Prominent activists call on MIT to sell fossil fuel stocks in open letter
Activists from Fossil Free MIT have acquired signatures from various personalities, including actor Mark Ruffalo and professors Noam Chomsky and Junot Díaz, on an open letter addressed to President L. Rafael Reif calling on MIT to divest.
Weather
Just in time for the autumnal equinox, the first hints of fall have arrived in the form of cooler weather. After last week’s unseasonably warm weather, a cold front passed through the Boston area on Sunday morning, bringing with it a cool northwesterly breeze. This breeze has ushered in a colder Canadian air mass that has brought temperatures down to around their normal levels. For this time of year, the normal high temperature is 70°F (21°C), while the normal low is 55°F (13°C). Indeed, the highs and lows for the next few days will be very close to those marks, as a strong high pressure system settles in over the northern East Coast.
Ig Nobels recognize silly science
There is no such thing as bad science — or at least that’s the general theme of the Ig Nobels. Every year, Nobel laureates convene at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre to award ten lucky groups Ig Nobel awards, consisting of “ten trillion Zimbabwean dollars” and a potted plant. And all they had to do was come up with some of the strangest scientific results.
MIT mourns loss of Cara Anne Nickolaus
Cara Anne Nickolaus, a third-year economics graduate student, “died suddenly” Sunday morning, President L. Rafael Reif wrote in an email to campus on Monday.
Talk series is launched to humanize professors
MIT Faculty Talks, a series of chats intended to build a closer relationship between students and faculty, launched last Wednesday, Sept. 16. The joint effort between the chancellor’s office and Lorna Gibson, a professor of materials science and engineering, opened with a presentation on “teaching, scholarship, and the imposter syndrome” by Arthur Bahr, a medieval literature professor.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce visits the Institute
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker toured MIT’s campus and delivered a speech on Sept. 18 at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. Her address was followed by a Q&A session with President L. Rafael Reif, in which they discussed the challenges in academic research when long-term projects are only backed by short-term investments.
Frank Urbanowski, longtime head of MIT Press, dies at 79
The MIT Press mourns the loss of Frank Urbanowski, who served as director of the press for an unprecedented 27 years, building it into one of the largest and most successful scholarly publishers in the world. Urbanowski passed away after a long illness on Sept. 19 in Essex Junction, Vt. He was 79.
Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship hosts annual Demo Day
Fourteen startup teams pitched their ideas to an audience of over 300 people, including investors, families, and friends, at the annual Demo Day hosted by the Martin Trust Center in 10-250 last Saturday.
After shooting just off campus, vice president apologizes for misleading alert
At around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, a 25-year-old woman was shot at the corner of Main and Portland Streets, sustaining non-life-threatening injuries.
Maseeh is most popular choice in housing lottery for freshmen
Maseeh Hall was the first-choice dorm for 277 students in this year’s freshmen housing lottery, a 92 percent increase from last year. Approximately 60 percent of the Class of 2019 opted for one of three dorms — Maseeh, Baker, or Simmons — as their top choice, according to data released by MIT’s Residential Life & Dining.
Senior House is last to receive an RLAD
After several years of negotiations between residents and MIT administrators, Senior House has now become the last dormitory to get a Residential Life Area Director.
Residents speak out on FSILG village proposal
MIT 2030, a plan to restructure much of MIT within the next 15 years, has a significant portion devoted to changing west campus. One of these changes stands out: the FSILG village.
Weather
A broad high pressure system will bring above-normal temperatures back to the Institute this week. With its center to our south, the high pressure system will bring clear skies and offshore winds to the Boston area for the next few days. Temperatures will near the 90°F (32°C) mark today as 10 mph westerly winds will keep cooler ocean temperatures literally at bay. Temperatures over the weekend will be slightly cooler as cloudiness increases ahead of an incoming cold front. The frontal passage will likely occur sometime on Sunday, ushering in a much colder start to the week on Monday. After the cold front passes, another high pressure system is expected to move in, resulting in a return to sunny skies for at least the first part of next week.
Whyte named new Course 22 department head
Professor Dennis G. Whyte was named the new head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering yesterday, effective immediately. This announcement comes after Professor Richard Lester, the former department head, was named associate provost for international activities in May.
Semester kicks off with heat wave
The “fall” semester has officially begun at the Institute, but the weather has remained decidedly summer-like. Unusually hot weather has gripped the Boston area this week, as the last three days have been the top three warmest days of the year to date. In fact, Tuesday’s high temperature of 96°F (36°C) and Wednesday’s high of 93°F (34°C) were each all-time records for their respective days.
MIT professors and US Rep. Kennedy talk STEM education
MIT faculty and U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III met at the Media Lab on Sept. 3 for an event that highlighted technology’s potential to improve the quality of and access to STEM education. Called “Scaling STEM,” the event featured opening remarks by MIT President L. Rafael Reif, followed by presentations from Kennedy, Dean of Digital Learning Sanjay E. Sarma, and four professors from MIT.
MIT, BU will offer legal advice for free to student founders
MIT student entrepreneurs will soon be able to get independent legal advice from two law clinics opening on campus.
Toyota invests $50 million for car AI research at MIT, Stanford
To advance computer-assisted driving technology, Toyota is committing $50 million toward research at MIT and Stanford, the company announced last Friday.