One of the largest gifts in MIT's history will be used to “advance socially responsible and sustainable real estate, with a focus on China,” the Associated Press reports. The gift, from alumnus Samuel Tak Lee, will be used to establish a lab for sustainable real estate development, fund student fellowships, and put the lab’s curriculum online.
S. I. Rosenbaum of Boston Magazine speaks with the new dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning, Hashim Sarkis, about his desire to create a new vocabulary to describe existing habitats. “It is time to come up with a richer lexicon,” says Sarkis.
The Economist reports on how MIT researchers have developed an algorithm that predicts the perceived safety of different streets based off of visual cues. The researchers hope to use their research results to generate guidelines for how to make an urban area look safe and lively.
Freakonomics speaks with MIT Professor Eran Ben-Joseph about his book, “Rethinking a Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking,” which offers solutions to the parking lot.
Ruth Graham of The Boston Globe writes about Professor Franz-Josef Ulm’s work with “urban physics.” Ulm’s research, “places him among a number of scientists now using the tools of physics to analyze the practically infinite amount of data that cities produce in the 21st century, from population density to the number of patents produced to energy bill charges.”
Liat Clark reports for Wired on Changing Environments, an MIT Media Lab spinoff that is developing solar-powered smart benches to be placed around Cambridge and Boston. These benches allow users to charge their mobile devices and download environmental data.
The New York Times cites a paper by MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning on placemaking, a term for people’s efforts to shape their environment to improve social interaction and quality of life. The paper finds that these efforts help participants develop new social bonds with one another.
Kris Anderson reports for WHDH on MindRider, a bike helmet developed by a team at MIT that monitors the rider’s stress levels while also tracking location. "By mapping your community, you can really grow the safety and your own ridership in your town," said project leader Arlene Ducao.
“The Media Lab’s Changing Places group has uploaded a video demonstration of CityHome, a transformable multi-purpose piece of furniture they designed to make your 200-square-foot apartment feel three times larger,” writes Eric Randall for Boston Magazine. CityHome responds to touch and voice control and includes appliances, furniture, and storage space.
A. J. McCarthy writes for Slate about the CityHome mechanical closet developed by Media Lab researchers that is designed to save space in small, urban apartments. The CityHome includes a bed, kitchen appliances, and storage compartments that respond to voice and touch.
Reporting for WBZ-TV, David Wade highlights how MIT researchers have a long history of using Legos for solving real-life problems. Researcher Ira Winder is currently using Legos to study the “walkability” of a city, Wade reports.