Satellites have changed the way we experience the world, by beaming back images from around the globe and letting us explore the planet through online maps and other visuals. Such tools are so familiar today we often take them for granted. Lisa Parks does not. A professor in MIT’s Comparative Media Studies/Writing program, Parks is…
3 Questions: Lisa Parks On Drones, Warfare, And The Media
Drones have become a common part of warfare — but their use remains a subject of public contention. Lisa Parks, a professor in MIT’s program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing and director of its Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab, has spent extensive time analyzing this public debate. Now, she has co-edited a new volume examining the…
Industrial “Edge Cities” Have Helped China Grow
China’s massive investment in industrial parks has paid economic dividends while reshaping the urban areas where they are located, according to a newly published study co-authored by an MIT expert on urban economics. The study finds the creation of industrial parks does not just add to growth within the areas designated for manufacturing; it significantly…
Q&A: How Twitter Explains the 2016 Election
During an intense U.S. presidential campaign, millions of people are chatting about the election every day on Twitter. MIT is studying them. More precisely, the Laboratory for Social Machines, part of the MIT Media Lab, has launched a project called the Electome that charts Twitter in unique detail. Now the project has joined forces with…
Measuring Exposure to Pollution: Mobile-Phone Data Helps Researchers Study an Urban Problem
What’s the best way to measure human exposure to urban pollution? Typically, cities do so by studying air-quality levels in fixed places. New York City, for example, has an extensive monitoring network that measures air quality in 155 locations. But now a study led by MIT researchers, focused on New York City, suggests that using…
Study Explores How Backing for Clean Tech Should Be Designed
Governments often offer subsidies to consumers for clean-technology products, from home solar panels to electric vehicles. But what are the right levels of subsidy, and how should they be calculated? As a new paper co-authored by MIT researchers shows, governments can easily make subsidies too low when they ignore a basic problem: Consumer demand for…
New Switch could Power Quantum Computing
A light lattice that traps atoms may help scientists build networks of quantum information transmitters. Using a laser to place individual rubidium atoms near the surface of a lattice of light, scientists at MIT and Harvard University have developed a new method for connecting particles — one that could help in the development of powerful…
Views You Can Use? How Online Ratings Affect Your Judgment
Study: Positive comments create an illusory snowball effect, while negative responses get cancelled out. Peter Dizikes, MIT News Office Are you influenced by the opinions of other people — say, in the comments sections of websites? If your answer is no, here’s another question: Are you sure? A new study co-authored by an MIT professor…