The life and legacy of Prof. Michael Dertouzos, who was “renowned for making complicated technology accessible to the general public,” is celebrated in a new Google doodle, reports Helen Rogers for CNN. Rogers notes that Dertouzos “predicted how the internet and the rise of personal computers would impact people's lives.”
The Media Lab will host a patent archive with Google, Cisco, and the Patent and Trademark Office, writes Bloomberg BNA reporter Malathi Nayak. “This archive really can help individuals who don’t have any clout to reach patent examiners to get their work in front of them and to block bad patents from being issued,” explains research specialist Kate Darling.
Researchers from the MIT Media Lab, Google, Cisco, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office are working together to create an archive for IT industry patents, reports Brian Heater for TechCrunch. Heater explains that the MIT-hosted “Prior Art Archive” will help patent applicants “find easily accessible examples of prior art and other technical information for reference.”
Research affiliate Tim Hwang speaks with Aaron Mak of Slate about whether Google is suppressing conservative media outlets in search results. “I don’t think the question is whether or not it’s biased. All these systems embed some kind of bias,” explains Hwang. “The question is: Do we have transparency to how some of these decisions are being made?”
Google celebrated the 50th anniversary of Logo, the first programming language designed by the late Prof. Emeritus Seymour Papert, with an interactive Doodle called “Coding for Carrots,” writes Joseph Hincks of Time. “My hope is that people will find this first experience appealing and engaging, and they’ll be encouraged to go further,” says Champika Fernando, director of communications at Scratch.
KQED reporter Queena Sook Kim highlights Code Next, a program created by researchers from the Media Lab and Google aimed at encouraging high school students to learn to code through the process of making. “Coding is also making, and it takes the same problem-solving skills as making stuff in real life,” Kim explains.
Boston Globe reporter Elizabeth Gehrman speaks with MIT alumna Ceres Lee about her career as a software engineer at Google. Of the field of computer science, Lee says that “everyone uses it, it’s important, and it’s basically everywhere.”
The Broad Institute is teaming up with Google to “create a simpler way to help far-flung scientists pursue their own research online,” reports Robert Weisman for BetaBoston. “Our mission is to empower the biomedical revolution that’s happening around the world,” explains Prof. Eric Lander, founding director of the Broad Institute.
Wall Street Journal reporter Steven Rosenbush interviews Ben Fried, the CIO for Google, about the link between technology and company culture. In his interview, Fried highlights Prof. Alex Pentland’s work measuring social interactions among employees at specific companies, part of an effort to understand what makes teams successful.
New Scientist reporter Hal Hodson writes about how MIT Media Lab researchers have programmed Google Glass to measure vital signs in an effort to give users a look at their emotional state. "It's always been a challenge to have a computer understand something about your stress but not make it worse in the moment," says Prof. Rosalind Picard.
In a piece for WBUR, Tom LeCompte interviews Professor John Leonard about the future of self-driving cars. Leonard believes that self-driving cars could be developed to handle even Boston’s notoriously difficult traffic. “Robots should just be able to navigate the way we navigate,” says Leonard.
Alexis Madrigal writes for The Atlantic about Professor Nicholas Roy’s work in leading the development of a delivery drone for Google. In mid-August, Roy and his colleagues conducted test flights of the drone in Australia.
Writing for The Boston Globe, Jack Newsham interviews Professor John Leonard about the many challenges facing self-driving cars in a city like Boston. “Robots should just be able to navigate the way we navigate,” Leonard explains. “That’s been a challenge in robotics for 40 years.”
Professor John Leonard speaks with Bloomberg Businessweek about Google’s new Auto Android and how it compares with the company’s driverless car project. Leonard sees the two projects as part of an overall effort to dramatically transform transportation in our everyday lives.
New York Times reporter John Markoff discusses the challenges of self-driving cars with Professor John Leonard. “I have amazing respect for Google, but I do worry about public misunderstanding of what has been accomplished," says Leonard.