Bloomberg reporter Faye Flam writes about a study by Prof. Pierre Azoulay that examines how the death of a superstar scientist impacts intellectual progress. Azoulay and his colleagues found that, “a star's death is followed by an influx of new people into the field, coming from related fields, with different ideas,” Flam explains.
Akshat Rathi of Quartz reports that Breakthrough Energy Ventures will invest in Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a startup collaborating with MIT to make fusion energy a viable source of renewable energy. The closely-watched fund’s investment “signals to others that a breakthrough in fusion may be closer than most think,” writes Rathi.
CSAIL researchers have developed a technique that makes it possible to create 3-D motion sculptures from 2-D video, reports Jennifer Kite-Powell for Forbes. The new technique could “open up the possibility to study social disorders, interpersonal interactions and team dynamics,” Kite-Powell explains.
Writing for STAT, Eric Boodman highlights how Prof. Jing-Ke Weng’s lab at the Whitehead Institute has mapped the genome of a firefly in an effort to understand how fireflies acquired the ability to glow. The researchers hope their findings will eventually be used to develop “better laboratory tools for studying disease and developing treatments.”
Bloomberg News reporter Mihir Sharma writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that “intergenerational mobility has remained stagnant for Indians since the economy was liberalized in 1991.” For Indian Muslims, the researchers found that opportunities for upward mobility are declining.
BBC Click reports on a system developed by CSAIL researchers that creates 3-D motion sculptures based off of 2-D video. The technique, say the researchers, “could help dancers and athletes learn more about how they move.”
Quartz reporter Maria Thomas writes that MIT researchers found there is a lack of upward mobility available to Indian men born to fathers in the bottom of the socioeconomic distribution. The researchers found that the imbalance is the result of a “substantial rise in upward mobility for the historically-marginalised scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs)… and a substantial decline for Muslims.”
Local biotech companies raised money to help MIT’s Bear Lab study Fragile X syndrome by competing in lawn games, writes Allison Hagan for The Boston Globe. The $30,000 raised provides “a very real chance at a success in this disease, and it’s going to have a much broader impact,” says Prof. Mark Bear.
A new demographic model proposed by researchers from MIT Sloan and Yale finds that there may be double the number of estimated undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S., reports Scott Lanman for Bloomberg. MIT Senior Lecturer Mohammad Fazel-Zarandi and Jonathan Feinstein and Edward Kaplan of Yale found that, “the widely accepted estimate of 11.3 million undocumented immigrants in the United States is too small.”
Two months after its launch, the TESS satellite has already identified two new exoplanet candidates, reports Mary Beth Griggs for Popular Science. “The team is excited about what TESS might discover next,” explains Prof. Sara Seager, who is serving as the deputy science director for the mission.
New Scientist reporter Will Gater writes that the TESS satellite has found its first two exoplanets. “This is one of the first objects we looked at,” says MIT postdoctoral fellow Chelsea Huang of the discovery of an exoplanet about 60 light years away. “We were immediately saying ‘hey this is too good to be true!’”
New York Times reporter Dennis Overbye writes about how the TESS satellite has already identified at least 73 stars that might have exoplanets. “TESS is doing great,” says George Ricker, a senior research scientist at MIT who is leading the TESS mission. Ricker adds that the satellite is, “all that we could have wished for!”
The TESS satellite has identified two new exoplanets, reports Joey Roulette for Reuters. “We will have to wait and see what else TESS discovers,” says Prof. Sara Seager, who is serving as the TESS deputy science director. “We do know that planets are out there, littering the night sky, just waiting to be found.”
Boston Herald reporter Alexi Cohan highlights a new lab at MIT, led by Prof. Tyler Jacks, that will investigate how the immune system can be used to treat and manage pancreatic cancer. “In the long term we hope that the work that we are doing will help us diagnose the disease at even early stage and maybe even prevent it altogether,” Jacks explains.
Prof. John Leonard speaks with Bloomberg News about his work with the Toyota Research Institute on developing a system that combines machine learning technologies and sensors to make vehicles safer. “Imagine if you had the most vigilant and capably trained driver in the world that could take over in a situation where a teenager took a curve too fast,” says Leonard of the inspiration for the system.