Research by Professor Ann Graybiel demonstrated that providing mice with the human version of the FOXP2 gene allowed them to learn repetitive patterns more quickly, reports Clare Wilson of The New Scientist. This may demonstrate that the gene plays an important role in how humans learn to speak, says Graybiel.
Irving Wladawsky-Berger writes about research by Professor David Autor on the impact of technology on the workforce presented at this year’s Jackson Hole Federal Reserve Symposium. Autor argues that artificial intelligence still struggles to perform tasks that require flexibility, judgment and common sense.
The Boston Globe editorial board weighs in on the MIT Bitcoin Project, a student-led experiment that involves giving each undergraduate $100 of the digital currency: “Surely bitcoin deserves the skepticism with which it’s been greeted, but if it can work anywhere, it’s at MIT."
Stephen Ansolabehere and David Konisky write for The Boston Globe about a survey on public opinion on energy in the U.S. conducted by the MIT Energy Initiative and the Harvard University Center on Environment. The survey found that Americans have better knowledge of the policy debate than might be expected.
Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston reports that MIT researchers have proposed a new solar-powered, desalination system for purifying groundwater. “Wright and Winter argue that for the low levels of salt in the groundwater in up to 60 percent of rural India, they can extract enough power from solar panels to run their electrodialysis setup,” writes Subbaraman.
Writing for Scientific American, Tim Radford reports on Professor Paul O’Gorman’s new study, which shows that despite climate change blizzards will still occur. Radford writes that O’Gorman’s research shows that while some areas may receive less overall snowfall, extreme snowfall could become more intense.
Henry Grabar of Salon writes about new research by Professor Carlo Ratti on the impacts of taxi sharing. If taxi sharing was implemented in New York City, “the total distance traveled by New York City cabs would fall by 40 percent, relieving traffic, reducing air pollution and speeding up travel for everyone else on the road,” Grabar writes.
In a piece for The Guardian about Apple CEO Tim Cook, Dominic Rushe writes about a new book co-authored by MIT Professor Michael Cusumano that examines what happens to companies after they lose leaders. "There's no reason Apple can't be an extraordinarily successful company but it will be a different one," Cusumano says.
Washington Post reporter Angela Fritz writes that MIT Professor Paul O’Gorman has found that extreme snowfall events will continue despite global warming. Fritz reports that O’Gorman’s models show that in some high-latitude cases, “extreme snowstorms could deposit 10 percent more snow.”
In a piece for PBS, Jennifer Ouellette writes about Professor John Bush’s work with quantum mechanics, in particular his replication of a quantum corral. “Time will tell whether the quantum-like behavior of the walking [droplets] is mere coincidence,” says Bush.
In a piece published by The Huffington Post about a new time travel simulation, Lee Billings highlights Professor Seth Lloyd’s work developing a new model for a “closed timelike curve,” or a loop that could be traveled back into time.
Lina Zeldovich of The Atlantic writes about how Prof. Eric Alm and one of his graduate students tracked their bacterial fluctuations for a year to better understand how daily activities influenced their microbiome. “We just don’t know much about the functional role of any of these bugs,” says Alm.
The BBC’s Science Hour highlights new MIT research exploring how emotions are linked to memories. Researchers found that the emotional associations of specific memories could be reversed in mice.
MIT Professor Carlo Ratti and Cornell University Professor Steven Strogatz write for The Huffington Post about their research examining the benefits of taxi sharing. They write that their analysis shows by sharing taxis, “the total number of taxi trips in New York City could be reduced by 40 percent, fleet operation costs and pollution could be reduced by 30 percent.”
Arnie Cooper of Newsweek writes about the new MIT study that found taxi sharing could have significant impacts on New York City’s transportation system. Researchers in the MIT Senseable City Lab envision a future application that would facilitate ride sharing.