Prof. Carlo Ratti has created a metal canopy that can control light and shade, and can be used to create microclimates in outdoor areas, reports Sophie Morlin-Yron for CNN. Morlin-Yron writes that Ratti explained that “the aim is to curb the heat that makes public areas in places like Dubai ‘unlivable’ during the hottest times.”
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.”
Joshua Cassidy of KQED highlights an MIT study about how cats use their tongues to drink. The researchers created a model that mimics how cats drink and determined that “house cats tend to lap water about four times a second while larger species of cats, like lions and tigers, lap slower as their body mass increases.”
The Copenhagen Wheel, created by Senseable City Lab researchers, transforms a regular bicycle into a semi-autonomous mode of transport, writes Bob Woods for CNBC. “We realized that unless you somehow change the bike, it's hard to imagine it as a solution for transportation, and that means increasing its capacity to go farther,” explains Assaf Biderman, the lab’s associate director.
In an article for Governing, Quentin Palfrey, executive director of J-PAL North America, outlines five strategies for creating evidence-based policymaking. “Replacing hunches with facts has dramatic consequences for the efficacy of government programs, particularly those that deliver services to assist the poorest in our society,” Palfrey advises.
Guardian reporter Max Galka writes about Treepedia, a visual database of the urban canopy in 16 cities, developed by researchers from MIT’s Senseable City Lab. The database, “accounts for the density of trees, and by analyzing panoramas from Google Street View, it considers how buildings and other obstructions affect how the trees are perceived at ground level.”
Daniel Akst of The Wall Street Journal writes about the wearable device developed by CSAIL researchers that can detect the emotional tone of a conversation. The researchers “are pushing the boundaries by training a computer to take account of such a wide range of factors in making judgments about emotion,” writes Akst.
Prof. Sara Seager speaks with WGBH’s Edgar Herwick about the search for life on other planets, following the discovery of seven Earth-sized exoplanets. "The first thing we’re gonna look for is water vapor in the atmosphere," Seager explains. “If there’s water, we want to look and see if there are gasses that don’t belong that might be produced by life."
Institute Prof. Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus, known for her work deciphering the secrets of carbon, died at 86, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. Dresselhaus’ granddaughter Leora Cooper, an MIT graduate student, explained that by being a role model for women in STEM, “she encouraged me to not just see the changes that needed to be made, but to start making them.”
New York Times reporter Natalie Angier memorializes the life and work of Institute Professor Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus, affectionately nicknamed the “Queen of Carbon” for her pioneering research into the fundamental properties of carbon. Angier notes that Dresselhaus was also “renowned for her efforts to promote the cause of women in science.”
Researchers from MIT’s Senseable City Lab are cataloging tree cover in cities around the world and have determined that Singapore has the most greenery of the 17 cities surveyed thus far, reports Audrey Tan for The Straits Times. The project is aimed at getting “people to take action to improve urban tree cover in their cities,” says Prof. Carlo Ratti.
Postdoc Julien de Wit speaks with Boston Herald reporter Marie Szaniszlo about the discovery of seven Earth-like planets. De Wit, who is leading the effort to study the planets’ atmospheres, explains that “this is the first time that we’ve found so many small planets — each potentially habitable — around the same star, a star that’s close to us.”
Financial Times reporter Tim Harford writes that a study by MIT researchers explores how a country's exports can influence income inequality. The study shows “a relationship between inequality and lack of economic complexity. Holding other things constant, the simplest economies tend to be the most unequal.”
Postdoc Julien de Wit speaks with NPR reporter Nell Greenfieldboyce about the discovery of seven exoplanets that could harbor the conditions necessary to sustain liquid water. Greenfieldboyce reports that de Wit explained that the planets have a “‘winning combination’ of being temperate, Earth-size and ideally suited for follow-up observations with telescopes to analyze their atmospheres.”
MIT researchers have developed a drug that could reverse hearing loss by regenerating hair cells in the ear, writes Thomas Tamblyn for The Huffington Post. Hearing loss affects about 45 million Americans and “repairing or regrowing those hair cells would be a major breakthrough,” explains Tamblyn.