MIT researchers have developed a prototype for a cinema-sized 3-D movie screen that would allow users to watch 3-D movies without glasses, reports Mary Beth Griggs for Popular Science. As people generally sit in fixed seats in a cinema, the researchers developed a prototype that “can tailor a set of images for each individual seat in the theater.”
CSAIL researchers have developed a way for people to watch 3-D movies without glasses, writes Kevin Slane for Boston.com. The new display the researchers developed “would use a series of lenses and mirrors to allow audiences to see the same three-dimensional image from any seat in a theater.”
MIT researchers have developed a new lithium-oxygen battery concept that improves energy efficiency and longevity, and could potentially be used in long-distance electric cars and smartphones, reports Ben Woods for Wired. The new approach results in “faster charging and more efficient batteries, due to lower heat wastage,” Woods explains.
Amina Khan of The Los Angeles Times writes that a team of scientists, led by postdoc Julien de Wit, has conducted an atmospheric study of two Earth-sized exoplanets and found that they are rocky and have thin atmospheres. The findings “lend growing support to the idea that such planets might potentially be friendly to life.”
In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Mary Anastasia O’Grady argues that technology, not free trade, is the reason for the decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs. O’Grady highlights a paper by Prof. Autor examining why automation has impacted middle class jobs, which finds that “traditional middle-education jobs have been the easiest to replace with technology.”
Writing for Scientific American, Peter Bruce examines the usefulness of statistics in politics, citing a paper by Media Lab Visiting Scientist Yaneer Bar-Yam that examines why Nate Silver’s predictions concerning the Republican primaries were off. The researchers found that “he fell into one of the classic traps of non-statistical thinking: failure to take into account the property of dependence.”
In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Jason Zweig writes about how investors are buying high-risk bonds instead of high-quality bonds due to low interest rates. Zweig cites a new study co-authored by graduate student Chen Lian showing that “investors generally aren’t tantalized by risky alternatives to safe bonds until rates fall to 3%.”
Wired reporter Andy Greenberg writes that during an MIT Media Lab symposium Edward Snowden, the NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower, and Media Lab affiliate Andrew “bunnie” Huang announced that they are developing a device that could warn journalists about whether they are the target of government surveillance.
Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray writes that Media Lab research affiliate Andrew “bunnie” Huang and NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden are developing a device to protect journalists’ smartphones from government surveillance. Bray explains that the device will “detect whether a phone is sending or receiving unauthorized radio signals.”
New York Times reporter John Markoff writes that during a Media Lab symposium, whistleblower Edward Snowden announced that he is working with research affiliate Andrew Huang to develop a smartphone to protect journalists concerned about government surveillance. Markoff notes that in addition to computer hacking, the conference focused on “controversial scientific research in areas such as genetic engineering and geoengineering.”
EAPS postdoc Julien de Wit and his colleagues have analyzed the atmospheres of two potentially habitable exoplanets, reports Alan Yuhas for The Guardian. Based off their observations, de Wit explains that the atmospheres of the planets are probably similar to a “terrestrial planet like Mercury, Venus, Mars and Earth.”
A double transit of two Earth-sized exoplanets allowed an international team of scientists, led by postdoc Julien de Wit, to conduct an atmospheric analysis, writes Vivian Wang for The Boston Globe. The researchers found that “the planets have rocky, rather than gaseous, terrain, and compact, rather than loose, atmospheres — all further indication that they are potentially habitable.”
Prof. Kevin Esvelt is taking his genetically modified mice proposal for fighting Lyme disease to Martha’s Vineyard, says Carey Goldberg of WBUR. “Everyone would agree we should decide this in New England town hall debate at the local level, rather than handing it over to scientists like me to make unilateral decisions. I’m not for that,” says Prof. Esvelt
CSAIL researchers recently presented an algorithm that teaches computers to predict sounds, writes Kevin Hartnett for The Boston Globe. The ability to predict sounds will help robots successfully navigate the world and “make sense of what’s in front of them and figure out how to proceed,” writes Hartnett.
Indira Lackshmanan of WBUR’s Radio Boston speaks to Profs. Joe Formaggio and David Kaiser about their recent quantum theory discovery involving neutrinos. “Do they move through matter without having a definite identity? Our finding is that really they do,” says Kaiser.