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April 13, 2024
Greetings! Here’s a roundup of the latest from the MIT community.
 
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Eclipse at MIT
2-by-2 collage: Dark image showing a thin crescent of the sun mostly covered by the moon; dozens of people gathered around a telescope pointed up; two young men lie on the grass wearing eclipse glasses; aerial view of MIT's Killian Court darkened substantially due to the eclipsed sun, with many people standing in the sunnier areas not obscured by tree shadows looking up
 
The sun and moon aligned over MIT during Monday’s solar eclipse. While some community members traveled to the path of totality, those on campus and at nearby affiliate locations enjoyed 93 percent coverage and ample ways to appreciate the cosmic wonder.
Full story via MIT News →
Top Headlines
MIT Haystack scientists use a constellation of instruments to observe the solar eclipse’s effects
In a first, four different technologies monitored changes in the upper atmosphere, locally and across the continent, as the sun’s radiation dipped.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Has remote work changed how people travel in the US?
A new study finds sustained pattern changes — with a lot of regional variation.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Physicist Netta Engelhardt is searching black holes for universal truths
She says one question drives her work: “Which pillars of gravitational physics are just not true?”
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
A faster, better way to prevent an AI chatbot from giving toxic responses
Researchers create a curious machine-learning model that finds a wider variety of prompts for training a chatbot to avoid hateful or harmful output.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Tackling cancer at the nanoscale
In MIT’s 2024 Killian Lecture, chemical engineer Paula Hammond described her groundbreaking work on nanoparticles designed to attack tumor cells.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
QS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 11 subjects for 2024
The Institute also ranks second in five subject areas.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
#ThisisMIT
Bust of Nikola Tesla wearing solar glasses, with plaque that reads “Nikola Tesla: 1853 – 1943, American Inventor. His name marks an epoch. In a single burst of invention he created the polyphase alternating current system of motors and generators that powers our world. He gave us every essential of radio, and laid the foundation for much of today’s technology.” Text via @‌mit: Nikola Tesla is ready for Monday's solar eclipse!
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In the Media
Shark skin and owl feathers could inspire quieter underwater sonar // Popular Science
Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have found that a textured surface, designed like a shark riblet, can improve the towed sonar arrays used by ships and submarines.
Full story via Popular Science →
AI pop-ups can help you stop doomscrolling on your phone // New Scientist 
Postdoc Xuhai Xu and his colleagues have developed an AI program that can distribute pop-up reminders to help limit smartphone screen time.
Full story via New Scientist→
When it comes to building startups in Boston, success begets success // TechCrunch
TechCrunch reporter Ron Miller highlights MIT’s role as a driving force behind the Greater Boston area’s success as a hub for startups. Emily Knight, president of The Engine Accelerator, notes that universities are breeding grounds for new ideas. 
Full story via TechCrunch →
3D printers just got a big, eco-friendly upgrade (in the lab) // Popular Science
MIT researchers developed a 3D printer that can use “unrecognizable printing materials in real-time to create more eco-friendly products.”
Full story via Popular Science →
Listen
"Curiosity Unbounded" appears as black text on a white circle that is spewing particles into the surrounding red space
In the latest episode of the Curiosity Unbounded podcast, President Sally Kornbluth speaks with Namrata Kala, an associate professor in applied economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Kala studies the value of employee training and incentives, how communities adapt to environmental change and regulation, and the returns on environmental technology investment. Together, the two discuss the importance of soft skills training, the benefits of being a straight shooter, and more.
Listen to the episode→
“
All of the dots are connecting so far in my classes, and all the hopes that I have for studying the climate crisis and the solutions to it at MIT are coming true.
—Undergraduate Justin Cole on starting his program as a Course 1-12 (climate system science and engineering) major after nine years in the U.S. Air Force
Full story via MIT EAPS→
Digit
15.8
Percentage of all Cambridge, Massachusetts, tax revenue paid by MIT, the city’s largest taxpayer, in 2023
Learn more via MIT Facts →
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