In an article for The Washington Post, Tamar Haspel highlights a new collaboration between researchers from the MIT Media Lab, Target and IDEO aimed at helping people better understand what is in their food. Haspel explains that researchers are developing a scanner so shoppers can gain information about their food.
The Economist highlights how researchers in MIT’s SENSEable City Lab are developing sensors to measure noise and pollution levels, and robots to collect health information. “MIT’s SENSEable City Lab in Cambridge across the Charles River gives a taste of how much more cities could do with data,” The Economist notes.
A new working paper co-authored by Prof. Pierre Azoulay examines how the passing of a prominent scientist can provide opportunities for other researchers, according to The Economist. The researchers found that “publications by researchers who had not collaborated with the star increased by 8% a year.”
In an article for The New York Times, Nelson Schwartz highlights Prof. Duncan Simester’s study examining whether people spend more money when they are using a credit card. Simester notes that, “when you vary the payment method, people are willing to pay more. You’re not forking over a dollar bill, so there is less sensation of loss.”
MIT researchers are collecting information from sewer systems in an effort to better understand human health, writes Nicola Davis for The Guardian. “The beauty of looking at the sewage is there is a possibility that you can look not only for that pollutant, but some version of that pollutant that’s been modified by the human body,” explains Prof. Eric Alm.
Prof. Feng Zhang has been named a recipient of the 2016 Canada Gairdner International Award for his work on the development of the CRISPR gene-editing system, reports CBC News. CRISPR "may prove to be a ‘powerful therapeutic’ for treating human diseases by editing out harmful genetic mutations.”
Globe and Mail reporter Ivan Semeniuk spotlights Prof. Feng Zhang and his role in developing the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing system, for which he was honored as a recipient of the 2016 Canada Gairdner International award. “CRISPR genome editing technology is a really powerful platform,” says Zhang. “It think it will advance both our ability to understand disease and to develop treatments.”
CNBC reporter Robert Ferris chronicles the late Prof. Amar Bose’s quest to develop the perfect set of speakers. Ferris explains that Bose, a former faculty member at MIT and founder of the Bose Corporation, “didn't set out to sell speaker systems and headphones. He began his career as an academic engineer at MIT in the late 1950s.”
MIT researchers have found a possible link between attention deficit disorders and autism, reports Lindsay Kalter for The Boston Herald. “One of the long-term goals is gene therapy where we can actually introduce genetic material that might be missing from the human,” explains grad. student Michael Wells.
Researchers have created a gravity map of Mars that provides insight into the planet’s interior, reports Brian Mastroianni for CBS News. MIT postdoc Antonio Genova says the map will be, “helpful for future Mars exploration, because better knowledge of the planet's gravity anomalies helps mission controllers insert spacecraft more precisely into orbit around Mars.”
Dr. Matthias Wikenbach speaks with Angus Loten of The Wall Street Journal about how big data and the Internet of Things can be used to speed up the last mile of deliveries. Loten writes that “data can be fed into creating better delivery training programs, more efficient routes, and helping companies determine the best type of delivery vehicles.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Angus Loten writes that MIT researchers are investigating the viability of developing underground networks where autonomous vehicles could deliver goods in urban centers. According to Loten, Prof. Sertac Karaman explained that “subterranean drones have a number of advantages over unmanned aerial vehicles.”
Popular Science reporter Claire Maldarelli writes that researchers from MIT have identified how sensory overload occurs for people with neurodevelopmental disorders. Based off their findings, the researchers hope they can "classify these disorders in a better way, but also develop therapies that alleviate or diminish the symptoms.”
In an article for The Boston Globe, Prof. Emeritus Richard Schmalensee writes that policies should be enacted in Massachusetts that make solar power cost-effective for all consumers. Schmalensee writes that, “public policies must place a greater emphasis on rewarding the lowest-cost sources of solar electricity.”
In an article for The Huffington Post, Erik Rancatore highlights how “researchers at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub have developed a method to incorporate the risk and repair costs of damage from hurricanes and earthquakes into life-cycle analysis of residential buildings.”