| Sights and Sounds of Spring | | | | | | For those who haven’t experienced the glorious sights of spring at MIT this semester, we share this glimpse of our campus in full bloom. The blossoms and greenery are accompanied by flutist Sara Simpson, a PhD student in brain and cognitive sciences. 🌺 |
| Twelve from MIT awarded 2021 Fulbright Fellowships |
Grants will support research, graduate study, and teaching abroad in 2021-22. |
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| On being Asian American at MIT |
A recent panel explored the complexities of Asian American identity and recognition, at the Institute and in higher education. |  |
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| Research reveals a universal travel pattern across four continents Globally, people follow a “visitation law” — an inverse relationship between distance and frequency of visits. |  |
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| The MIT Press breaks new ground with STEM-themed young-adult graphic fiction |
With “The Curie Society,” the press reaches out to a new generation of individuals interested in ethics and equity in STEM. |  |
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| A startup improving chemical separations wins the MIT $100K competition Osmoses says its filtration membranes can make gas and vapor separation much less energy-intensive across multiple industries. |  |
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| Professor puts crib in office to support graduate student with infant daughter // Good Morning America Professor Troy Littleton placed a travel crib in one of his lab’s offices so one of his graduate students, Karen Cunningham, can bring her 10-month-old to work with her when needed. “These sort of local ways that people in positions of power can protect parents against the systemic things, like what Troy’s been doing in creating a really supportive and inclusive lab, I think that does make a really big difference, and it’s great to have an example of that,” Cunningham says. |
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| Will we wear masks forever? The answer might depend on where you live // Fast Company A study by Assistant Professor Jackson Lu finds mask wearing is more prevalent in U.S. communities with higher levels of collectivism. |
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| How MIT shares its course materials with the world, for free // Forbes Krishna Rajagopal, dean of digital learning, discusses the history, educational philosophy, and future of MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) as the platform celebrates its 20th anniversary. |
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| How we know it’s happening // Climate Now |
“[W]e have high confidence that this very high rate of warming, by the standards of the geological past, is owing to the measured incontrovertible increase in greenhouse gases,” says Professor Kerry Emanuel of how we know the climate is changing. |
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| | | Institute Professor Paula Hammond, head of the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering, recently joined 60 Black members of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine in encouraging Black Americans to get the Covid-19 vaccine. The participating scientists, doctors, nurses, public health experts, and other health professionals say they’ve reviewed the research and have confidence in the vaccines — some even participating in their development. |
| | | Over the past year, the Covid-19 pandemic has halted many traditions around the Institute. But by following strict safety protocols, the 80 or so first-year students in class 2.00b (Toy Product Design) were able to learn about toy engineering in person this semester. Last week the class hosted its grand finale, in which students presented the toy prototypes they designed and built, on a grand platform on Killian Court. A recap of the event is available via the class’s Playsentations website. |
| | | Since retiring from the National Institutes of Health, Seth Goldstein ’61, SM ’62, SM ’63, ScD ’66 has spent time building a series of complex kinetic devices. So far he’s built machines that can tie a 👔 and play a 🎻, as well as a 🚲-powered back-scratcher. |
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