Carolyn Johnson writes for The Boston Globe about Professor Susumu Tonegawa’s research into rewiring memories in rodents. “That adds to a body of research from MIT over recent years that has shown that administering a drug can wipe out a negative memory in mice,” writes Johnson.
A team led by Professor Susumu Tonegawa effectively manipulated the emotions associated with certain memories in mice, reports Jonathan Webb of BBC News. “By artificially activating circuits in the brain, scientists have turned negative memories into positive ones,” writes Webb.
James Hamblin of The Atlantic reports on the new MIT study that shows implementing a cap on carbon emissions would result in health care savings. An economy-wide cap and trade program "would result in a net benefit of $125 billion in human health costs,” writes Hamblin.
CBC News reports on the MIT study examining how carbon reduction policies impact health care spending. “They discovered that the greatest health savings came from the cap-and-trade program, with savings coming in at 10.5 times the $14.5-billion cost of such a program,” CBC reports.
Neel V. Patel writes for Popular Science about the online game Eyewire developed by MIT researchers. The game has allowed neuroscientists to gather data that is helping them to map the eye’s neural network.
The Wall Street Journal interviews Professor Sara Seager about her research and her search for extraterrestrial life. "We haven't been able to find the true Earth twin yet because it's so very hard to find. It's like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack," says Seager.
In a piece for Scientific American about the advantages of dyslexia, Matthew H. Schneps highlights an MIT study that found that people with dyslexia “can distribute their attention far more broadly than do typical readers,” and often have heightened visual and auditory senses.
Lenny Bernstein of The Washington Post writes about a new study conducted by researchers from MIT and Johns Hopkins University that showed that sightless people, “understand how others see the world in the same way that sighted people do — though they have never personally experienced a single visual image.”
Professor Marin Soljacic was one of three winners of the prestigious Blavatnik National Awards, reports Nature. Soljacic received the award for his work on electromagnetic phenomena, including wireless charging of batteries.
Dan Vergano of National Geographic profiles Professor Alan Guth’s career in physics. "What always fascinated me about science was the desire to understand what underlies it all, and I think physics is basically the study of that," Guth explains.
“Researchers dug into the sediment and ground the samples to a powder for analysis at a sophisticated Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) lab,” reports the AFP on new research that indicates that the diet of the Neanderthals included plants, as well as animals. The findings contradict the prior belief that Neanderthals were almost exclusively carnivorous.
“Chemical analysis of poop samples discovered at an archaeological site in Alicante, Spain, suggests Neanderthals may have enjoyed significant servings of plants too,” writes Washington Post reporter Gail Sullivan of new findings from MIT researchers concerning the diets of Neanderthals.
In a piece for Salon, Sarah Gray reports that a team of researchers, “discovered 50,000-year-old human poop while excavating the ancient Neanderthal site El Salt, located in Spain near the port of Alicante on the Mediterranean.” Analysis of the fecal matter showed that the Neanderthals may have eaten more vegetables than previously thought.
Nicholas St. Fleur of NPR examines new findings from MIT researchers concerning the Neanderthal diet. "This opens a new window into Neanderthal diet because it's the first time we actually know what they digested and consumed," Ainara Sistiaga says.
Carolyn Johnson writes for The Boston Globe about MIT’s findings that the diets of Neanderthals included plants in addition to animals. The results, obtained by analyzing fecal samples, undermine previous beliefs that Neanderthals were carnivorous.