A study by Prof. Tanveet Suri shows that a mobile-money service called M-Pesa had a long-term impact on poverty in Kenya, writes Tina Rosenberg for The New York Times. The researchers found that M-Pesa “helped women graduate from subsistence agriculture to small business, perhaps because having an M-Pesa account gives a woman her own money…and a greater sense of agency.”
In an article for The Washington Post, Prof. Fotini Christia and graduate student Tugba Bozcaga analyze whether Turkish referendum rallies held in Europe influenced election results. The researchers found that rallies did not influence the election outcome, and that "deep-seated cleavages between Turks and Kurds, as well as divisions within Turks…ultimately determined the outcome of the referendum.”
In an article for Scientific American, Kavya Balaraman writes that MIT researchers have found that climate change could impact rainfall conditions over the Nile, potentially exacerbating water conflicts. Prof. Elfatih Eltahir explains that with the increased frequency of El Niño and La Niña, “we are projecting enhanced variability in the Nile flow.”
President Reif spoke with Abraham González of El Financiero about the rapid advance of technology. “Machine learning will not replace us, on the contrary, it will help us. Just as computers help us get the job done today and just as cars help us get from one place to another,” explains Reif.
In this video, WCVB Chronicle host Anthony Everett visits Prof. Neil Gershenfeld at the Center for Bits and Atoms to learn about the global network of Fab Labs. Everett explains that Gershenfeld sees Fab Labs as places of “collaboration and networking and mentoring where ideas can literally take form. Where you don’t borrow, but make what you want.”
Researchers from MIT’s Senseable City Lab are cataloging tree cover in cities around the world and have determined that Singapore has the most greenery of the 17 cities surveyed thus far, reports Audrey Tan for The Straits Times. The project is aimed at getting “people to take action to improve urban tree cover in their cities,” says Prof. Carlo Ratti.
New research by Prof. David Autor shows that the number of young married women has decreased during recent decades, reports Jenna Smialek for Bloomberg News. Autor found that “the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to global trade may be at least partially to blame” for the decline.
Los Angeles Times reporter Deborah Netburn spoke with President L. Rafael Reif about the importance of allowing scientists around the world to collaborate. “It doesn’t matter if you were born in Pakistan or Somalia or whatever— scientists like to work with scientists,” explains Reif.
A new study by Prof. John Van Reenen finds that Britain’s exit from the European Union could cause a “negative impact on gross domestic product per capita of almost four times that of previous estimates,” reports Lucy Meakin for Bloomberg.
CNBC reporter Karen Gilchrist writes that a study by Prof. John Van Reenen shows that Brexit could end up reducing the incomes of people living in Great Britain by as much as 9.5 percent. “The report points to a 6.3 to 9.5 percent reduction in GDP per capita with the U.K. outside of the EU's single market,” Gilchrist explains.
In an article for USA Today, research associate James Walsh writes about the Trump administration’s executive order on immigration. Walsh writes that he believes the order will “make international cooperation more difficult, increase animosity towards the United States, and strengthen the hands of ISIS to recruit followers and make the case that the US is anti-Islam.”
Writing for the Financial Times, John Thornhill highlights President L. Rafael Reif’s comments on empowering innovators and The Engine, MIT’s venture aimed at supporting startups focused on “tough” tech. Thornhill writes that “MIT should be applauded for its ambition. Innovation needs to become more innovative.”
Melvin Konner writes for The Wall Street Journal about new MIT research that shows mobile-money services helped lift at least 194,000 Kenyan households out of extreme poverty. The researchers found that the services significantly helped women, and estimated that mobile banking “induced 185,000 women to switch into business or retail” from farming, and increased saving.
Atlantic reporter Robinson Meyer writes about an MIT study that shows greenhouse gases lingering in the atmosphere will cause sea levels to rise for years. “The ocean remembers, and that’s really the key message,” explains Prof. Susan Solomon. “The sea takes a very, very long time to cool down once you’ve heated it up.”
Bruce Gellerman reports for WBUR that during an address at MIT, Sec. of State John Kerry urged action on climate change. “Unless we take the steps necessary to change the course that our planet is on, the impacts that we have already seen will pale in comparison to what we will witness in years to come," Kerry explained.