Characterizing social networks
People tend to connect with others who are like them. Alumni from the same alma mater are more likely to collaborate over a research project together, or individuals with the same political beliefs are more…
Browsing Tag
MIT IDSS
Martin Wainwright named director of the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
Martin Wainwright, the Cecil H. Green Professor in MIT’s departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and Mathematics, has been named the new director of the Institute for Data, Systems, and…
Power when the sun doesn’t shine
In 2016, at the huge Houston energy conference CERAWeek, MIT materials scientist Yet-Ming Chiang found himself talking to a Tesla executive about a thorny problem: how to store the output of solar panels and wind…
MIT researchers remotely map crops, field by field
Crop maps help scientists and policymakers track global food supplies and estimate how they might shift with climate change and growing populations. But getting accurate maps of the types of crops that are grown…
Generating the policy of tomorrow
As first-year students in the Social and Engineering Systems (SES) doctoral program within the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), Eric Liu and Ashely Peake share an interest in investigating…
New model predicts how shoe properties affect a runner’s performance
A good shoe can make a huge difference for runners, from career marathoners to couch-to-5K first-timers. But every runner is unique, and a shoe that works for one might trip up another. Outside of trying on a…
Inclusive research for social change
Pair a decades-old program dedicated to creating research opportunities for underrepresented minorities and populations with a growing initiative committed to tackling the very issues at the heart of such…
“MIT can give you ‘superpowers’”
Speaking at the virtual MITx MicroMasters Program Joint Completion Celebration last summer, Diogo da Silva Branco Magalhães described watching a Spider-Man movie with his 8-year-old son and realizing that his son…
A healthy wind
Nearly 10 percent of today’s electricity in the United States comes from wind power. The renewable energy source benefits climate, air quality, and public health by displacing emissions of greenhouse gases and…
Forging climate connections across the Institute
Climate change is the ultimate cross-cutting issue: Not limited to any one discipline, it ranges across science, technology, policy, culture, human behavior, and well beyond. The response to it likewise requires…
Learning how to learn
Suppose you need to be on today’s only ferry to Martha’s Vineyard, which leaves at 2 p.m. It takes about 30 minutes (on average) to drive from where you are to the terminal. What time should you leave?
This is…
Study: Shutting down nuclear power could increase air pollution
Nearly 20 percent of today’s electricity in the United States comes from nuclear power. The U.S. has the largest nuclear fleet in the world, with 92 reactors scattered around the country. Many of these power…
Improving US air quality, equitably
Decarbonization of national economies will be key to achieving global net-zero emissions by 2050, a major stepping stone to the Paris Agreement’s long-term goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (and ideally 1.5 C),…
Celebrating the impact of IDSS
The “interdisciplinary approach” is something that has been lauded for decades for its ability to break down silos and create new integrated approaches to research.
For Munther Dahleh, founding director of the…
Supporting sustainability, digital health, and the future of work
The MIT and Accenture Convergence Initiative for Industry and Technology has selected three new research projects that will receive support from the initiative. The research projects aim to accelerate progress in…