A study by Prof. Pierre Azoulay demonstrates the significant impact of NIH funding on biomedical patents, reports Carolyn Johnson for The Washington Post. Azoulay explains, “if your view was that the research done by academics...[has] no ramifications for the real world and the development of new medicines — well, that view is not correct.”
President L. Rafael Reif writes for Foreign Affairs that funding for fundamental research is key to cultivating growth. “The breakthroughs today were built on the hard work and generous funding of past generations. If today’s Americans want to leave similar legacies, they need to refill the research pipelines and invest more in the nation’s scientific infrastructure.”
Calla Cofield writes for Scientific American that a grant will allow the HERA team to search for light from the universe’s first generation of stars. Prof. Jacqueline Hewitt, who is leading the grant, says it’s “remarkable we're designing instruments so we can detect what was happening 13 billion years ago.”
Greentech Media reporter Julian Spector writes that during the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E Summit, President L. Rafael Reif made the case for the necessity of government funding for basic science. Reif explained that support for scientific research is “an investment in our future.”
Boston Herald reporter Lindsay Kalter writes that Prof. Ed Boyden is working on a new effort to develop technologies that would allow doctors to explore tumors using virtual reality. Boyden explains that he and his colleagues hope to use virtual reality to explore “what a tumor’s weaknesses are, and what makes it thrive.”
On Reuters TV, President L. Rafael Reif emphasizes the importance of fundamental scientific research. On the need for federal support for discovery science, he explains that at “places like MIT, we want to make the world better, and to make the world better you have to try to answer the most fundamental questions.”
The Media Lab will serve as one of the first anchor institutions for a new initiative, the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund, which will “support research and development to make AI beneficial for humans,” reports Jordan Graham for the Boston Herald.
The Media Lab will serve as a founding institution for a new effort focused on advancing artificial intelligence research for the public good, reports April Glaser for CNBC. Research will focus on everything from investigating how” socially responsible artificially intelligent systems can be designed” to fostering “understanding of the complexities of artificial intelligence.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Bob Davis writes about a study by Prof. David Autor that shows U.S. industries facing increased competition from China reduced R&D spending. Autor notes the findings show the importance of federal support for R&D.
President L. Rafael Reif appeared on CBS This Morning to discuss innovation and research for a better world with Charlie Rose and Margaret Brennan. “At MIT, and places like MIT, you can actually see the future,” said Reif.
Colin Young and Andy Metzger of State House News write that MIT experts spoke about the need for government investment in long-term energy research during the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers. “A lot of what we really need to truly change our energy infrastructure is going to take a lot more than five years,” Prof. Kristala Prather noted.
Lisa Grossman writes for New Scientist that a new report from the National Academies urges the U.S. to “get back on the gravitational-wave hunting horse” in support of a space-based detector. MIT Prof. Jacqueline Hewitt, who chaired the report panel, also touted exoplanets research. “The government is getting its money’s worth in terms of the resources it’s been investing in support for scientists,” says Hewitt.
Fortune reporter Jeremy Quittner writes about a new study by MIT researchers that examines why women are less likely to get VC funding than men. The researchers found that “women-owned companies do a certain amount of self-sorting into industries that are probably less risky, and so also lack high-growth potential that VCs find most attractive.”
In an article for the Financial Times, Laura Noonan highlights Prof. Andrew Lo’s work investigating how the theories of financial engineering could be used to fight cancer. “In cancer drug development, because the risks of failure are so high, the probability of success goes up quite dramatically if you create a portfolio,” says Lo.
Prof. David Kaiser speaks with Jeremy Hobson of Here & Now about the history of science. Kaiser notes there are ebbs and flows in the pace of scientific discovery “tied to priority cycles in various nations or whole parts of the world…people’s imaginations can get swept up in whether they can even imagine building a tool to test something.”