Two MIT professors win MacArthur Fellowships
This year, the MacArthur Foundation selected 24 recipients of their MacArthur Fellowships, otherwise known as the MacArthur “Genius Grants.” Two MIT professors — Dina Katabi MS ’99, PhD ’03 from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Sara Seager from the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences — were named MacArthur Fellows. The Tech spoke with them to find out what excites them about their research, and what it’s like to work in male-dominated fields.
Voodoo magazine has funding restored
The Financial Board (Finboard) of the Undergraduate Association (UA) has now released its trimesterly funding allocations for student groups. This release, delayed by about a week, comes on the heels of Voodoo Magazine successfully appealing Finboard’s decision to revoke Voodoo’s funding on the grounds of a Title IX complaint. Voodoo is headed by Senior House co-president and member of the UA Council Alina Kononov ’14,
Kochs and conservatives split over health care law
WASHINGTON — Under attack for the government shutdown, some of the most vocal elements of the conservative wing of the Republican Party are publicly splintering, a sign of growing concerns among even hard-core conservatives that the defeat-health-care-at-any-cost strategy may have backfired.
Shorts (right)
European Union lawmakers voted narrowly Wednesday to force energy companies to carry out in-depth environmental audits before they deploy a technique known as “fracking” to recover natural gas from shale rock.
Cool weather, mix of sun and clouds
We will see cool but pleasant conditions in Boston as we head into the long weekend, with highs generally in the low 60s°F and lows in the low 50s°F. Overnight lows in the next two days may even dip into the upper 40s°F. Today and tomorrow, we will see some clouds and wind due to a coastal low-pressure system affecting the region from Virginia through New York and southern New England. This nor’easter will linger over the mid-Atlantic for several days.
Observers differ on fairness of election in Azerbaijan
BAKU, Azerbaijan — A prominent delegation of international election observers on Thursday sharply criticized Azerbaijan’s presidential election as unfair and rife with fraud, amid aggressive efforts by the Azerbaijani government and its allies to portray the vote as legitimate.
Abductors briefly seize Libyan prime minister
CAIRO — Libya’s prime minister, Ali Zeidan, was briefly kidnapped from a Tripoli hotel Thursday in an apparent act of retaliation for his supposed consent to the capture of a suspected al-Qaida leader by American Special Forces.
Shorts (left)
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Hundreds of women and children Wednesday protested cuts in a U.N. food-assistance program, the latest in a growing backlash by Palestinian refugees and their offspring in this forlorn coastal strip against the agency that for decades has provided them with nutrition, education and health services.
Standoff on debt has yet to rattle Asia
HONG KONG — When the U.S. government was borrowing heavily four years ago to cover costs related to the global financial crisis, Wen Jiabao, then the prime minister of China, strongly and publicly warned Washington to make sure Chinese investments in Treasury securities were safe.
UN backs peace effort in Central African Republic
The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on Thursday aimed at stabilizing the Central African Republic, a dangerous and dysfunctional country that has descended into near-total chaos over the last half year.
Bank of England retains low interest rate
LONDON — Britain’s central bank decided on Thursday to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low in the face of more evidence that the country’s economic recovery was gaining speed.
CORRECTIONS
An article in Tuesday’s issue on HackMIT misstated Julian Ceipek’s name and did not specify which Olin College team he led. Ceipek was on the same team as Stephanie Northway.
‘Free speech for me but not for thee’
Imagine a scenario in which Republicans controlled both houses of Congress, as well as the presidency. In their haste to preempt the arrival of a newly elected senator they pen a bill that almost none of the legislators read. It is a massive tax cut with all sorts of measures that Democrats believe will hurt the middle class and the economy. The bill passes, but years later, before it is implemented, Democrats, who still believe that this tax cut will be economically harmful, ask for a one year delay in implementation. They pass a measure to keep the government funded with but one caveat—that there be a delay in the implementation for one year. Republicans refuse and the government shuts down, saying that Democrats are “holding the country hostage” and “acting like spoiled children because they didn’t get what they wanted.”
Taking off from the ground into flight
The word “aerial” has come to connote aerial silks, trapeze, lyra, and similar circus arts, and the performances often involve more acrobatics and gravity-defying tricks than dance per se. That’s not to say that aerial silks are not graceful or expressive, but that Cirque du Soleil has set a high standard for making audiences gasp.
‘I think I’m gonna like it here’
Fangirls and boys everywhere have been eagerly awaiting the return of Supernatural, a show about two brothers saving people and hunting all things supernatural, creepy, and deadly. The show made its ninth season return this Tuesday, Oct. 8 on The CW, and, as expected, Superwholockians have already begun to flood Tumblr with GIFs capturing key scenes, new fanfiction, and speculation about what the new season has in store.
