| Beefing Up Batteries | | | | | | Engineers have designed a new battery anode that uses pure lithium metal and works with a solid electrolyte material. The research is a step toward safe, all-solid state batteries that can last longer and pack more power per pound than conventional versions. |
| 3 Questions: Isabelle de Courtivron on the shock of becoming old |
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MIT professor emerita talks about her new memoir and aging in a patriarchal society. |  |
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| Chemists unveil the structure of an influenza B protein Findings could help researchers design drugs to treat influenza B infections. |  |
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| A college for the computing age |
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With the initial organizational structure in place, the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing moves forward with implementation. |  |
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| Singing for joy and service After surgery to correct childhood hearing loss, Swarna Jeewajee discovered a desire to be a physician-scientist, and a love of a cappella music. |  |
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| Engineers mix and match materials to make new stretchy electronics Next-generation devices made with new “peel and stack” method may include electronic chips worn on the skin. |  |
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| Innovation diary: MIT professors keep the ideas flowing // Financial Times |
Columnist John Thornhill writes about “inspiring tales of entrepreneurial endeavor” at MIT, including the work of professors Kripa Varanasi, Asu Ozdaglar, and Robert Langer. |
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| More than a game: What’s behind the high cost of being a sports fan // WBUR |
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Senior lecturer Ben Shields explores why it can be expensive to be a sports fan. “Giving fans the ‘ultimate social experience’ is one way to justify the price tag that comes along with sports fandom,” writes Shields. “It’s also one of the reasons the cost of being a fan has grown at such a rapid rate.” |
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| The saving grace of the Iowa caucus debacle // Wired |
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Professor Charles Stewart III writes that the Iowa caucuses underscore the need for election officials to prepare for potential problems. “Girding computer systems against external attacks is critical,” he says. “But so is planning out the response when the inevitable failure occurs.” |
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| Ethics, efficiency, and artificial intelligence // The Boston Globe |
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| In an op-ed, Associate Professor Iyad Rahwan explores the complex issue of whether AI assistants should be designed to reveal that they are machines. “Although there is broad consensus that machines should be transparent about how they make decisions, it is less clear whether they should be transparent about who they are,” Rahwan writes. |
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| | | During this year’s Independent Activities Period, DJ Rob Swift taught an intensive two-week course centered on the performances of hip-hop “battle” DJs. The course explored the history of the art form and offered a hands-on introduction to DJing. Swift, a professional DJ and a visiting artist at the MIT Center for Art, Science and Technology, led battle DJ instruction, whereby students created custom works, with an emphasis on mastery of highly syncopated styles and techniques. |
 | | | | [T]his IAP has confirmed for me, more strongly than any of my other recent life experiences, that to be alive, and energized, and to get to experience nature and feelings and places and people, is absolutely as good as it gets. There are a lot of things I’d like to accomplish and do and see and become in the future, but even if I never get around to any of them, just living is enough. |
| | —Sophomore Shuli J. on her experience doing “nothing” this Independent Activities Period |
| | | The work of MIT senior Madeleine “Maddy” Kline was recently honored with a Grammy Award from The Recording Academy. While in high school, Kline performed the role of Pennie Foxcub in the opera “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” which was produced by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Opera Odyssey, and Boston Children’s Chorus. “It was an incredible experience for me to work with professional opera musicians and try to understand what that lifestyle is like, and what goes on under the hood,” says Kline, a chemistry and biology major who is also a member of the Chorallaries of MIT (pictured). A recording of the opera came out last spring and was nominated for a Grammy Award. On Jan. 26 the production earned a Grammy for best opera recording. “I’m thrilled that it won,” Kline says. |
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