Axios reporter Miriam Kramer notes that scientists from MIT and other institutions are planning a mission to probe the atmosphere of Venus for any potential signs of life. The probe “will come equipped with a laser designed to help it figure out what kind of chemistry is happening in droplets in Venus' atmosphere during a three-minute flight through the planet's clouds,” writes Kramer.
Shirley McBay, the dean for student affairs at MIT in the 1980s and a leading advocate for diversity in science and math education, has died at age 86, reports Clay Risen for The New York Times. McBay “confronted the challenge of bringing more students from underrepresented minorities into science, technology, engineering and math, both at her university and in higher education broadly.”
NPR reporter David Gura spotlights U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler as he takes a new approach to his role as head of the SEC. After teaching a cryptocurrency course at MIT and serving as the chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under President Obama, Gensler has “promised he’ll unveil new rules across the board as part of an ambitious agenda, from cryptocurrencies to new disclosure rules,” says Gura.
Prof. Carlo Ratti has proposed a 51-story skyscraper for China’s technology hub of Shenzhen that would produce crops to feed populations of up to 40,000 per year, reports Bloomberg News. “Ratti envisions his farmscraper as a self-contained food supply chain, where the crops can be cultivated, sold and eaten all within the same building.”
CNET reporter Monisha Ravisetti writes that MIT researchers have found that a super-bright stellar explosion detected in 2018 likely gave rise to a new black hole or neutron star. "Usually, I dare not say 'first time,'" explains research scientist Dheeraj "DJ" Pasham. "But I truly think this is the first time that you have direct confirmation, so to say, that a star dies and you immediately see the baby compact object."
MIT researchers have uncovered evidence that the creation of a new black hole or neutron star caused a strange blue flash of light in space that was detected in 2018, reports Téa Kvetenadze for Forbes. An explanation for the event was elusive until researchers “focused on the X-rays emitted by the flash and found the Cow was producing a pulse of X-rays every 4.4 milliseconds.”
New Scientist reporter Leah Crane writes that astronomers have found evidence that a large stellar explosion detected in 2018 was likely caused by a dying star that gave birth to a neutron star or small black hole. “People have been suspecting that these kind of extreme explosions could be the birth of black holes or neutron stars, but this is a final piece of evidence that I think really settles the case,” says research scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham.
Gizmodo reporter Isaac Schultz writes that MIT astronomers have found that a black hole or neutron star may have been produced by a burst of stellar light, known as “the Cow." “I think the Cow is just the beginning of what is to come,” explains research scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham. “More such objects would provide a new window into these extreme explosions.”
WHDH reporter Aisha Mbowe spotlights how town leaders in Wilmington, Massachusetts “voted unanimously to declare Jan. 3 Sean Collier Day in honor of the MIT police officer who was killed by the Tsarnaev brothers days after the bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.”
A study by MIT and the National League of Cities has attempted to identify the qualities of a “climate destination” where the effects of climate change are expected to be easier to manage, reports Kate Yoder for Wired. “With as many as 143 million people worldwide expected to be on the move because of climate change by 2050, would-be havens are sure to face new challenges,” writes Yoder. “But advance planning can alleviate the stress on cities as well as on their newcomers.”
MIT researchers have created a virtual environment for optimizing the design and control of soft robots, reports Prachi Patel for Scientific American. “The future goal is to take any task and say, ‘Design me an optimal robot to complete this task,’” says undergraduate Jagdeep Bhatia.
Boston Globe reporter Aaron Pressman spotlights Prof. Tim Berners-Lee’s startup, Inrupt, for creating open-sourced based software applications that protect and maintain digital data. “The idea is that a person or company could stash important personal or business data in a digital space, kind of like an online locker,” writes Pressman.
An international team of researchers has found that Mary, Queen of Scots, used a complicated paper-folding technique called letterlocking to conceal the contents of her final letter, reports Alison Flood for The Guardian. MIT Libraries Conservator Jana Dambrogio explains that working on Mary's last letter “and figuring out its unique spiral lock was thrilling as a researcher – and a real a-ha! moment in the study of letterlocking.”
Boston Globe reporter Pranshu Verma highlights how The Engine has expanded into an 42,000 square-foot space in the Somernova Innovation Hub, located near Union Square in Somerville. “We knew it would be a great fit for The Engine’s expansion,” said Katie Rae, CEO and managing partner for The Engine. “It offers us the ability to solve the infrastructure challenge for our network and also brings us even closer to Greentown Labs so we can continue our close partnership on our shared mission of climate tech support.”
Sean Hunt PhD ’16, M. Eng ’13 and Gaurab Chakrabarti co-founded Solugen after discovering a way to make chemicals from corn syrup instead of fossil fuels, reports Adele Peters for Fast Company. “Based on a detailed analysis of current products, the company estimates that it could theoretically produce 90% of the chemicals that are now produced by fossil fuels,” writes Peters.