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July 29, 2023
Greetings! Here’s a roundup of the latest from the MIT community.
 
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Decarbonizing Manufacturing
3 photos show, from left to right: the futuristic wheel of car; an airplane flying; and hands applying lotion.
   
Visolis, founded by Deepak Dugar SM ’11, MBA ’13, PhD ’13, is merging synthetic biology with chemical catalysis to rethink manufacturing. It’s more sustainably making everything from cosmetics to jet fuel by tweaking the chemical processes involved in production.
Top Headlines
How Tau tangles form in the brain
A study shows truncated versions of the Tau protein are more likely to form the sticky filaments seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.
MIT Heat Island
The collaborator
Before joining MIT, President Sally Kornbluth built a reputation as an inclusive, collaborative scientist and administrator.
MIT Heat Island
Study finds ChatGPT boosts worker productivity for some writing tasks
MIT researchers highlight the potential of generative AI to help workers with certain writing assignments.
MIT Heat Island
Addressing food insecurity in arid regions with an open-source evaporative cooling chamber design
Less expensive than refrigerated cold rooms, this cooling chamber offers accessible cold storage for smallholder farmers.
MIT Heat Island
Astro Portraits: Pointing the lens toward our future
Graduate student Evan Kramer’s latest foray into urban astrophotography puts the focus on his fellow researchers.
MIT Heat Island
#ThisisMIT
Steve Mann plays the blue Hydraulophone, a tube-shaped instrument with holes that spew water. Text via mitedgertoncenter: Steve Mann, the inventor of the Hydraulophone, stopped by the Edgerton Center today to show Engineering Design Workshop students how it all works!
In the Media
Study of elite college admissions data suggests being very rich is its own qualification // The New York Times
A study from Opportunity Insights examines the advantage wealthy applicants have in gaining admission to highly selective universities, and shows that at MIT they were no more likely to attend than the average applicant with the same test score. Stu Schmill, dean of admissions and student financial services, notes: “I think the most important thing here is talent is distributed equally but opportunity is not, and our admissions process is designed to account for the different opportunities students have based on their income.”
Climate change is making our oceans change color // CNN
MIT researchers co-authored a study showing that the ocean’s color has changed considerably over the last 20 years and human-caused climate change is likely responsible.
Auntie Anh dreams big // The Moth
Anh Vu Sawyer MBA ’20 speaks about what it was like for her to attend MIT Sloan as a 64-year-old student. “The experience of being at MIT showed who I really am,” says Sawyer. “That I can still dream. It opened many opportunities; it opened many doors.”
Opinion: The future of AI innovation and the role of academics in shaping it // The Boston Globe
Professor Daniela Rus, director of MIT CSAIL, writes about the central role universities play in fostering innovation and the importance of ensuring universities have the computing resources necessary to help tackle major global challenges.
Look Back
The MIT Daily newsletter debuted five years ago this week. Among the items we shared in the first few issues was the news that MIT roboticist Cynthia Breazeal had worked with designers at Mattel to ensure that Robotics Engineer Barbie (pictured) was both realistic and inspirational. Barbie has, in fact, been a STEM career role model for many decades; among other things, she’s been an astronaut a number of times, starting in 1965!
Digit
26
Acres of playing fields for use by varsity and club sports teams at MIT
Watch This
Sydney Kim holds a walkie talkie close to her face while outside on a sunny day. She is deep in concentration. In front of her is a white solar car covered with black solar panels.
Solar Chariots, a new five-part web documentary on the American Solar Challenge, features the MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT) racing their hand-built solar car Nimbus in a cross-country course against formidable teams from colleges across the nation. In episode 2, Sydney Kim, rising senior and vice-captain of SEVT, comments that managing a team of 25 trying to power a solar car across the country is “a little more complex than anticipated.” We won’t spoil the ending but you can read about how the team fares on MIT News.
This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by sunset views over MIT Haystack. 🌅

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