A new analysis by MIT researchers shows that immigrants are a vital part of the Boston area’s economy, writes Katie Johnston for The Boston Globe. “It’s very hard to imagine our economy succeeding without immigration,” says Prof. Paul Osterman. “The economy would be strengthened if immigration increased from its present level.”
Anant Agarwal, president of edX, and Kalyan Veeramachaneni, a principal research scientist at LIDS, are featured on Fast Company’s 2017 list of the “Most Creative People in Business.” Agarwal is celebrated for “mastering online education,” and Veeramachaneni for developing a system that enables humans and AI to work together to detect possible security threats.
New Scientist reporter Timothy Revell writes that a new study by Prof. Iyad Rahwan shows that automation will have a larger impact on jobs in smaller cities. Rahwan and his colleagues found that “towns and small cities have a smaller proportion of jobs that will be resilient to automation than larger urban centers.”
MIT graduate student Manisha Mohan has developed a device, called the Smell Camera, which can record specific scents, writes Antonia DePace for Boston Magazine. Mohan’s struggle with homesickness inspired her to create the Smell Camera, which allows users to capture and store the scent of a particular object.
Reporting for WBUR, Karen Weintraub speaks with Profs. Angela Belcher, Sangeeta Bhatia and Paula Hammond about their work developing tiny tools to target cancer cells. Bhatia explains that their collaboration feels like, “a dream team of people that are interested in nanoscience and nanotechnology and focusing those advances on cancer.”
Ben Guarino of The Washington Post revisits research by Profs. Annette Hosoi and Amos Winter examining how razor claims burrow through sand. Hosoi and Winter developed a device that “mimics the razor clam's digging ability, allowing an object to secure itself to the sea floor,” and could be used to anchor underwater autonomous vehicles or deposit undersea cables.
Researchers in the MIT Senseable City Lab have partnered with the City of Cambridge to gather information about air pollution, infrastructure decay, and traffic, writes Haniya Rae for CityLab. The researchers have outfitted five garbage trucks with “accelerometers, air-quality sensors, infrared cameras, and wireless signal monitors,” in an effort to “collect data on the state of the city.”
This CNN video highlights a new system developed by CSAIL researchers that allows noncoders to teach robots to perform a task after a single demonstration. The new programming method also enables robots to learn from other robots, which could enable “a variety of robots to perform similar tasks.”
Wired reporter Matt Simon writes that CSAIL researchers have developed a new system that allows noncoders to be able to teach robots a wide range of tasks, and enables robots to transfer new skills to other robots. Simon notes that the development is a “glimpse into a future where, more and more, robots communicate without humans at all.”
Prof. Kevin Esvelt has been honored as a 2017 Boston Globe “Game Changer” for his work with genetic engineering. Ike Swetlitz notes that, “As biology advances at breakneck speed and international debate rages about the ethics and politics of releasing genetically engineered animals, Esvelt has emerged as a respected leader.”
Prof. Jeff Gore has developed a new technique to help predict the collapse of some ecosystems, writes Gabriel Popkin for Science. Gores hopes the method could be used, “in fisheries where protected areas abut heavily fished ones: If the method works, he hopes fishery managers can use it to set catch limits to avoid a collapse.”
A study by Prof. Tanveet Suri shows that a mobile-money service called M-Pesa had a long-term impact on poverty in Kenya, writes Tina Rosenberg for The New York Times. The researchers found that M-Pesa “helped women graduate from subsistence agriculture to small business, perhaps because having an M-Pesa account gives a woman her own money…and a greater sense of agency.”
BBC News reporter Roland Pease explores the burgeoning field of synthetic biology. “I think what makes synthetic biology interesting is that it's bringing together engineers and physicists with molecular biologists to model, design, and build molecular components that can then be used to rewire and reprogram living cells for a variety of applications,” explains Prof. James Collins.
In an article for The Washington Post, Prof. Fotini Christia and graduate student Tugba Bozcaga analyze whether Turkish referendum rallies held in Europe influenced election results. The researchers found that rallies did not influence the election outcome, and that "deep-seated cleavages between Turks and Kurds, as well as divisions within Turks…ultimately determined the outcome of the referendum.”
Prof. Abhijit Banerjee and Prof. Vipin Narang were highlighted as part of Open Magazine’s list featuring some of the leading thinkers on India. Banerjee was spotlighted for his research on alleviating poverty in India, and Narang for his work examining India’s nuclear doctrine.