Axios reporter Steve LeVine highlights several new studies co-authored by Prof. Daron Acemoglu that examine the negative impacts of automation on the labor market. “So far, we've used our know-how singularly automating at the expense of labor,” says Acemoglu. “If we keep on doing that, we will keep on destroying more jobs without job gains. It's completely our decision."
Boston Globe reporter Martin Finucane spotlights how MIT Haystack Observatory researchers played a “major role in the effort to create the first-ever picture of a black hole.” “I’m very proud,” says Vincent Fish, a research scientist at Haystack. “I’ve spent most of my professional life on this and I’m just really glad we got such great results out of this.”
MITEI senior research engineer Howard Herzog speaks with CNBC about his work with carbon capture, storage and utilization. “Climate change is a very difficult problem to solve and we’re going to need as many technologies as possible to help us solve it at an affordable price,” says Herzog.
Fast Company reporter Mark Wilson spotlights Prof. Neri Oxman’s work developing 3-D printed sculptures filled with melanin, the pigment that colors our skin and hair. Wilson writes that Oxman’s work shows how melanin could potentially be used in buildings to protect inhabitants for the elements, generate energy or absorb unwanted environmental materials.
CNBC contributor Tom Popomaronis highlights a study by MIT researchers that demonstrates how back-and-forth exchanges could help children develop stronger communications skills.
In an article for Bloomberg News, Noah Smith highlights a study by MIT researchers that examines the factors influencing the decline in solar prices. The researchers found that, “from 1980 to 2001, government-funded research and development was the main factor in bringing down costs, but from 2001 to 2012, the biggest factor was economies of scale,” Smith explains.
Wall Street Journal reporter Leigh Kamping-Carder highlights how MIT researchers are developing a number of new technologies aimed at easing the transition to space for future amateur astronauts. A robotic tail developed by Media Lab researchers could help space travelers “grab objects, anchor to surfaces and balance while floating in environments with reduced gravity.”
Forbes contributor Joe McKendrick writes that MIT researchers have developed a new metric for analyzing the value of the digital goods and services people use. McKendrick writes that the research provides “an idea of what digital goods -- those free or paid-for subscription services available via the internet and mobile -- add to our economy.”
A new study by MIT researchers that sheds light on heat transfer in boiling water could allow nuclear power plants to run more efficiently, reports Jim Efstathiou Jr. for Bloomberg News. “Learning more about how heat is transferred could help safely boost the output from nuclear power plants by as much as 20 percent,” Efstathiou explains.
Prof. Erik Brynjolfsson speaks with Sabri Ben-Achour of Marketplace about his work quantifying the economic benefits of goods and services that GDP does not measure. “We haven’t been measuring the value of the environment or digital goods,” says Brynjolfsson. “That means policy makers, when they are trying to see where is value coming and how is the economy growing, they have been missing that understanding.”
Writing for The Boston Globe, Prof. Thomas Levenson argues that fears about China’s potential to dominate 5G demonstrate the need for the U.S. to invest in scientific research. “If our scientific dominance ends, it will not be because of Chinese perfidy, but because the US chose to surrender its commanding role in the search for knowledge,” writes Levenson.
Verge reporter Angela Chen spotlights Prof. Michael Strano’s work using nanobionics to engineer plants. “It’s long overdue that we start to look at plants as the starting point of technology,” explains Strano. “As an engineering platform, they have a number of untapped advantages.”
Popular Science reporter Rob Verger writes that MIT and NASA researchers have developed a new design for a plane wing that can change shape mid-flight. As the plane wing is assembled from hundreds of different parts, it could be programmed in a specific way to control the “response that it has to an aerodynamic load,” explains graduate student Benjamin Jenett.
Wall Street Journal reporter Mike Bird writes that MIT researchers have proposed a new metric for GDP that would incorporate free digital goods and services. Bird explains that the researchers found that Facebook “would have boosted U.S. economic growth by between 0.05 and 0.11 percentage points a year” under the new metric.
Prof. Regina Barzilay speaks with NPR reporter Richard Harris about her work developing AI systems aimed at improving identification of breast cancer in mammograms, inspired by her experience with the disease. “At every point of my treatment, there would be some point of uncertainty, and I would say, 'Gosh, I wish we had the technology to solve it,’” says Barzilay.