A new MIT study examining anonymous credit card data shows that individuals can be identified using just a few pieces of information, writes Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Lee Hotz. “This touches on the fundamental limit of anonymizing data,” explains Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye.
In a piece for Scientific American, Larry Greenemeier writes about new MIT research showing how easy it is to identify individuals in anonymous data sets. “We have to think harder and reform how we approach data protection and go beyond anonymity, which is very difficult to achieve given the trail of information we all leave digitally,” says Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye.
MIT researchers were able to accurately identify individuals in an anonymous data set by looking at the date and location of four credit card transactions, reports Boer Deng for Nature. “Even when researchers only had estimates of time and location of a purchase to within a few days or neighbo[u]rhood blocks, they could still identify cardholders,” explains Deng.
Chris Berdik writes for Boston Magazine about Professor Sara Seager’s search for Earth-like exoplanets. “I believe that in our lifetime we will be able to take children to a dark sky,” said Seager. “And point to a star and say, That star has a planet with signs of life in its atmosphere.”
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.