September 24, 2022
Greetings! Here’s a roundup of the latest from the MIT community.
 
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Dance, Dance, MIT
 
An all-Institute dance party, organized by L. Rafael Reif as a thank you to the community as he approaches the conclusion of his tenure as MIT’s 17th president, was attended by thousands of students, staff, faculty, and their guests. “Saturday evening on Killian Court, it was not clear how to squeeze even one more person on the dance floor,” Reif wrote to the community on Monday. “I could not have asked for a more delightful memory of the people of MIT.”
Full story and additional photos via MIT News →
Top Headlines
Peter Shor wins the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
The MIT professor shares the $3 million prize with three others; Daniel Spielman PhD ’95 wins the 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Study finds social media use linked to decline in mental health
Researchers find a significant link between the presence of Facebook and increases in anxiety and depression among college students.
Full story via MIT Sloan →
 MIT Heat Island
MIT cognitive scientists win Ig Nobel for shedding light on legalese
Edward Gibson and Eric Martinez are among this year’s winners of the satiric prize, for explaining what makes legal documents so difficult to comprehend.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Ocean scientists measure sediment plume stirred up by deep-sea-mining vehicle
A new field study reveals a previously unobserved fluid dynamic process that is key to assessing impact of deep-sea mining operations.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
A new passive cooling system could benefit off-grid locations
Relying on evaporation and radiation — but not electricity — the system could keep food fresh longer or supplement air conditioning in buildings.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
#ThisisMIT
Instagram photo of 17 young people posing in an MIT lobby with electric candles laid out before them in the shape of Ukraine's coat of arms. Three people have blue and yellow Ukrainian flags wrapped around their shoulders. Text: @ukrainiansofmit The semester is back, the war is still going on, and Ukraine@MIT are back to work. Join our ukraine-support@mit.edu mailing list at WebMoira and dm to fill out when2meet if you're affilliated with MIT and interested in joining our first meeting! We look forward to talking to all of you
Instagram post via @ukrainiansofmit→
In the Media
This is the best Wordle starting word according to MIT researchers // CNBC
MIT researchers have found that “Salet” is statistically the best starting word for Wordle. “If you play ‘salet’ and you play intelligently you can assuredly win the game within five guesses,” says graduate student Alexander Paskov.
Full story via CNBC →
A massive LinkedIn study reveals who actually helps you get that job // Scientific American
A study co-authored by MIT researchers finds weaker social connections on LinkedIn have a greater impact on job mobility than stronger relationships.
Full story via Scientific American→
To ease the climate crisis, first figure out what works // The New York Times
Professor Esther Duflo discusses how climate change can impact global inequality. “I think climate change could actually undo a significant part of the progress we’ve made over the last 30 years in reducing extreme poverty,” she says.
Full story via The New York Times →
Divorce is more common in albatross couples with shy males, study finds // Forbes
Scientists at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have found that while albatross couples typically mate for life, shy wandering albatross males are more likely to be divorced.
Full story via Forbes →
How MIT Rolls 🎢
Video still of three students wearing hard hats and working on a wooden roller coaster among trees of MIT campus
Each fall during Residence Exploration (REX), activities encourage new students to visit MIT’s residence halls. The REX tradition of building a roller coaster “really emphasizes East Campus’s love for engineering and building,” says Anhad Sawhney, a second-year student in mechanical engineering.
Watch the video →
Get Ready to Vote 🗳️
Election Day in the United States — Nov. 8 — is just around the corner. All members of the MIT community who are eligible to vote can visit MIT Turbovote to register, check whether you are already registered, request an absentee ballot, and check the dates and deadlines for all the elections in your state or territory. Additional voting resources are available from the nonpartisan MITvote and the Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center.
Register via MIT Turbovote→
Pumpkin Patch
Closeup photo of a multicolor glass pumpkin, with half a dozen others surrounding it
An annual MIT tradition takes place today: the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch. Sales of hand-blown pumpkins begin, both in person on the Kresge Oval and online, at 10 a.m., to benefit the MIT Glass Lab, which draws most of its operating budget from these fanciful glass gourds.
Learn more via the Glass Lab →
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