In the Media

Boston Globe reporter Aaron Pressman and John R. Ellement spotlight Prof. Moungi Bawendi, one of the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for his work in the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots, “tiny particles used in an array of technologies.” Bawendi noted that he was “deeply honored and surprised and shocked” to receive a Nobel Prize. He added that MIT is, “just a different place in the world. And I’m so grateful that MIT supported me through my career all these years.”

Prof. Moungi Bawendi, one of the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, speaks with Lisa Mullins of WBUR’s All Things Considered. “It's a lot of hard work, a lot of perseverance, and sometimes, you know, you'll work for a few years without seeing any results at all. And then the results come maybe just in a few weeks, and suddenly it happens,” says Bawendi of his advice to students on dealing with progress and failures in their research. “Believing in the end point and just, you know, when things don't work, learning how to solve problems and go maybe a little slightly different direction."

Prof. Mougni Bawendi is one of three scientists who has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with quantum dots, reports Sam Turken for GBH. “Bawendi said that when he first started working with quantum dots, he wasn’t thinking of the potential uses for them,” writes Turken. “He merely wanted to study them, but in order to do that, he had to create dots that were of high quality. Once he did that, their benefits became more clear.”

Prof. Moungi Bawendi has been named one of the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the study and development of quantum dots, “tiny molecules that interact with light in unusual ways,” reports Katharine Sanderson for Nature. “I didn’t think it would be me that would get this prize because we’re all working together on this,” says Bawendi. “There’s still a lot of exciting work to be done in this field.”

Science reporter Daniel Clery spotlights Prof. Moungi Bawendi, one of the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the advancement of quantum dots. “The process devised by Bawendi’s team led to the wide commercialization of quantum dots, with many companies competing to produce nanocrystals cheaply,” writes Clery.

Financial Times reporter Clive Cookson spotlights Prof. Moungi Bawendi, one of the recipients of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for his work in the production and advancement of quantum dots. Cookson notes that Bawendi “revolutionized the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in the development of particles suitable for practical applications.”

Prof. Simon Johnson and Prof. Catherine Wolfram write for The Los Angeles Times about the impact of high oil prices on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is earning fistfuls of money from its oil sales, and using the revenues to buy tanks, pay soldiers and keep the war out of the minds of ordinary Russian citizens,” explain Johnson and Wolfram. “High oil prices enable Putin to test Western democracies’ resolve, and the dysfunction on Capitol Hill plays into his hands. That makes maintaining the oil price cap, with added protections, all the more important for reducing Putin’s ability to continue fighting.”

In an article about how researchers are exploring why ancient Roman and Mayan buildings are still standing, AP reporter Maddie Burakoff highlights how researchers from MIT found that an ancient Roman technique for manufacturing concrete gave the material “self-healing” properties. “We don’t need to make things last quite as long as the Romans did to have an impact,” says Prof. Admir Masic. “If we add 50 or 100 years to concrete’s lifespan, “we will require less demolition, less maintenance and less material in the long run.”

MIT researchers have found that user bias can drive interactions with AI chatbots, reports Nick Hilden for Scientific American.  “When people think that the AI is caring, they become more positive toward it,” graduate student Pat Pataranutaporn explains. “This creates a positive reinforcement feedback loop where, at the end, the AI becomes much more positive, compared to the control condition. And when people believe that the AI was manipulative, they become more negative toward the AI—and it makes the AI become more negative toward the person as well.”

Jasmina Aganovic ’09 founded Future Society, a brand that uses sequenced DNA from extinct flowers to create new scents, reports Celia Shatzman for Forbes. “[With] plants that are from another time, never before have we been able to time travel through smell,” says Aganovic. “But now we can do that, thanks specifically to DNA sequencing. It’s an example of where we're starting off with this concept of limitless nature. It isn't just about stories; it's also about performance.”

Xiangkun (Elvis) Cao, a Schmidt Science Fellow in MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering, writes for Times Higher Education about the need to eliminate barriers between different academic disciplines. “More work needs to be done to support interdisciplinary researchers more generally,” writes Cao. “The lack of funding, incentives and community support holds back the scientific breakthroughs they could otherwise be making.”

Prof. Emerita Evelyn Fox Keller, who was known for her work as a “theoretical physicist, a mathematical biologist and, beginning in the late 1970s, a feminist theorist who explored the way gender pervades and distorts scientific inquiry,” has died, reports Clay Risen for The New York Times. “Keller trained as a physicist and focused much of her early work on applying mathematical concepts to biology,” writes Risen. “But as the feminist movement took hold, she began to think critically about how ideas of masculinity and femininity had affected her profession.”

Prof. Thomas Kochan and Prof. Thomas Malone speak with Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray about the recent deal between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which will “protect movie screenwriters from losing their jobs to computers that could use artificial intelligence to generate screenplays.” Kochan notes that when it comes to AI, “where workers don’t have a voice through a union, most companies are not engaging their workers on these issues, and the workers have no rights, no redress.”

In an article for Tribal Business News, Chez Oxendine writes about the “seven new fellows in MIT Solve’s Indigenous Communities Fellowship, a sub-cohort of MIT’s larger Solve program, which provides grant funding, technical assistance, networking, and mentorship to entrepreneurs.” The fellows will now participate in a nine-month program, “working closely with MIT Solve’s team to identify how best the organization can support their burgeoning solutions.”

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have identified key cell types that may protect the brain against Alzheimer’s symptoms, reports Sara Reardon for Nature. “Most Alzheimer’s research has focused on excitatory neurons, which relay electrical signals to activate other neurons,” explains Reardon. “But the authors found that the cells with reelin or somatostatin were inhibitory neurons, which halt neuronal communication. These inhibitory cells might therefore have a previously unknown role in the types of cognitive function that are lost during Alzheimer’s.”