Science, Technology, and Society

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. Sherry Turkle joins Manoush Zomorodi of NPR’s "Body Electric" to discuss her latest research on human relationships with AI chatbots, which she says can be beneficial but come with drawbacks since artificial relationships could set unrealistic expectations for real ones. "What AI can offer is a space away from the friction of companionship and friendship,” explains Turkle. “It offers the illusion of intimacy without the demands. And that is the particular challenge of this technology." 

Prof. Sherry Turkle writes for The New York Times spotlighting “The Fight to Save the Town,” a new book by Michelle Wilde Anderson. “Anderson’s book is an artful mixture of ethnography, narrative history, in-depth interviews and legal scholarship,” writes Turkle.

Prof. Emeritus Leo Marx, “a cultural historian whose landmark book exploring the pervasive intrusion of technology on nature helped define the field of American studies,” has died at age 102, reports John Motyka for The New York Times. Motyka writes that Marx was a “pioneer in an eclectic and still evolving quest to determine an American national identity.”

Graduate student Aja Grande and Sam Coren of Brown University write for The Providence Journal about how the Industrial Trust building, also known as the Superman building, in downtown Providence could be transformed into “a hub where local food operations, green industries and sustainability research could attract recent graduates of the region’s many schools, while providing jobs and job training to local residents.”

Arielle Pardes of Wired speaks with research specialist Kate Darling about the popularity of robotic companions and the concerns about humans becoming emotionally attached to them. “Darling, who studies ethics in robotics at MIT, says it's human nature to feel those bonds with machines that mimic emotion,” writes Pardes.

Writing for The Boston Globe, President L. Rafael Reif issues a call for allies to help address the changing nature of work in the age of automation. “Automation will transform our work, our lives, our society," writes Reif. "Whether the outcome is inclusive or exclusive, fair or laissez-faire, is up to us.”