Heather Kelly of CNN writes about how MIT researchers have developed a swarm of drones that can fly and work collaboratively. "Some drones look at the big picture, others perform in-depth sampling, and the swarming system becomes much more efficient than if it were composed of one or more individual drones," says Prof. Carlo Ratti.
A new study by MIT scientists has found that metadata provides enough information to identify consumers in anonymous data sets. Aviva Rutkin writes for New Scientist that “for 90 per cent of people, just four pieces of information about where they had gone on what day was enough to pick out which card record was theirs.”
Professor Paul O’Gorman speaks with Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson about his recent research showing that despite climate change, massive snowstorms could still occur. “In some regions, fairly cold regions, you could have a decrease in the average snowfall in a year, but actually an intensification of the snowfall extremes,” explains O’Gorman.
Boston Globe reporter Jack Newsham writes about a new study, co-authored by Professor Ernst Berndt, which found that “the costs of making and selling new drugs from 2005 through 2009 outstripped the revenue drug companies made from them by an average of $26 million each.”
Ed Silverman writes for The Wall Street Journal about a new MIT study showing that drug development costs are outweighing profitability. “There has been a lot of focus on the risk of R&D and bringing a drug to market, but not really on what happens to drugs once they are on the market,” explains Prof. Ernst Berndt.
Scientific American reporter Mark Fischetti examines a new MIT study that found that raindrops can spread certain crop diseases. Fischetti explains that the research could be useful in helping farmers develop new techniques for preventing the spread of disease among crops.
Martin LaMonica writes for The Boston Globe about how MIT researchers are creating a commercial prototype of a carbon capture device. Graduate student Aly Eltayeb explains that carbon capture could be useful in cutting carbon emissions, “especially if you can do something with that CO2 and stop treating it as a waste — and treat it as a valuable product.”
James Surowiecki writes for The New Yorker about Professor Zeynep Ton’s book “The Good Jobs Strategy,” in which she argues that companies benefit when they invest in employee compensation and training. “These companies end up with motivated, capable workers, better service, and increased sales,” explains Ton.
“Researchers at Yale, MIT, and Notre Dame found that the repeal of blue laws in various states was associated with a 5 percent drop in church attendance,” reports Kevin Lewis for The Boston Globe. The repeals also led to a one percent drop in voter turnout, the study found.
Robert Samuelson writes for The Washington Post about research by Professor Antoinette Schoar that indicates that risky loans were not the primary reason for the 2008 housing bubble. The crisis “was caused, at least in part, by a larger delusion that was the bubble’s root source,” writes Samuelson of the research.
The Associated Press reports that NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base Saturday. The mission, headed by Professor Dara Entekhabi, is meant to improve flood forecasts and drought monitoring.
CBS News reporter William Harwood discusses NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, which will measure moisture levels in soil around the world, with Prof. Dara Entekhabi. Entekhabi explains, “through measurements SMAP can make, we can test and improve models that we use for atmospheric weather prediction and climate change projections."
In an article for MedPage Today, Shara Yurkiewicz writes about a new MIT study showing that high demand for desirable medical residencies keeps salaries low. Prof. Nikhil Agarwal explains that, “even if salary negotiation was allowed, the salaries of medical residents would be quite low compared with physician assistants or nurse practitioners.”
Washington Post reporter Danielle Paquette writes about a new study, co-authored by MIT Professor Frank Levy, examining the value of a college degree. The researchers found that the “investment of a college education is generally better for those who graduate — and on time — from a school with healthier resources.”
In this video, Robert Lee Hotz of The Wall Street Journal discusses how MIT researchers have found that individuals in an anonymous data set can be identified using just a few pieces of information about their shopping habits. “We're really being shadowed by our credit cards,” Lee Hotz explains.