Boston Globe reporter Laura Collins-Hughes speaks with Professor Emerita Joan Jonas about her upcoming display at the Venice Biennale. “At the moment what attracts me, what I’m focusing on, is that the world is sort of in trouble in relation to the natural environment,” said Jonas about her motivation for her installation.
Eleanor Clift writes for The Daily Beast about the role U.S. Energy Secretary and MIT Professor Emeritus Ernie Moniz plays in President Obama’s cabinet. Describing his relationship with Congress, Moniz says, “Maintaining open communications channels and using them early and often helps.”
Megan Smith, the White House CTO and an MIT alumna, speaks with Wired reporter Jessi Hempel about how she became interested in science, her experience at MIT and her goals for her time at the White House.
In an article for Fortune, Senior Lecturer Jason Jay writes that innovation is needed to satisfy growing global food demand. “Advanced information technology, improved communications systems, robotics, drones, and other new technologies have the potential to boost agricultural yields and reduce waste while tempering environmental degradation," writes Jay.
By examining X-ray images, MIT researchers have uncovered how bombardier beetles are able to produce “machine-gun style” blasts of chemicals to fend off predators, reports Andy Coghlan for New Scientist. “The researchers were surprised to find that a passive mechanism generates the pulses,” Coghlan explains.
Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston writes that Prof. Feng Zhang has been awarded $1 million from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to study brain cells. The grant will fund a project that will use the gene-editing technique CRISPR to “find ways to streamline or speed up [neuron cell] growth by turning genes on and off.”
Visiting Scholar Deborah Cramer writes for The New York Times about how climate change and human development threatens shorebird populations, and the need for greater efforts to protect them. “I hope I never walk beaches empty of sandpipers and plovers. But it is possible that may happen,” Cramer writes.
New MIT research offers a detailed look at how the bombardier beetle produces the scalding black liquid it expels as a defense mechanism, writes Brooks Hays for UPI. “The process operates almost like an assembly line of chambers and valves -- chemicals mixed, pressure builds, chemical released in jet-like spray through valve, relax and repeat.”
In an article for the Cambridge Chronicle, Sara Feijo writes about the new memorial MIT dedicated in honor of Officer Sean Collier. The memorial’s design was “inspired by the gesture of an open hand to reflect the notion of what it means to be ‘Collier Strong.’”
Institute Professor Mildred Dresselhaus has been named the recipient of the 2015 IEEE Medal of Honor “for her leadership and contributions across many fields of science and engineering,” reports Melissa Lott for Scientific American. Dresselhaus is the first woman to receive the award, the IEEE’s highest honor.
Hal Hodson writes for New Scientist about Vital-Radio, a new system developed by CSAIL researchers that monitors and records a person’s breathing and heartbeat. Researchers hope the new system could be used to “monitor and improve patient health in hospitals and at home.”
Rohan Banerjee writes for The Tech about a new MIT report that examines 15 areas of research that would benefit from increased government support. Prof. Marc Kastner explains that the report is aimed at informing political leaders of the importance of basic research. “It’s important to remind Congress and the public that the health of the country depends on doing research,” he says.
CNBC reporter Meg Tirrell reports on the biotechnology boom in Cambridge, explaining that one reason so many biotech companies want to be located in Kendall Square is the area’s proximity to MIT. “Everybody wants to be next to MIT, this hotbed of technology and life sciences work,” says Tirrell.
MIT has unveiled a new memorial to honor Officer Sean Collier, writes Jennifer Switzer for The Tech. “The permanent memorial is intended to be a place of remembrance and reflection, a place that evokes the strength of Collier Strong, a place that reflects the connectedness of our community,” said Executive Vice President Israel Ruiz.
Bernice Corpuz reports for CBS Radio on the construction of a new memorial to honor Officer Sean Collier that was designed to embody the spirit of “Collier Strong.” Prof. J. Meejin Yoon explains that the memorial is made up of “32 unique, solid granite blocks working together to support each other to create an impossibly flat five-way vault.”