In the Media

Prof. David Autor speaks with NPR Planet Money host Greg Rosalsky about his new working paper exploring the aftermath of the China Shock and the economic impact of tariffs. Autor and his colleagues found that while regions impacted by the China Shock did eventually recover, the people hurt by the China Shock did not. “The China Shock research suggests that classic, free market economic theory blinded many to the reality that free trade can destroy the livelihoods of many people and that they have a hard time adjusting," says Rosalsky.

MIT’s Artfinity Festival kicks off on Saturday, February 15^th with a celebration of the new Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building and Thomas Tull Concert Hall featuring a free afternoon open house and evening concert, writes A.Z. Madonna for The Boston Globe. “What this building brings to us is support for performance of all different types of music, whether it’s classical or jazz or world music, and then the ability to support various functions with our students,” says Keeril Makan, associate dean of SHASS. 

Cambridge Day reporter Susan Saccoccia spotlights the new Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building, which opens to the public on Saturday, February 15^th, with a celebratory concert called “Sonic Jubilance,” the start of a “monthslong festival of 80 events across the campus, free and open to the public.” Prof. Marcus Thompson notes: “The extent of art-making on the MIT campus is equal to that of a major city. It’s a miracle that it’s all right here, by people in science and technology who are absorbed in creating a new world and who also value the past, present and future of music and the arts.”

Research Scientist Artem Burdanov speaks with WBZ News Radio reporter Chaiel Schaffel about his team’s work developing a new detection method that could be used to track potential asteroid impactors like 2024 YR4 and help protect our planet. Burdanov and his colleagues used the new method to detect “138 asteroids ranging in size from a bus to the size of Gillette Stadium.” Burdanov explains that he and his colleagues "used a clever technique to find asteroids that are hidden in the noise.” 

Research Scientist Artem Burdanov speaks with Boston.com reporter Molly Farrar about asteroid 2024 YR4. Burdanov and his colleagues recently developed a new detection method that could be used to track potential asteroid impactors and help protect our planet. “We need to observe it more, and then we can make an informed decision,” says Burdanov, “but it’s good that we have telescopes and scientists who can do this type of work and inform the public about the threat.” 

Principal Research Scientist Andrew McAfee speaks with Forbes reporter Joe McKendrick about lessons that he believes technology companies need to absorb. McAfee notes that successful companies “are a lot more egalitarian, they try to modularize themselves and give a great deal of autonomy, and they try to settle their arguments via evidence.”

“SPACE,” a theater production from The Catalyst Collaborative at MIT and Brit d’Arbeloff Women in Science, will premiere at the Central Square Theater and run through February 23, reports Jacquinn Sinclair for The Boston Globe. The production “centers on the Mercury 13, a group of women who passed the same tests as men to be eligible to join the astronaut program in the 1960s, but ultimately were not granted access to the NASA space program in 1962,” explains Sinclair. “The story meshes fiction with historical records to amplify the work of trailblazing pilots, engineers, and activists who fought to ascend past the glass ceiling of gender discrimination in aviation.” 

Prof. Ed Boyden and Prof. Li-Huei Tsai have “found that if gamma waves through non-invasive stimulation, were put back into baseline frequency, it could slow down the process in certain brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s,” reports Hansa Bhargava for Forbes. 

In a letter to The Guardian, Research Scientist Florian Metzler, Research Affiliate Matt Lilley and their colleagues highlight the important advancements being made in cold fusion research. “Cold fusion could result in spectacular technologies. But we are convinced that the way forward requires rigorous, open-source scientific investigation, not more claims,” they write. “In many ways, cold fusion’s time has come. Advances in theory and experiment have made the LENR field eminently actionable.” 

During a town hall-style discussion at the Museum of Science, Prof. David Kaiser explored the importance of scientific exploration in a democracy and its role in spurring on national progress, reports Brian Bergstein for The Boston Globe. “Science, which needs a lot of resources, has to be political,” says Kaiser. “We have to make the case in a persuasive way about why this kind of activity is worthy of support.” 

Prof. Daron Acemoglu speaks with New York Times reporter Jeff Sommer about the anticipated impact of future AI on various industries. “There is a lot of hype in the industry,” says Acemoglu. While some AI companies have “impressive achievements,” Acemoglu adds that many financial and economic calculations were being based on mere “projections into the future that are sometimes exaggerated.”

The MIT Museum is hosting an event with Harvard University Prof. Cass Sunstein about his new book, “Climate Justice: What Rich Nations Owe the World – and the Future,” reports Adelaide Parker for The Boston Globe. The event will explore “our obligations to our fellow humans – and how climate change means our actions have global consequences,” writes Parker. 

Lincoln Lab Senior Scientist Vijay Gadepally speaks with Washington Post reporter Nicolas Rivero about ways to make AI more sustainable. “Whatever we do, energy usage is likely going to go up,” says Gadepally. “That train has left the station.”

Prof. Daron Acemoglu speaks with Bloomberg reporter Jeran Wittenstein about the implications of new AI advancements on areas such as productivity, the labor market and economic growth. “I hope I’m wrong, I hope we get some productivity growth. That would be really cool,” says Acemoglu. “But I don’t see it yet.”

Prof. Max Tegmark speaks with CNBC “Beyond The Valley” podcast hosts Arjun Kharpal and Tom Chitty about concerns surrounding the future of AI systems. “I think, on an optimistic note here, we can have almost everything that we’re excited about with AI,” says Tegmark, “if we simply insist on having some basic safety standards before people can sell powerful AI systems.”