Alexandra Sifferlin of TIME reports that researchers from the Broad Institute have uncovered a new way to detect risk of blood cancer. The researchers found that “certain mutations that are not present at birth but instead develop as a person ages—called somatic mutations—may be indicators for later blood cancers,” Sifferlin explains.
New Scientist reporter Jacob Aron writes about MIT graduate student Theodore Yoder’s work upgrading a quantum search algorithm to make it more effective. The new algorithm lets users “hone in on specific answers without knowing in advance how many there are,” Aron explains.
Dr. Shep Doeleman speaks with Rebecca Jacobson of the PBS NewsHour about how scientists at the ALMA Observatory are searching for a black hole to confirm Einstein’s theory of general relativity. “It would be a wonderful confirmation of one of the most beautiful theories that’s ever come out of physics,” says Doeleman.
Ari Daniel of Public Radio International reports on the Climate CoLab conference, run by the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, which brought together people from around the world to “crowdsource the problem of what to do about global climate change," says Prof. Tom Malone.
David Weininger reports for The Boston Globe on the Radius Ensemble’s performance of “Nothing is More Important,” a piece composed by MIT Professor Keeril Makan. “Makan's piece begins with an obsessive focus on a single note, from which it never completely escapes,” writes Weininger.
MIT alumnus Dave Smith speaks with Anthony Brooks of WBUR about his company, LiquiGlide. LiquiGlide makes a substance that coats the surface on the inside of containers, reducing friction and allowing fluids to slide out more easily.
Professor Mildred Dresselhaus speaks with NPR’s Audie Cornish about receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Cornish explains that Dresselhaus got her nickname, the Queen of Carbon, based on her work with carbon, which “paved the way for the rise of nanotechnology.”
Two MIT seniors and alumnus Noam Angrist have been named Rhodes Scholars, reports Dave Collins for the Associated Press. “It’s a total dream come true,” says Angrist. “The skills I will get at (Oxford) are just incredible, and I’ll come back into the world fully equipped to do what I love to do.”
The Boston Globe reports on the MIT football team’s victory in the first round of the NCAA Division 3 playoffs. The Engineers kicked a field goal to force overtime, “then got a 13-yard touchdown pass from Peter Williams to Seve Esparrago to pull out a 27-20 victory over Husson.”
MIT alumnus Noam Angrist and seniors Anisha Gururaj and Elliot H. Akama-Garren were among 32 Rhodes scholars selected from the U.S. this year, reports Jennifer Smith for The Boston Globe. “The American scholars will join an international group of students chosen from 14 other global jurisdictions, according to the Rhodes Trust,” Smith reports.
Jennifer Tucker writes for The Boston Globe about research conducted by Professor Alex Pentland in the 1990s that helped to lay the groundwork for today’s facial recognition software. Pentland’s linear algebra-based system, dubbed Eigenfaces, could efficiently plot a human face by focusing on ways it deviates from the average.
Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Cohen takes a look at the revival of the MIT football program, which after being disbanded in 1901 was resurrected as a student-run squad in 1978. “They deserve a lot of credit for where we are today,” says MIT President L. Rafael Reif of MIT’s founding football players.
Boston Globe reporter Kevin Dupont writes about the winning attitude behind the MIT football team’s first-ever undefeated season. “I am out here to have fun. It is what drives me . . . to finish my work, and go to the exams, do all the work,” said Anthony Souffrant, a senior defensive back for the Engineers.
Ron Mott of NBC News reports on the MIT football team and its first undefeated season. “It’s not hard to motivate them because they are very intelligent, very motivated, very passionate about what they are trying to accomplish in every facet of their lives,” says Engineers Head Coach Chad Martinovich.
When students at MIT banded together in 1978 to form a football team, another group of students came together to start the Institute’s marching band, writes Ben Cohen for The Wall Street Journal. “You have to have a marching band if you have a football team,” said marching band co-founder Tom Gaul.