Lecturer Karilyn Crockett is joining the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce as a research and program consultant, reports Jon Chesto for The Boston Globe. “Crockett will help the chamber and the broader business community address economic and racial inequities and related barriers to opportunity, particularly in the areas of transportation, housing, education, and climate change,” Chesto writes.
In an article for The Wall Street Journal about a new book, “The Secret History of Home Economics,” Barbara Spindel spotlights alumna Ellen Swallow Richards, the first woman to attend MIT and the institute’s first female instructor. The book’s author, Danielle Dreilinger writes that Richards “believed fervently in the power of science to free women from ‘drudgery.’”
Boston Globe reporter Jeremy Fox memorializes the life and work of Eli Broad, “whose philanthropy enabled the creation of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, one of the most influential scientific research centers in the country.”
Eli Broad, a founder and benefactor of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, has died at age 87, reports William Grimes for The New York Times. Grimes writes that Broad was “a businessman and philanthropist whose vast fortune, extensive art collection and zeal for civic improvement helped reshape the cultural landscape of Los Angeles.”
Boston Globe reporter Nate Weitzer spotlights the GRIT Freedom Chair, an all-terrain wheelchair developed by Global Research Innovation and Technology, an MIT startup. “The GRIT Freedom Chair can go where regular wheelchairs can’t – including grass, mud, or rocky terrain,” writes Weitzer. “For athletes who use wheelchairs, it offers the opportunity to compete in events such as a Spartan Race, or the ability to join friends on a hike or a beach day.”
Curt Newton, director of MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW), and Krishna Rajagopal, dean for Digital Learning, explore how open educational resource tools are reaching students in Africa, spotlighting MIT OCW’s efforts to extend knowledge worldwide. “We aim to support learners with a wide range of backgrounds and goals. They may be students enrolled in a formal programme, or dedicated independent learners following their curiosities and improving their lives,” they write.
LiquiGlide, an MIT startup, has announced several new partnerships aimed at developing sustainable, zero-waste packaging solutions, reports Janelle Nanos for The Boston Globe. “LiquiGlide wants to fix one of life’s longstanding frustrations: trying to squeeze out the end of a toothpaste tube,” writes Nanos. “Since it’s often difficult to empty out sticky pastes, gels, and creams, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of those substances are discarded annually, still stuck to the insides of their containers.”
A new study by Prof. Charles Stewart III and graduate student Jesse T. Clark explores voter confidence in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, reports Stephen L. Carter for Bloomberg Opinion. Stewart and Clark found that Democrats had extreme confidence in the election results, which may have been “influenced by a strong negative repudiation of Trump’s calling the results of the election into question.”
Professor Martin Bazant and Professor John Bush have developed a new safety guideline to limit the risk of airborne Covid-19 transmission in different indoor settings. “For airborne transmission, social distancing in indoor spaces is not enough, and may provide a false sense of security,” says Bazant. “Efficient mask use is the most effective safety measure, followed by room ventilation, then filtration,” adds Bush.
Writing for Forbes, Prof. David Mindell memorializes the life and work of astronaut Michael Collins, a member of the Apollo 11 crew. “Thanks to Michael Collins, future generations can visit Air and Space, marvel at the Apollo 11 Command Module he piloted, and learn how astronauts pee,” writes Mindell. “Soaring exploration and humble humanity: a fitting legacy for Mike Collins.”
Prof. Kripa Varanasi speaks with Boston 25 reporter Jim Morelli about a food-safe coating, called LiquiGlide, that makes it possible to squeeze every drop out of containers of items like ketchup and toothpaste. “It’s a universal kind of a problem,” Varanasi says. “The interface between the liquid and the solid is what makes these products stick to containers.”
Gizmodo reporter Andrew Liszewski writes that LiquiGlide, an MIT startup, is working with Colgate to introduce a “new recyclable toothpaste container that leverages LiquiGlide so that every last drop of the product can be squeezed out with minimal effort.”
CNN reporter Maggie Fox writes that MIT researchers have developed a new formula for calculating the risk of airborne Covid-19 transmission in indoor settings. "To minimize risk of infection, one should avoid spending extended periods in highly populated areas. One is safer in rooms with large volume and high ventilation rates," write Profs. Martin Bazant and John Bush.
A new study by Prof. Jared Curhan finds that there are positive benefits to pausing during negotiations, reports Monica Torres for HuffPost. “There is often this romantic view that great negotiators are these very slick people and they always know exactly what to say,” Curhan says. “But in fact, if someone uses a difficult tactic on you ... oftentimes it’s better to say, ‘I’ll get back to you on that.’”
Prof. Linda Griffith is on a mission to change the conversation about endometriosis “from one of women’s pain to one of biomarkers, genetics and molecular networks,” writes Rachel E. Gross for The New York Times. “The endometrium is inherently regenerative,” says Griffith. “So studying it, you’re studying a regenerative process — and how it goes wrong, in cases.”