Chronicle visits the new MIT Museum, highlighting a number of exhibits, including one exploring the research behind the hunt for gravitational waves and another that examines the impacts humans are having on the environment. “We try to be a window, going both ways, between MIT and the rest of the public,” explains Prof. John Durant, director of the MIT Museum. “We’re also trying to get people to have a glimpse of how a world-class research institution actually works.”
Researchers from MIT have found that wildfire smoke can activate chlorine-containing molecules that destroy the ozone layer, writes Donna Lu for The Guardian. “The question in my mind is: is the man-made chlorine going to get … diluted and destroyed out of the atmosphere faster than global climate change is going to increase the frequency and intensity of this kind of fire?” says Prof. Susan Solomon. “I think it’s going to be a race.”
Axios reporter Jacob Knutson highlights a new study by MIT researchers that finds the smoke released by major wildfires likely reactive chlorine-containing molecules in the atmosphere, delaying the recovery of the hole in the ozone layer. The researchers developed a model that found smoke released by Australian wildfires “chemically depleted between 3% to 5% of the total ozone column in the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes in June and July of 2020.”
New Scientist reporter James Dinneen writes that a new study by MIT researchers finds the smoke from Australian wildfires “may have enabled hydrochloric acid to dissolve at higher temperatures, generating more of the reactive chlorine molecules that destroy ozone.” Research scientist Kane Stone explains that “satellite observations showed chemistry that has never been seen before.”
MIT scientists have found that the Australian wildfires in 2019 and 2020 unleashed remnants of chlorine-containing molecules in the stratosphere, expanding the ozone hole and suggesting that more frequent wildfires could threaten the ozone hole’s recovery, reports Dyani Lewis for Nature. “It’s like a race,” says Prof. Susan Solomon. “Does the chlorine decay out of the stratosphere fast enough in the next, say, 40–50 years that the likely increase in intense and frequent wildfires doesn’t end up prolonging the ozone hole?”
Writing for The Hill, Prof. Yossi Sheffi examines several strategies companies could use to help improve supply chain sustainability, including redesigning last-mile deliveries, influencing consumer choices and incentivizing returnable containers. “Supply chains can be designed to reduce emissions from operations and to reorient their buying behavior in support of carbon emissions reductions,” writes Sheffi.
Nature highlights the Rising Stars program at MIT, which “offers mentoring and support for researchers from historically marginalized or under-represented groups, as they move through their careers.” Nature notes that the program stems from Prof. Emerita Nancy Hopkins’ advocacy for gender equality in academic.
Aagya Mathur MBA ’18 co-founded Aavia, a daily ovarian hormone health guide, reports Matt Symonds for Forbes. “We started Aavia to give young people tools to understand how their hormones impact how they feel,” Mathur explains.
Researchers at MIT developed a system that uses artificial intelligence to help predict future risk of developing breast cancer, reports Poppy Harlow for CNN. What this work does “is identifies risk. It can tell a woman that you’re at high risk for developing breast cancer before you develop breast cancer,” says Larry Norton, medical director of the Lauder Breast Center at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Lucy Jones PhD ’81 speaks with CBS reporter Danya Bacchus about her career in seismology, how she helped transform earthquake policy and her work creating the Great ShakeOut, drills aimed at helping people prepare for earthquakes. “I want to be remembered as a scientist, rather than just a communicator,” says Jones, “but a scientist who cared about the science getting used.”
Nicole Obi MCP ’95, SM ’95, head of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, speaks with Boston Magazine reporter Jonathan Soroff about how Massachusetts can level the playing field for entrepreneurs. “We’re at this point of racial awakening, and a lot of people might not be comfortable with it, but they get it,” says Obi. “Being in this moment makes me really excited to be part of the solution and to create a more equitable future for Massachusetts.”
André Bernardes MBA ’19, Bruno Lucas MBA ’19 and Ludmila Pontremolez co-founded Zippi, a payment platform created to provide “affordable and accessible financial services to the 30 million micro entrepreneurs in Brazil,” reports Aparna Dhinakaran for Forbes.
Yoky Matsuoka MS ’95, PhD ‘98, founded Yohana, a personal concierge service aimed at helping busy families, reports Kana Inagaki for the Financial Times. The service “matches families with human assistants to help with a wide range of tasks – from online shopping, to sending flowers, or organizing holidays,” writes Inagaki.
Prof. Emeritus Peter Diamond speaks with Boston Globe reporter Scot Lehigh about the future of Social Security. “Given the large past differences in the approaches of the two parties, it is important that citizens press members of Congress to be specific about their views on fixing the program,” says Diamond. “And it’s just as important that voters let their members of Congress know their own views.”
New York Times reporter Thomas May spotlights Prof. Tod Machover’s chamber opera “Overstory Overture,” based on Richard Powers’s novel “The Overstory.” May notes that Machover “has developed novel approaches to electronics and is a trailblazer in the applications of artificial intelligence to music.” Of his desire to create an operatic adaptation of Powers’s book, Machover explains, “I’ve always wanted to write a theatrical work with many strands that come together in an unusual way.”