It might not seem consequential now, but in 1863, Scientific American weighed in on a pressing technological issue: the standardization of screw threads in U.S. machine shops. Given standard-size threads — the ridges running around screws and bolts — screws missing from machinery could be replaced with hardware from any producer. But without a standard, fixing industrial […]
How Should Autonomous Vehicles Be Programmed?
A massive new survey developed by MIT researchers reveals some distinct global preferences concerning the ethics of autonomous vehicles, as well as some regional variations in those preferences. The survey has global reach and a unique scale, with over 2 million online participants from over 200 countries weighing in on versions of a classic ethical […]
Study: Low-Emissions Vehicles Are Less Expensive Overall
You might think cars with low carbon emissions are expensive. Think again. A newly-publishedstudy by MIT researchers shows that when operating and maintenance costs are included in a vehicle’s price, autos emitting less carbon are among the market’s least expensive options, on a per-mile basis. “If you look in aggregate at the most popular vehicles on […]
Groovy Science, Man! Our Debt to Science’s Countercultural Turn.
When science met the counterculture in the 1960s and 1970s, unusual things happened. The medical researcher John Lilly studied whether dolphins could learn human language. Would-be astronomer Immanuel Velikovsky made widely read claims that a comet had caused biblical disasters. But other projects have had lasting legacies: Artisanal food makers founded organic farms, designers built […]
Driverless Cars: Who Gets Protected?
Driverless cars pose a quandary when it comes to safety. These autonomous vehicles are programmed with a set of safety rules, and it is not hard to construct a scenario in which those rules come into conflict with each other. Suppose a driverless car must either hit a pedestrian or swerve in such a way […]
Why Do Women Leave Engineering?
Women who go to college intending to become engineers stay in the profession less often than men. Why is this? While multiple reasons have been offered in the past, a new study co-authored by an MIT sociologist develops a novel explanation: The negative group dynamics women tend to experience during team-based work projects makes the […]
Communicating Vehicles Could Ease Through Intersections More Efficiently
Imagine a scenario where sensor-laden vehicles pass through intersections by communicating with each other, rather than grinding to a halt at traffic lights. A newly published study co-authored by MIT researchers claims this kind of traffic-light-free transportation design, if it ever arrives, could allow twice as much traffic to use the roads. The study is […]
More R&D Funding Could Accelerate World Energy Revolution
Should Cars Be Fully Driverless? No, Says MIT Engineer and Historian
If you follow technology news — or even if you don’t — you have probably heard that numerous companies have been trying to develop driverless cars for a decade or more. These fully automated vehicles could potentially be safer than regular cars, and might add various efficiencies to our roads, like smoother-flowing traffic. Or so […]
Can the U.S. & Russia Make Progress on Nuclear Security?
Political tensions between the U.S. and Russia have increased in the last year, raising concerns about how effectively the two states will be able to pursue nuclear arms-reduction goals. Striking a note of cautious optimism in an MIT talk on Oct. 23, Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. undersecretary of state for arms control, praised Russia’s “businesslike” enforcement […]
