says Binzel.
Suzanne Jacobs writes for Grist about Professor Jessika Trancik’s research and her focus on the scalability and efficiency of clean technologies. “It’s not a matter of can this technology scale up; it’s the question of can it scale up quickly enough to make a difference,” says Trancik.
This Scientific American editorial revisits an op-ed by Professor César Hidalgo in which he argued against those who are critical of big data. Critics “ignore areas where big data has made substantial progress, such as data-rich Web sites, information visualization and machine learning,” wrote Hidalgo.
Boston Magazine reporter Paul Albani-Burgio speaks with two of MIT’s newest Institute Professors, Sally “Penny” Chisholm and Marcus Thompson. Chisholm says that one of the most rewarding aspects of her job is working with MIT students. “They’re just a constant source of renewal and excitement,” she explains.
Prof. Sara Seager led a committee of astronomers who compiled a report for NASA that calls for the construction of an advanced telescope to search for Earthlike planets, writes Dennis Overbye for The New York Times. “This High Definition Space Telescope would be five times as big and 100 times as sensitive as the Hubble.”
Prof. Richard Binzel, a member of NASA’s New Horizon’s science team, discusses the magnitude of capturing up-close images and new information about Pluto with Boston Globe reporter Steve Annear. “It’s a milestone event in the human exploration of the solar system,’’ says Binzel.
Los Angeles Times reporter Deborah Netburn speaks with Prof. Richard Binzel about the information being gathered about Pluto by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. "We are trying to take these interpretations very slowly and carefully, especially as new and closer data are arriving,” Binzel explains.
Comedian Aziz Ansari consulted Professor Natasha Dow Schull for his new book, “Modern Romance: An Investigation,” writes Mackenzie Cummings-Grady for The Boston Globe. Ansari’s book looks at relationships in the digital age and draws on work Schull’s work on addiction.
Professor Junot Díaz will be honored as one of this year’s We Are Boston Award recipients for embracing “diversity and immigrant heritage,” writes Jennifer Usovicz for The Boston Globe. “Boston is beautiful precisely because of our immigrant communities,” says Díaz. “Our energy and sacrifice is the dynamo that drives the city forward.”
Professor Catherine Tucker writes for Fortune about the factors that prevented Google Plus from being a widely adopted social media platform. “The assumptions about social media that we started with a few years ago don’t necessarily hold true today,” Tucker explains.