A new study co-authored by MIT scientists proposes that Saturn’s rings could have been created when a lost moon of Saturn’s became unstable and crashed into the planet, reports Katie Hunt for CNN. “While the gas giant likely swallowed 99% of the moon, the remainder became suspended in orbit, breaking into small icy chunks that ultimately formed the planet’s rings,” writes Hunt.
Reuters reporter Will Dunham writes that scientists from MIT and other institutions have found that the destruction of a large moon, called Chrysalis, that “strayed too close to Saturn would account both for the birth of the gas giant planet's magnificent rings and its unusual orbital tilt of about 27 degrees.” Prof. Jack Wisdom explained that "as a butterfly emerges from a chrysalis, the rings of Saturn emerged from the primordial satellite Chrysalis.”
Lindsay Androski ’98, a full-term member of the MIT Corporation, writes an opinion piece for The Los Angeles Times about the how the lack of diversity in healthcare negatively impacts women and people of color. “The people in charge of funding healthcare research and development ultimately shape which conditions will be treated and cured,” writes Androski. “Every day the status quo continues means more suffering, mainly for people who aren’t white men.”
MIT researchers have found that “Salet” is statistically the best starting word for Wordle, reports Nicolas Vega for CNBC. “If you play Salet and you play intelligently you can assuredly win the game within five guesses,” says graduate student Alexander Paskov. “You don’t even need that last guess.”
“Cosmic Cowboy,” a new sci-fi opera composed by lecturer Elena Ruehr, explores “the mysteries of space, time and love,” reports Llyod Schwartz for WBUR. Additionally, Schwartz spotlights how Collage New Music, a contemporary music series directed by David Hoose, will be held on October 16, 2022 at Killian Hall.
As the early images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) were revealed in July 2022, astronomers such as Hubble Postdoctoral Scholar Rohan Naidu were able to uncover numerous galaxies within them, reports Jonathan O’Callaghan for Scientific American. Naidu recounts how an algorithm he developed “sifted out an object that, on closer inspection, was inexplicably massive and dated back to just 300 million years after the big bang, older than any galaxy ever seen before,” writes O’Callaghan.
Prof. Michael Howland speaks with Camille Bond at E&E News about his research, which suggests that finding the ideal position for individual wind turbines could increase the overall efficiency of the entire wind farm. “If we're expanding wind energy quite substantially, it's important that we design the wind farms in the best way and we control them in the best way to achieve that goal,” said Howland.
W. Gerald Austen ’51 - a prolific researcher, and devoted chief of surgery - has died at the age of 92, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. Austen, who was a life member of the MIT Corporation, often noted that his bachelor’s degree from MIT came in handy during his career in medicine. “My field in engineering was fluid mechanics, and what could be better, it turned out,” he told The Globe. “Fluid mechanics is fluid flow through pipes, and cardiovascular surgery is also fluid flow through pipes and pumps.”
Graduate student Evan Soltas and Gopi Shah Goda, deputy director of Stanford’s Institute for Economic Policy Research, explore the impact that Covid-19 has had on the workforce, reports Sarah Todd for Quartz. “People ages 65 and up are more likely to leave the workforce after contracting Covid compared to younger people,” say Soltas and Goda.
A study by graduate student Evan Soltas and Gopi Shah Goda, deputy director of Stanford’s Institute for Economic Policy Research, underlines the pandemic’s impact on labor supply in the United States, reports Richard Luscombe for The Guardian. “Our estimates suggest Covid-19 illnesses have reduced the US labor force by approximately 500,000 people,” say Soltas and Goda.
Lawrence A. Tabak, who is currently performing the duties of the NIH Director, spotlights a new study by Prof. James Collins and his colleagues aimed at exploring the potential of AI to streamline the process of selecting new antibiotics. “In future studies, the Collins lab will continue to incorporate and train the computers on even more biochemical and biophysical data to help with the predictive process," Tabak writes. "That’s why this study should be interpreted as an interim progress report on an area of science that will only get better with time.”
Researchers from MIT’s Research Laboratory for Electronics have developed a portable desalinator that can turn seawater into safe drinking water, reports Ian Mount for Fortune. Research scientist Jongyoon Han and graduate student Bruce Crawford have created Nona Technologies to commercialize the product, writes Mount.
The MIT Educational Justice Initiative has developed a 12-week program called Brave Behind Bars that teaches inmates “basic coding languages such as JavaScript and HTML in hopes of opening the door for detainees to one day pursue high-paying jobs,” reports Washington Post reporter Emily Davies. “The level of 21st century technology skills they just learned, I can’t do those things,” said Amy Lopez, deputy director of college and career readiness for the D.C. Department of Corrections. “They are transferrable, employable skills.”
Prof. Jonathan Parker and other researchers have found that Covid-19 relief payments have served as a form of insurance for families, reports Howard Schneider for Reuters. Although, “’the small short-term spending response and its pattern suggest that the (economic-impact payments) went to many people who did not need the additional funds,’” writes Schneider.
Alumna Yue Chen has been named the chief climate risk office for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, reports Emily Flitter for The New York Times. “Dr. Chen will focus on developing a new system to assess climate-driven risks to banks, and figure out how to monitor and manage them,” says the agency.