David Zipper, a senior fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative, writes for Fast Company about the risks associated with introducing driverless vehicles to European cities. “Technological marvels they may be, but robotaxis are still cars and cars are a uniquely inefficient means of moving large numbers of people when space is at a premium,” writes Zipper. “By inviting robotaxis into their narrow, busy streets, European cities risk worsening congestion.”
Christina Cassotis MBA '14 speaks with Business Insider reporter Kelsey Vlamis about her experience and goals for the airline industry as CEO of Pittsburgh’s airport. “I love my job, and I like thinking about my job,” says Cassotis. “Of course, it's stressful, but it's the kind of stress I'm built for. I am very good at managing lots of complexity. I really love understanding stakeholders and what they need and how to communicate with them. We're constantly looking for better ways to do things. I care a lot about making sure our staff feels engaged. Airports are fun places to work.”
Prof. Carlo Ratti speaks with Reuters reporter Catherine Early about the growing number of initiatives aimed at creating more walkable neighborhoods in urban cities. “Small, tangible changes – like pedestrianizing a block, repainting a square, or hosting a street festival – help people understand what proximity feels like in practice,” Ratti explains. “When people are involved in shaping their environment, skepticism often turns into ownership.”
Business Insider reporter Julia Hornstein spotlights Sampriti Bhattacharyya PhD '17, CEO and co-founder of Navier, a startup working to build hydrofoil boats. “Bhattacharyya says the hydrofoiling technique consumes 90% less energy than its traditional gas counterpart and creates a stable glide even in the choppiest of conditions, eliminating seasickness,” writes Hornstein.
Writing for Meteorological Technology International, Alex Pack explores how MIT researchers have developed a new “lightning-prediction model that could help protect more unconventional aircraft designs – such as blended-wing bodies or truss-braced configurations – as aviation moves beyond traditional tube-and-wing designs.”
Writing for Bloomberg, Prof. Carlo Ratti explores how street configuration and design can help reduce traffic speeds. “In studies we have conducted at our Senseable City Lab, we found that the posted speed limits often have little effect on how fast people drive,” writes Ratti. “Instead, the policies that work involve the design of the street itself.”
Prof. John Hansman speaks with Newsweek reporter Anna Skinner about the logistics behind flying an aircraft through a hurricane. “Flying through a hurricane at altitude is not particularly hazardous, particularly if you are above the tops of the clouds and the turbulent layer,” explains Hansman. “It is more hazardous to land or take off in those conditions where there are high winds and rain."
A study by researchers from the MIT AgeLab examines “how to reduce collisions between vehicles and pedestrians,” reports Ed Garsten for Forbes. The research looked at how vehicles and pedestrians “interact and communicate with each other, along with how automated systems and technology affect driver behavior.”
Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang and his colleagues have developed a sodium-air fuel cell that “packs three to four times more energy per pound than common lithium-ion batteries,” reports Aaron Pressman for The Boston Globe, which could serve as “a potentially groundbreaking clean power source for airplanes.” Pressman adds that: “Ultimately, a sodium-air fuel cell could power a regional jet carrying 50 to 100 passengers on flights as long as 300 miles.”
Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, speaks with Financial Times reporter Michael Peel about ongoing efforts to balance autonomous vehicles’ “efficient operation with the need for them to minimize damage in collisions.” Rus notes that a new framework offers a “potential path towards AVs that can navigate complex, multi-agent scenarios with an awareness of differing levels of vulnerability among road users,” says Rus.
Prof. John Hansman speaks with NPR reporter Joe Hernandez about staffing shortages and recent air travel disruptions at Newark Liberty International Airport. "We run the system very conservatively and very safely," says Hansman. "If you get to this very extreme case we appear to be in, then you have secondary concerns about fatigue and stress, et cetera, that may degrade performance, but I don't think we've necessarily seen that at this point.”
Prof. Arnold Barnett speaks with New York Times reporter Christine Chung about airplane safety and risks. “Twelve million people board planes every day, on average, each year,” says Barnett. “The overwhelming majority of days not a single passenger is injured let alone killed.”
David Zipper, a senior fellow at the Mobility Initiative, speaks with WBUR Here & Now co-host Scott Tong about “car bloat,” the trend of increasingly large SUVs and trucks on the road. “I personally believe that car bloat is a major public health issue, it's a major policy issue, but I'll be candid, I don't think the average American does right now,” explains Zipper. “We need people to understand it and appreciate it. And in my view, that's going to need to happen at the grassroots level before we can expect really anybody in Washington to address this problem in the way that it deserves to be addressed.”
Prof. John Hansman speaks with Boston Herald reporter Rock Sobey about airline safety after the recent plane and helicopter collision in Washington D.C. “We have an incredibly safe system with very good procedures and good training, but there’s always the small chance that something happens — that someone gets distracted,” says Hansman. “When we have an incident like this, it can be stunning, but I wouldn’t overreact to it. I don’t think it’s an indication of a major problem with the system and air traffic control.”
In an interview with NPR’s “Short Wave” host Emily Kwong, Prof. Mark Drela attempts to ease flight anxiety by explaining the science behind flying. “Airplanes are designed to withstand very, very extreme turbulence,” says Drela. “Even the most violent imaginable turbulence that you’ve ever felt, the airplane can withstand loads maybe three times bigger…There is a very big safety margin on how aircrafts are built.”