New York Times reporter Jeneen Interlandi examines Dr. Emile Bruneau’s work studying regional conflicts to better understand how human empathy works. Bruneau explains that he felt that “the most relevant level of analysis for generating social change was the psychological level.”
In a piece for The Huffington Post, Jon Hartley writes about The Billion Prices Project, an initiative started by Profs. Roberto Rigobon and Alberto Cavallo to measure daily inflation. “The BPP daily inflation indices cover more than 70 countries and use daily price fluctuations of over five million items sold in over 300 online retailers,” Hartley explains.
CBC News reports that MIT researchers have detected a circular ring of debris circulating the minor planet Chiron. “If true, Chiron would join Chariklo as the second centaur with such a halo. It would also become only the sixth ringed body in Earth's solar system,” CBC reports.
A study co-authored by Professor Matt Marx indicates that Silicon Valley’s success may be due California’s prohibition of non-compete clauses, reports Natalie Kitroeff for Bloomberg News. The researchers explain that, “Policymakers who sanction the use of non-competes could be inadvertently creating regional disadvantage as far as retention of knowledge workers is concerned.”
Olga Khazan writes for The Atlantic about research by post-doctoral fellow Josh Hartshorne that indicates that different kinds of cognitive abilities peak at different ages. “Four types of proficiencies didn’t fully ripen until people were in their 50s: vocabulary, math, general knowledge, and comprehension,” Khazan explains.
Jane Wakefield reports for BBC News on a system developed by postdoctoral fellow Tal Danino in which bacteria are programmed to detect cancers in the liver. "It is a fascinating universe in our body and we can now program bacteria like we program computers,” Danino says.
MIT researchers have found that the minor planet Chiron may have a system of rings, reports Monte Morin for the Los Angeles Times. The researchers observed Chiron passing in front of a bright star and observed that Chiron's shadow contained some features “that suggested something surrounding the centaur was blocking the light.”
In a piece for The Boston Globe, Juan Enriquez writes about the groundbreaking research and developments coming out of the Boston-Cambridge region, highlighting the work of several MIT faculty members, including Professors Angela Belcher, Ed Boyden, Robert Langer, Susan Lindquist, David Page and Eric Lander.
Richard Moran writes for The Huffington Post about an MIT study that examines why Silicon Valley is home to so many tech companies. "The entire ecosystem is nurturing and helping companies within Silicon Valley realize their promise on a more guaranteed basis than anywhere else in the state," says Professor Scott Stern.
Karen Kaplan of The Los Angeles Times writes that MIT researchers have calculated that the measles vaccination rate among individuals exposed to the disease during the current outbreak ranges from 50 to 86 percent. “Vaccination rates in many of the communities that have been affected by this outbreak fall well below the necessary threshold to sustain herd immunity,” the researchers explain.
Based on the rapid spread of the measles outbreak, researchers believe that vaccination rates could be as low as 50 percent in some areas, Lisa Rapaport reports for Reuters. That rate “is far below the level necessary to achieve herd immunity,” explains graduate student Maimuna Majumder.
Prof. Nikhil Agarwal has found that a lack of positions at prestigious institutions leads to low salaries among medical residents, reports Angela Chen for The Wall Street Journal. Agarwal found that, "applicants are willing to pay an 'implicit tuition'...to have a prestigious and high-demand residency."
Benedict Carey reports for The New York Times on how MIT researchers have found that different portions of human intelligence peak at different ages. The researchers found that while an older brain may move slower than a younger one, it is “just as accurate in many areas and more adept at reading others’ moods — on top of being more knowledgeable.”
Steven Rosenbaum highlights PhD student Abe Davis’ TED talk in a piece for Forbes. Rosenbaum writes that Davis “has co-created the world’s most improbable audio instrument.”
Adam Rutherford of BBC Radio 4 speaks with Prof. Nicholas Makris about his work examining the evolution of violin design during the 17th and 18th centuries. Makris explains that, “if you go over that roughly 200 years you see that the F-hole length was increasing over that time period,” an adjustment that increased the violin’s acoustic power.