“'If you think about which country is going to take advantage of this tremendous progress that we can make in online instruction, I don’t think any country is better positioned' than the U.S., Alan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers said today."
"MIT is...a hub of advanced research, a training ground for entrepreneurs, and a source of talent that forces important companies to set up shop nearby, or risk losing out on new hires." - Paul McMorrow/Globe
"'It was called an underground cathedral when it opened in 1904,' Ochsendorf says. 'The public was afraid to go underground at that time, and so these vaults and this beautiful, decorative, colorful ceiling really helped people feel comfortable in a grand space below the city.'"
"'In just 15 months, he built a life with us that was rich in friendship and shared adventure,' Dr. Reif said. 'And he touched people across our community with his deep kindness and openhearted willingness to help, his humor and enthusiasm, his playful charm.'"
"Cooled to a temperature of just 40 millikelvins, the CDMS-II detectors sense heat given off when a particle collides with one of their crystals. The challenge is distinguishing a possible WIMP collision from the many collisions of other particles, such as neutrons."
"Scientists once thought glia, which are at least as prevalent as neurons in the brain, were passive support cells; the word 'glia' comes from the Greek word for 'glue.' Research in the past decade has revealed that these cells, as well as neurons, are active players in cognition."
"Cambridge, eager to preserve Kendall Square as a hothouse of innovation, is poised to become the first community in the country to require commercial developers to set aside lower-cost offices for start-up companies and budding entrepreneurs."
"Researchers at MIT have built an ionic thruster—a device that can lift something into the air by charging the air molecules around it. Amazing, right? Though not in the way you might think."
“'The selection of TESS has just accelerated our chances of finding life on another planet within the next decade,' said planetary scientist Sara Seager"
"...in theory, graphene desalination plants should be simple to build and maintain, and would work in the poorest village. It may not be diamond. But graphene could yet turn out to be the world’s best friend."
"The head of edX, the MIT professor Anant Agarwal, said the resulting open source software will allow a 'planet-scale democratization of education' – a bold claim amid an ed tech boom full of bold claims."