A May-like start to February
Barely a week after a historic blizzard left much of the northeastern United States buried in snow, spring-like weather has spread along the East Coast. In Boston, where only 6.1" of snow were received in the January 23 storm, temperatures neared record levels at the end of the month. The January 31 high temperature of 57°F (14°C) at Logan Airport was 5°F shy of the record high of 62°F (17°C) set in 1913. The next day, the temperature reached 65°F (18°C), just 1°F short of the all-time record for February 1. For comparison, the normal high temperature is 36°F for this time of year, and the normal high won't reach 60°F until April 27.
New ‘Sandbox’ funds innovation, projects
Students will soon be able to apply for funding from Sandbox, a two million dollar innovation fund announced Jan. 25 by Ian Waitz, Dean of the School of Engineering.
Amendments may check judicial power
The UA Council will consider next Wednesday an amendment to the constitution that would allow Council to unilaterally remove a sitting president who fails to initiate the process of filling a vacancy on the Judicial Review Board, the board's chair, Olivia Brode-Roger '17, said in a meeting yesterday.
MIT’s design wins SpaceX challenge
A team of 25 MIT students took the Best Overall Design award in the first stage of SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod competition this weekend. Their design for a pod that will shuttle between San Francisco and LA at prodigious speeds beat those of over 120 teams at the competition’s Design Weekend, held at Texas A&M University.
Fossil Free sit-in breaks after months
The Fossil Free MIT sit-in is no longer continuous, with participants occasionally disbanding if administrators are not present. Sometimes the sit-in may disband if "there are only a couple of people there," Geoffrey Supran, a member of the group, said.
Dean for graduate education to take leave, start new university
Professor Christine Ortiz is stepping down from her post as dean for graduate education to found a new residential research university.
MIT mulls ending in-dorm summer storage
Undergraduates may have to find places other than their dorms to store their belongings over the summer.
Small storm, then warm
A combination of storm systems will bring a chance of snow showers to the Institute on Friday, punctuating a streak of milder-than-normal weather.
Pro football and a math PhD: Juggling two worlds
MIT students tend to have a lot on their plates — they might be juggling a varsity sport, a few clubs, and an academic workload. But John Urschel has reached a different height — after finishing his second season in the NFL this month, he’s now working on a PhD in mathematics at MIT.
Institute Double Take
Elena Byun ’17 spins a dragon staff in an MIT spinning club event during a winter storm.
Marvin Minsky, pioneer in artificial intelligence, dies at 88
Marvin Minsky, who combined a scientist’s thirst for knowledge with a philosopher’s quest for truth as a pioneering explorer of artificial intelligence, work that helped inspire the creation of the personal computer and the Internet, died Sunday night in Boston. He was 88.
CORRECTIONS
An article about this year’s Mystery Hunt published last week included several errors. The article incorrectly stated that Setec had won Mystery Hunt in 2002, 2005, and 2009; in fact, before this year, Setec had won in 1999, 2001, and 2004. The article misstated the class year of Chris Morse, the leader of Setec. He graduated from MIT with a PhD in 1998, not 1982 (this mistake was introduced during editing). He was a professor at Tufts in 2004, the last year Setec won Mystery Hunt, but is now a teacher at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. About 40 teams, not 18, participated in Mystery Hunt 2016.
Major storm may miss Boston
The Mid-Atlantic region is preparing for a major winter storm that is poised to wallop the Washington and Baltimore areas with up to 2 feet of snow this weekend. However, while this same storm was originally forecast to have a similar impact in New England, recent model runs are suggesting that the storm will take a more southern track, bringing it out to sea and sparing the Boston area from the brunt of the snowfall.
CORRECTIONS
A Campus Life piece last week in the Portraits of Resilience series misstated the class year of the subject, Karen Hao. She is a member of the class of 2015.
Eric Lander criticized for CRISPR article
Professor Eric Lander has come under fire for an article in Cell that some see as skewing the history of CRISPR to favor the Harvard- and MIT-affiliated Broad Institute, which is currently involved in a high-stakes patent fight with Berkeley over the gene-editing technology.
UA leaders to review gov’t diversity after vote to endorse BSU recommendations fails
The Undergraduate Association Executive Board will be conducting a survey to evaluate the UA’s diversity across multiple lines of identity including race and gender. The survey is motivated in part by a vote by the outgoing UA Council to not endorse a set of recommendations made by the Black Students’ Union (BSU).
Puzzlers contend for top spot at Huntception
Team Setec Astronomy won this year’s Mystery Hunt at 6:53 p.m. Sunday when they found the coin in The Alchemist statue.
Course 15 splits into three new majors
MIT’s Sloan School of Management is turning Course 15 into three separate majors, motivated in part by “confusion regarding the meaning of ‘management science,’” James B. Orlin SE ’88 said in a faculty meeting.
New House pipe burst cost Institute $6 million
The damage caused by the flood in New House last summer cost the Institute about $6 million: $4 million in repairs, plus about $2 million to cover room, board, and moving expenses for the approximately 140 displaced New House residents.
Three from MIT awarded Schwarzman Fellowships
Two MIT students and an alumna claimed three of the just 111 Schwarzman Fellowships awarded in the program’s inaugural class. The new scholarship’s selection process is extremely competitive: 3,000 student applied.