President Obama to Speak at MIT on Friday
President Barack Obama will be speaking at MIT tomorrow “challenging Americans to lead the global economy in clean energy, and to highlight Recovery Act investments that are creating jobs and making advancements in wind energy,” the White House said.
Stubbe, Winner of National Medal of Science, Praised for Research Passion
After studying chemistry, math, and art history in her undergraduate years, JoAnne Stubbe went into graduate school thinking she would study the chemical effect of light on paintings. She had no idea she would go on to unravel protein mechanisms that replicate and repair DNA and win a National Medal of Science, the nation’s top science award, for this work.
Harvard Admits to $1.8 Bil. Blunder in Cash Holdings
Harvard University, one of the world’s richest educational institutions, stumbled into its financial crisis in part by breaking one of the most basic rules of corporate or family finance: Don’t gamble with the money you need to pay the daily bills.
MIT Medical Reports Fewer Flu Infections Now than September
Cases of both seasonal and H1N1 flu have decreased steadily since mid-September, said MIT Medical Chief of Internal Medicine Howard M. Heller yesterday. H1N1 vaccinations have begun to arrive on campus, but will be distributed first to top-priority candidates, a group that, for the time being, only includes health care workers.
Saferide Changed Routes Due to Neighborhood Noise Complaints
Some MIT shuttle services have changed their services this year in response to neighborhood complaints of disruptions along shuttle routes. Amidst neighborhood complaints and new funding, various MIT shuttle services have seen a change in routes this year: the Boston West Saferide is running smaller buses, and the Star Market grocery shuttle is running during later hours on Saturday.
Colleges Make Plates, Portions Smaller to Curb Overindulgence
Colleges trying to encourage a well-balanced diet have a message for students sizing up that all-you-can-eat smorgasbord in the dining hall: What you don’t know can help you.
Shorts (left)
Apple, in its recent history, has overcome nearly every obstacle thrown its way. Now it has surpassed another: the burden of high expectations.
Shorts (right)
After nearly a month of deliberations by President Barack Obama over whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, frustrations and anxiety are on the rise within the military.
Financial Giants Donating Little to Obama & Democrats
The Wall Street giants that received a financial lifeline from Washington may have no compunction about paying big bonuses to their dealmakers and traders. But their willingness to deliver “thank you” gifts to President Barack Obama and the Democrats is another question altogether.
Justice Department Will Not Prosecute Medical Marijuana Use
People who use marijuana for medical purposes and those who distribute it to them should not face federal prosecution, provided they act according to state law, the Justice Department said Monday in a directive with far-reaching political and legal implications.
Afghan Leader Is Said to Accept Runoff Election
Under international pressure, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan appears set to concede as early as Tuesday that he fell short of a first-round victory in the nation’s disputed presidential election, but the path to ensuring that the country has credible leadership remains uncertain, U.S. and European officials said Monday.
Iran Issue Veiled Threats as Nuclear Talks Begin
Iran opened two days of nuclear talks with the United States, Russia and France on Monday with veiled public threats that it could back away from an agreement to ship more than three-quarters of its stockpile of nuclear fuel out of the country, unless the West acceded to Iranian demands to provide it with new fuel.
Going From Less to Zero Waste Catches on in U.S.
At Yellowstone National Park, the clear soda cups and white utensils are not your typical cafe-counter garbage. Made of plant-based plastics, they dissolve magically when heated for more than a few minutes.
An El Niño Winter
NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, recently stated that El Niño would be a dominant factor in this winter’s climate. But how is it that one phenomenon apparently restricted to the tropics can affect climate around the world? Well, it’s all due to the circulations in the atmosphere and ocean in the equatorial Pacific. Normally, there is great upwelling of the waters to the west of Peru; cold, nutrient-rich water is brought up and is blown westward by the trade winds, creating a “cold tongue” of water near the equator. More convection is seen to the west; but when El Niño conditions set up, the trade winds decrease; cold, nutrient-rich water does not upwell as much; and warmer waters set up further to the east than normal. As low pressure tends to coexist with warm waters, the pressure field in the Pacific tropics shifts, changing surface pressures and weather patterns, across the globe. However, despite all of these changes in the atmosphere, New England will not be affected significantly. For us, there are equal probabilities for a relatively cold or warm winter and for a relatively wet or dry winter.
Condoms, Canoes, and Drunken Argentinean Men
Taxes, a necessary evil of our society, represent the means by which we fund our government. Or rather, the way our government charges us for its bills. Did you know that the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which established the income tax, was supposed to be temporary? Did those who ratified this amendment really think that the government would cut off funding to itself?
Letters to the Editor
MIT’s favorite individual donor, Jeffry Picower, is likely soon to be bankrupted. The Madoff Trustee Irving Picard has a $7.2 billion clawback suit against him (his lawyer has already said he’s ready to make a deal), and it’s likely the IRS will have big claims too, because Picower got billions in phony tax loss statements from Madoff.
The Brilliant and the Dangerous Ideas of The Institute-Wide Planning Task Force
One of the best characteristics of MIT is the freedom the Institute offers to its students. Of course, we all have to satisfy the GIRs, but from sports to UROPs, MIT students have options. In harsh economic times, when we must cut back, do we have to cut back by reducing these options?
Injury-Afflicted MIT Football Team Blown Out by Western N.E.
The MIT Engineers arrived in Springfield this past weekend looking to spoil Western New England College’s homecoming, but the Golden Bears proved to be too much for Tech. The stands were filled to watch the Golden Bears defeat the Cardinal and Grey 59-21.
Brouhaha Rhythm
I watched <i>Kill Bill</i> (parts 1 and 2) the other night with a few of my friends, and as impossible as I would have thought it, Quentin Tarantino’s movies have gotten more “out there” since <i>Pulp Fiction</i>. Granted, my experience with Tarantino films is only about as much as most (and not nearly as much as I’d like), but I imagine it doesn’t take too long to at least begin to grasp his particular film style. I’d wager that Tim Burton is the only director with a more distinctive stamp than Tarantino’s. The specifics are a little fuzzy, but I think if I were to draw a Venn Diagram with circles labeled “lack of color,” “Johnny Depp,” and “Helena Bonham Carter,” the intersections of two or more circles would get me pretty close.
Tech Review: iPod Nano
<b>WHAT IT IS: </b>The latest generation “iPod Nano” represents Apple Inc.’s contributions to the hot world of portable music and video players, currently a market dominated by Apple Inc.
