Lindsay Holmes writes for The Huffington Post about Koko, an application developed by MIT researchers to help users fight stress by crowdsourcing their questions and worries. “We want to take the same principles that keep our eyes glued to Facebook and Instagram 24 hours a day and redirect them to promote well-being,” explains founder Robert Morris.
Kelly Servick writes for Science about Prof. Rosalind Picard’s work developing wearable technology that monitors and manages a user’s stress levels. “It’s one thing to study all this,” says Picard. “It’s another to build it into a form that people can start changing their lives around.”
Popular Science reporter Alexandra Ossola writes that MIT researchers are examining how drops of fluid from a sneeze travel. Ossola explains that gaining a “better understanding of these drops form and spread could help researchers and engineers stop the spread of disease, especially in enclosed spaces."
MIT researchers have examined how droplets are formed in high-propulsion sneeze clouds, according to CBS Boston. “Droplets are not all already formed and neatly distributed in size at the exit of the mouth, as previously assumed in the literature,” explains Prof. Lydia Bourouiba.
Prof. Lydia Bourouiba has modeled how droplets are formed after a person sneezes, reports Jonathan Webb for BBC News. “The process is important to understand because it determines the various sizes of the final droplets - a critical factor in how a sneeze spreads germs,” writes Webb.
MIT researchers have found that the high-velocity cloud created by the average human sneeze can contaminate a room in minutes, writes Robert Preidt for U.S. News & World Report. Sneeze droplets "undergo a complex cascading breakup that continues after they leave the lungs, pass over the lips and churn through the air," explains Prof. Lydia Bourouiba.
Wired reporter Sarah Zhang reports on how MIT researchers developed a new computer model that they used to examine the public health impacts of Volkswagen cheating on emissions standards tests. Zhang explains that the researchers’ model “allows scientists to estimate the impact of extra NOx in any 50 km by 50 km square of the world.”
A new study by researchers from MIT and Harvard shows that pollution from Volkswagen vehicles could lead to premature deaths in the U.S., reports Tom Randall for Bloomberg News. “Volkswagen's deception allowed some 482,000 U.S. diesel cars to pass emissions tests even as they polluted as much as 40 times the legal limit,” writes Randall.
Justin Worland of TIME reports on a new MIT study examining the public health impacts of Volkswagen’s software designed to evade emissions standards. “The emissions problem will also add nearly half a billion dollars in social costs,” writes Worland.
Alexandra Ossola reports for Popular Science that MIT researchers have determined that by cheating on emissions tests, Volkswagen could cause 60 premature deaths in the U.S. “The researchers estimated the impact on public health…by calculating the effects of more fine particulates, ozone, and nitrous oxide,” writes Ossola.
Researchers at MIT and Harvard have determined that emissions resulting from Volkswagen’s rigged inspections will cause 60 premature deaths in the U.S., reports Robert Preidt for U.S. News & World Report. The researchers found that “if VW recalls every affected vehicle by the end of 2016, more than 130 additional deaths may be prevented,” writes Preidt.
CNBC reporter Robert Ferris writes about a study by researchers from MIT and Harvard that examines the impacts of Volkswagen cheating on emissions tests. “Volkswagen's cars have emitted 40 times the amount of noxious nitrogen oxide (NOx) than the limit proscribed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” Ferris explains.
Nina Godlewski writes for Boston.com that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers found that approximately 60 people in the U.S. will die prematurely due to Volkswagen’s cheating on emissions tests. Godlewski explains that, “if the automaker fails to recall all of the affected vehicles by the end of 2016, more deaths may occur.”
Atlantic reporter Robinson Meyer speaks with Prof. Steven Barrett about his research showing that 140 people will die prematurely if Volkswagen vehicles outfitted with emissions-cheating devices are not recalled. Barrett says that if the cars are returned, “most of those 140 deaths would be averted.”
In an article for Stat, Andrew Joseph writes that the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research is committing $20 million to the Bridge Project, which funds research at the Koch Institute and Dana-Farber. “We’re looking for the best people, regardless of where they are, to tackle these very important problems,” explains Tyler Jacks, director of the Koch Institute.