Arts Events OCT. 11 – OCT. 17
Arts Events OCT. 11 – OCT. 17 Friday (5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Second Fridays at the MIT Museum: Chain Reaction! — MIT Museum (5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Architecture Lecture: Alex Miller, “Internal Logic” — 7-429 (7:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m.) LSC presents World War Z — 26-100 (7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) MISTI Foreign Film Night and WGS: Girl Rising — 32-155 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Critical Band Plays Steve Martland — Kresge Auditorium (8:00 p.m.) Opening night of “The Power of Duff,” by the Huntington Theatre Company Oct. 11 through Nov. 9 — South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA Saturday (7:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m.) LSC presents World War Z — 26-100 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) MIT Symphony Orchestra Concert — Kresge Auditorium Sunday (8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.) International Folk Dancing — Sala de Puerto Rico (8:00 a.m.) John Singer Sargent Watercolors Exhibit opens — Boston Museum of Fine Arts Monday (2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Jason Adasiewicz, Garrison Fewell, and Eddie Harris featured on WMBR — 88.1 FM Radio Tuesday (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) Folk Dance Club presents Contra Dance with live music — W20-491 Thursday (1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.) Join Michelle Finamore, curator of fashion arts, talks about new exhibit “Think Pink” — Boston Museum of Fine Arts (5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Lecture: Kathrin Aste and Frank Ludin, “Constructing Topographies” — 7-429 (5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Chris Marker: Guillaume-en-Égypte opening reception — MIT List Visual Arts Center (7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Work-In-Progress Film Screening: Women Take Over 888 Memorial Drive — E25-111 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Beaubourg (1977) presented by Department of Urban Studies and Planning — 3-133 Send your arts events to arts@tech.mit.edu.
What happened to Pu Pu Hot Pot?
Unless you are a freshman, you likely recall walking down Mass. Ave. toward Central and seeing for the first time the large white and blue sign that proudly declared “Pu Pu Hot Pot.” While I never set foot inside Pu Pu Hot Pot, when I saw that the banner had been replaced by a sleek new sign, I felt bereft. The walk to Central would never be quite as funny as it used to be. However, I had a hunch it might be tastier, as the new sign announced that a new restaurant would be taking its place, Patty Chen’s Dumpling Room. I love a good dumpling, and dislike going all the way to Chinatown to get good ones. The thought of homemade dumplings close by was incredibly enticing, so I headed over as soon as it opened.
An American version of The Magic Flute
Imagine Mozart and his librettist Schikaneder enlisting the help of a contemporary dramaturg to pitch their singspiel The Magic Flute to the American public. This unlikely premise was exactly what Boston Lyric Opera was going for with their world premiere of a new English adaptation of Mozart’s famous opera. Bolder than most, the new production featured a more comprehensive backstory, altered geographic setting, clearer symbolism, and delightful English lyrics. The stage décor was enchanting, the costumes eye-catching, and the singing breathtaking. 222 years after its premiere, Mozart’s opera sounds incredibly fresh in this ingenious reimagining, delivering its potent mix of jovial humor and nuggets of wisdom with a renewed vitality, and a surprising up-to-date relevance. Attending the BLO’s production of The Magic Flute made for a spectacular night at the opera, at once entertaining and inspiring.
When I dream of Jiro Dreams of Sushi
After every Netflix binge that inevitably includes an all-too-frequent viewing of Jiro Dreams of Sushi, I am always left looking for a way to satisfy my cravings for raw fish. After determining that a flight to Tokyo isn’t the most efficient or economical option, I turn to the choices that Boston and Cambridge have to offer. If you too suffer from recurring bouts of hamachi withdrawal, I’d recommend giving either (or both) of my go-to places a try.
The Passion of the Capt’n
In case you have not seen the trailer — because if you have, you already know the whole plot — Captain Phillips is a movie about how Captain Richard Phillips (played by Tom Hanks) sailed a U.S.-flagged merchant ship, Maersk Alabama, too close to the coast of Somalia, and was hijacked by four Somali pirates with machine guns. The pirates were not too competent in the operation and had to abandon the ship, but not without taking the good Captain with them as a hostage. A few days later, the pirates were killed, and the Captain was rescued by a team of Navy SEALs. That’s it.
The pasta next door
After checking out one of the most famous Asian restaurants in Boston, I decided to try something totally different — a hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant in the heart of Cambridge.
The beauty and terror of space
The film opens with sobering facts about space written on a black screen, while a sound like a rocket launching grows deafeningly loud, so it is clear from the very beginning that Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity will be merciless. But the brutal facts and gripping story are set against the incredible beauty of Earth as seen from space, with sleight-of-hand special effects, and gorgeously rendered scenes of sunrises and the northern lights from orbit.
Women’s tennis beats Tufts for the first time since 1996
In its first non-conference dual match of the season, the MIT women’s tennis team hosted local rival Tufts University and came away with an 8-1 victory. The win broke a 16-match losing streak to the Jumbos and was the first victory by the Engineers since the 1996-97 season.
Men’s cross country ranks up
Even though they did not compete this past weekend, the MIT men’s cross country team moved up one place to fourth in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III National poll that was released on Wednesday afternoon. The Engineers, who received the program’s first-ever top five ranking in the poll that was released on Sept. 25, keep making program history as they continue to climb up the ranking’s ladder.
