Rebecca Jacobson writes for the PBS NewsHour about how MIT researchers have found that individuals in anonymous data sets can be identified using just a few pieces of outside information. The researchers found that there is a “94 percent chance of tracking all of your purchases with three pieces of extra information.”
Seth Borenstein and Jack Gillum write for the Associated Press about how MIT researchers have found individuals can be identified by examining a few purchases from anonymous credit card data. "We are showing that the privacy we are told that we have isn't real," explains Pentland.
MIT researchers have found that anonymous individuals in a data set can be identified using a few pieces of information, reports Natasha Singer for The New York Times. “We ought to rethink and reformulate the way we think about data protection,” explains Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye.
Rachel Feltman writes for The Washington Post about how MIT researchers have developed new technology that can amplify microscopic movements invisible to the human eye. “MIT researchers recently published a study in which they extracted intelligible audio by analyzing the movements of a nearby bag of chips,” Feltman writes.
David Wessel reports for The Wall Street Journal on new research by Professor Frank Levy that indicates that while for most students college is still a good investment, it can be a risky move for some, in particular males who do not attend elite schools. The researchers conclude that college is "a stepping stone, not a ticket, to the middle class."
Charles H. Townes, a physicist whose long and distinguished career included service as MIT’s second provost, died Tuesday at age 99, reports Robert D. McFadden for The New York Times. While the Institute’s provost, Townes shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in physics for research that led to the development of the laser.
New research by Professor Daniel Rothman and postdoctoral associate Yossi Cohen has raised questions about the feasibility of carbon capture, reports Ken Silverstein for Forbes. The researchers found that “only a ‘small fraction’ of the carbon dioxide solidifies and turns into rock after it is injected 7,000 feet below the earth’s surface,” explains Silverstein.
Boer Deng writes for Nature about NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) probe, which uses microwave measurements to plot moisture levels in the Earth’s soil. “With SMAP, we are trying quite a different model,” says Prof. Dara Entekhabi, who is leading the SMAP science team.
In an article for Scientific American about a blizzard hitting the East Coast of the Unites States, Andrea Thompson cites an MIT study that found that while overall snowfall may decrease due to climate change, extreme snowstorms will still occur.
In this New York Times video, James Gorman explores new MIT research examining how rainfall produces a scent. The researchers found that when raindrops hit porous surfaces they release aerosols. The scent is “not from the rain itself,” explains Prof. Cullen Buie, “it’s from the earth.”
New MIT research suggests that brain scans may be helpful in predicting a person’s future behavior, reports Andrea Timpano for Boston Magazine. “Researchers found a strong correlation between brain measures, known as neuromarkers, and behavioral outcomes such as a patient’s reading ability or reaction to medication,” Timpano explains.
Karen Hopkin of Scientific American writes about a new method developed by MIT researchers for increasing the size of tissue samples to allow for better observation. Thus far, the researchers have used the new technique to “peer into the brains of mice, fruit flies and zebrafish,” Hopkin explains.
MIT researchers have released a report evaluating solar lanterns in Uganda, writes Nidhi Subbaraman for BetaBoston. The group is developing a model to assess products designed for the developing world with the goal of helping organizations “as they make purchases for relief efforts.”
Jonathan O’Connell writes for The Washington Post about 10 interactive maps of Washington, D.C. created by Professor Sep Kamvar that illustrate how people live, work, eat, and travel within the District. The visualizations are part of Kamvar’s “You Are Here” series that mapped 100 cities using publicly available data.
MIT researchers have found that carbon sequestration may not be as effective at storing greenhouse gas emissions as originally thought, reports Christopher Martin for Bloomberg News. The researchers found that “much of the carbon dioxide will remain in its gaseous state, and may eventually escape into the atmosphere.”