Vladimir Duthiers of CBS News reports on the MIT football team’s undefeated season. The team’s head coach, Chad Martinovich, says of the Engineers that, “whether it’s academics, athletics, research, clubs, activities, whatever it is they do, they look to excel.”
In a piece for The Huffington Post, Heidi Legg interviews Prof. Hashim Sarkis, the newly appointed dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning, about his vision of the world as one city. “The city as an entity has become difficult to understand or explain because it's everywhere and nowhere,” explains Sarkis.
MIT engineers have altered the DNA of E.coli so that it can store memories, reports Colin Barras for New Scientist. The research could “pave the way for cellular biographers that can be inserted into our bodies for the inside scoop on our health,” Barras explains.
“A recent estimate from leading researchers at MIT and Tsinghua University found that without strong actions, China’s emissions could grow with no peak in sight,” writes Jake Schmidt for The Huffington Post about new MIT research examining carbon emissions in China.
Dr. David Ridley of MIT is leading a new effort to study the amount of volcanic particles at high altitudes and how these particles might have contributed to a pause in global warming . Ridley and his team found a “high enough level of particles to account for a global cooling of 0.05–0.12 °C since 2000,” Nature reports.
Nature highlights the top science news of the week, including the new interdisciplinary center at MIT aimed at examining the microbiome. “The center will initially focus on inflammatory bowel disease, but organizers hope to eventually broaden the scope to diseases such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis and autism,” Nature reports.
Sanjay Salomon writes for Boston.com about the MIT Media Lab’s “You Are Here” project, highlighting the maps researchers have produced exhibiting transportation options for 100 cities. “According to the project’s map of Cambridge, public transportation seems to fall short for most of the city,” writes Salomon.
“[A] team from Harvard and the MIT Media Lab realized that light could be used to restore the appearance of the lost colours without touching the canvas,” reports Jeff Hecht of New Scientist on a new exhibition of Mark Rothko’s murals. The murals were damaged due to over-exposure to sunlight.
MIT Visiting Professor Calestous Juma argues in this CNN op-ed that efforts to rank countries on their preparedness to deal with climate change can be counterproductive for less developed countries: “[T]hese same countries have also developed a wide range of local capabilities that enable them to adapt to major natural disasters," he writes.
Joshua Krisch writes for The New York Times about Professor Eric Alm’s work developing a device that will analyze public sewage. “This whole field has enormous potential,” says Alm. “It’s hard to imagine that in 20 years, every city won’t be monitoring sewage as an information platform.”
Alex Davies writes for Wired about a new study by the MIT AgeLab that compared levels of distraction among drivers using Google Glass, voice-recognition technology, and a touchscreen. The study found that while all technology use led to some level of distraction, using a touchscreen was more distracting than using a voice-recognition system.
Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston writes that Institute Professor Mildred Dresselhaus has been honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Subbaraman explains that Dresselhaus conducted early research into the electric properties of graphite, “and her work led to the discovery of graphene, the atom-thin carbon sheets that are expected to revolutionize the way we work with electronics.”
David Jackson of USA Today writes about the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, including two MIT honorees, Institute Professors Mildred Dresselhaus and Robert Solow. Dresselhaus was honored for “deepening our understanding of condensed matter systems and the atomic properties of carbon,” while Solow was recognized for “laying the groundwork for much of modern economics.”
Boston Globe reporter Bryan Marquard writes about the life and work of Danielle Guichard-Ashbrook, associate dean for international students and director of MIT’s International Students Office, who passed away last week. Guichard-Ashbrook “touched the lives of thousands of students,” said Maria Brennan, assistant director of the International Students Office.
Wall Street Journal reporter Ben Cohen writes about the undefeated MIT football team, which has clinched a spot in the Division III playoffs. Cohen writes that while MIT is known for coming up with “scientific advances that change the world,” the school is now “inventing a respectable football team.”