Prof. Ekene Ijeoma has been collecting video recordings of people counting to 100 in different languages and dialects for the past year as part of his project “A Counting,” and is now soliciting videos of people counting to 100 in sign language, writes Sophie Haigney for The New York Times. Ijeoma explains that he hopes the artwork will constantly evolve “into a more whole representation of society.”
Prof. Jessika Trancik speaks with the BBC Newshour about her new study analyzing the dramatic decline in the costs of lithium-ion batteries. Trancik explains that the reduced price, “opens up markets for electric vehicles for more people. The battery makes up a substantial portion of the total cost of an electric vehicle and the fact that costs have fallen by 97% over the last few decades means that these cars are no longer just for the wealthy.”
Gizmodo reporter Victoria Song spotlights how CSAIL researchers have developed a new type of smart material that can measure movement. “The researchers have created a special type of fiber that can tell how a person is moving by sensing pressure and turning that pressure into electrical signals,” Song explains.
New York Times contributor Vivian Gornick reviews “The Empathy Diaries,” a new memoir by Prof. Sherry Turkle in which “she seeks to tell the story of her own formative years and how she became the distinguished social theorist that she is today.”
Prof. Sherry Turkle speaks with Fast Company reporter Alex Pasternack about her memoir, “The Empathy Diaries” and the role of technology in society.
Prof. Gio Traverso speaks with CNN’s Jeanne Moos about his new study examining how comfortable patients were interacting with Dr. Spot, a robotic dog outfitted with a computer tablet that allows ER doctors to engage with patients remotely. “The robot looks like a dog, and dogs are endearing to many, so actually, the reception was very positive,” said Traverso.
NY Post reporter Asia Grace writes that MIT researchers have found that patients are comfortable with allowing robotic assistants perform medical evaluations, as part of an effort to help reduce the spread of Covid-19. “People are very positive and accepting of robotic systems in health-care settings, particularly during the pandemic,” says Prof. Giovanni Traverso.
Writing for Time, Prof. Sherry Turkle explores whether the sense of displacement caused by the pandemic will allow people and the U.S. the opportunity to see “our country anew.” Turkle writes, “I came to a new state of mind because I could see my country anew. And although our country was at war with itself, I felt a deeper connection with other people who were also seeing anew. On the Zoom screens of the pandemic, I found the exhilaration of new connections.”
Al Chen '00, SM '02, a NASA systems engineer, speaks with NBC Boston about the hidden surprises that NASA engineers hid on the Perseverance rover for NASA fans and science enthusiasts to uncover. “I was at MIT for six years, we loved coding things, Mystery Hunt is a big deal,” says Chen. “I think it's a little bit of a chance to bring the art and the engineering together.”
"You remember when we go to election polls, the voting booth, during elections, we get a little sticker that says 'I Voted'" says Prof. Sinan Aral of a new study that finds hearing about people who have received the Covid-19 vaccine can increase vaccine acceptance rates. "You should think of this as a very similar type of strategy. The reason we get that sticker that says 'I Voted' is that social proof motivates people to join in. And so if we got a sticker or put out a video or put out a message that said, 'I got vaccinated,' it would have the same effect for the same reasons."
Prof. Sherry Turkle speaks with Dave Davies of Fresh Air about her new book and how her childhood experiences helped shape her work.
Prof. Alex “Sandy” Pentland emphasizes the need for improving speaking/hearing systems on laptops by incorporating better microphones in an article for The Wall Street Journal. “Research shows that the audio quality is just as important as video quality when judging the overall “quality” and “presence” of the conference experience,” Pentland writes.
TechCrunch reporter Brian Heater are developing a new prototype for a robot that can transform from soft to hard. “Combining the two fields could go a ways toward building safer collaborative robots for interacting with human workers,” writes Heater.
Prof. Sherry Turkle’s new book, “The Empathy Diaries,” is a “beautiful book,” writes Dwight Garner for The New York Times. “It has gravity and grace; it’s as inexorable as a fable; it drills down into the things that make a life; it works to make sense of existence on both its coded and transparent levels; it feels like an instant classic of the genre.”
Prof. Sherry Turkle speaks with Wired reporter Arielle Pardes about her new memoir, “The Empathy Diaries,” her views on screen time during the pandemic and finding connections during a time of physical distancing. “When people have great intent, and great desire, and full attention to turn this medium into something extraordinary, they can,” says Turkle of the internet. “The trouble is, we’re more likely to use it to make some money, to scrape some data, to turn it into something other than its highest form.”