Prof. Thomas Levenson participates in a WGBH Living Lab Radio panel discussion about science fiction. “Science fiction is simply literature, Levenson explains. “It might be the leading stream of fiction because we live in a world that is so conditioned by all the ways that both deep scientific ideas and their applications in everyday technology change the way we do everything.”
Prof. Charles Stewart III writes for The Washington Post about a new report from the MIT-run Elections Performance Index (EPI) showing that election administration improved from 2012 to 2016. “The latest EPI shows that we can use objective metrics to chart any policy change aimed at improving voting, and that it’s not as difficult as we thought,” explains Stewart.
In an article for the Pacific Standard about dispelling rumors and conspiracy theories, Nathan Collins highlights research by Prof. Adam Berinsky examining how information sources impact voters. “People speaking against their interests [are] more credible,” Berinsky explains. “What’s more credible: the surgeon general or McDonald’s saying you shouldn’t eat French fries?”
Zofia Niemtus writes for The Guardian about tech startups focused on helping breastfeeding mothers. Niemtus notes that MIT’s second “Make The Breast Pump Not Suck!” hackathon, which focused on marginalized groups in society, resulted in projects like “a pop-up shelf for pumping in unsanitary public places; a lactation kit for use in disaster zones; and a virtual reality app.”
Writing for The New York Times, Prof. Sherry Turkle argues that machines will never be able to replace humans as compassionate companions. “Machines have not known the arc of a human life. They feel nothing of the human loss or love we describe to them,” writes Turkle. “Their conversations about life occupy the realm of the as-if.”
In an interview with Wynne Parry of NBC Mach, Prof. Sherry Turkle expresses concern that household robots can interfere with children learning to understand and connect with one another. “There are skills of listening, of putting oneself in the place of the other, that are required when two human beings try to deeply understand each other,” Turkle explains.
In an article for The Boston Globe, Prof. Thomas Levenson reviews David Quammen’s new book, “The Tangled Tree.” Levenson writes that the book is, “much more than a report on some cool new scientific facts. It is, rather, a source of wonder.”
Writing for WBUR’s Cognoscenti, Amy Carleton, a lecturer in Comparative Media Studies/Writing, highlights three novels that vividly portray the immigrant experience. Carleton writes that the novels are about, “searching and finding, belonging and wanting — the things that define our human experience regardless of our point of origin.”
Prof. Alan Lightman reviews Adam Frank’s new book, “Light of the Stars,” for The New York Times. Lightman writes that Frank suggests, “we can strengthen our resolve to kick our bad environmental habits by viewing our terrestrial civilization from a cosmic perspective.”
Axios reporter Sam Baker highlights a new working paper co-authored by Prof. Jonathan Gruber that provides evidence that doctors do practice “defensive medicine” in an effort to avoid lawsuits. Gruber and his colleague found that, “the threat of malpractice suits raises health care costs by about 5%.”
New York Times reporter Margot Sanger-Katz writes about a new working paper by Prof. Jonathan Gruber on the extent to which a fear of lawsuits increases the number of medical tests and treatments a patient receives. “There is defensive medicine,” says Gruber. But that “is not explaining a large share of what’s driving U.S. health care costs.”
Boston Globe reporter David Weininger highlights a recording of three new works by Prof. Peter Child. Weininger writes that the new pieces, “demonstrate the MIT composer’s remarkable stylistic diversity.”
In an article for The Washington Post, Debra Bruno reviews Prof. Alan Lightman’s new book, “In Praise of Wasting Time,” which makes the case for why we need more downtime. Bruno writes that, “Lightman constructs a careful and well-sourced argument, citing the anecdotes of artists, scientists and writers to build his case methodically and convincingly.”
Prof. Amy Finkelstein speaks with WBUR’s Carey Goldberg about her study showing only a small amount of Medicare spending goes end-of-life care. Finkelstein explains, “there is very little Medicare spending on people with high probability of dying. And part of that is just that it's very, very hard to predict who is going to die.”
STAT reporter Orly Nadell Farber writes about a new study by Prof. Amy Finkelstein that challenges the widely held assumption that a large portion of Medicare spending goes towards end-of-life care. “We spend money on sick people — some of them die, some of them recover,” says Finkelstein. “Maybe some recover, in part, because of what we spent on them.”