October 30, 2021
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Engineering Social Solutions
 
Senior Brian Williams has used biological engineering as a launchpad to combat racism in public health — and he doesn’t want to stop there. “The Black community has invested a lot in me, and I have a lot to invest back in it,” he says.
Full story via MIT News →
Top Headlines
Do I need a booster shot?
MIT Medical provides the latest guidance on boosters of Covid-19 vaccines currently available in the United States.
Full story via MIT Medical→
 MIT Heat Island
Fifteen MIT faculty honored as “Committed to Caring” for 2021-23
Honor recognizes professors who went the extra mile advising during the pandemic’s disruptions.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Artificial intelligence sheds light on how the brain processes language
Neuroscientists find the internal workings of next-word prediction models resemble those of language-processing centers in the brain.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Solid, liquid, or gas? Technique quickly identifies physical state of tissues and tumors
The method could be a route to quicker, less invasive cancer diagnoses.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Nobel laureate Maria Ressa on fighting the “virus of lies”
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, a journalist and digital fellow at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy who exposed how the Filipino government spreads disinformation online, wants U.S. social media companies to be held accountable.
Full story via MIT Sloan→
 MIT Heat Island
#ThisisMIT
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In the Media
The 10 best global universities of 2022, according to US News and World Report // CNBC
MIT has been named to the number 2 spot in U.S. News & World Report’s list of the best universities in the world. “MIT was ranked the best university for mathematics in the world.”
Full story via CNBC→
Opinion: Which tasks are best for teams and which should be tackled solo? // Quartz
Assistant Professor Abdullah Almaatouq of MIT Sloan and Professor Duncan Watts of the University of Pennsylvania explore the costs and benefits of being part of a team when completing a task.
Full story via Quartz→
Roughly one-third of Bitcoin is controlled by a small cabal of whales, according to a new study // Gizmodo 
A report co-authored by Professor Antoinette Schoar finds that 10,000 individual investors control one-third of the Bitcoins in circulation.
Full story via Gizmodo→
Some Bostonians feel unheard. With MIT’s “Real Talk” portal now public, here’s a chance to really listen // The Boston Globe
An MIT initiative called “Real Talk for Change” has launched an online portal of more than 200 audio stories collected from Boston residents, as part of an effort to “help prompt future community dialogues about the lived experiences of everyday Bostonians, particularly those in marginalized communities.”
Full story via The Boston Globe →
Scene at MIT
Life imitating art: Jill Bassett, associate dean and director of the PKG Center for Public Service, recently snapped this photo of a crane mimicking Alexander Calder’s “La Grande Voile” (“The Big Sail”) on McDermott Court. “I loved the way this crane’s shape mirrors the sculpture and looks like an extension of the form,” Bassett says. The crane’s work is part of an upgrade to Building 54, which will add new meeting, classroom, and study spaces.
Digit
15
Percent decrease in the use of gated parking facilities at MIT since 2016 — an improvement toward Institute campus sustainability goals
Learn more via MIT Facts→
“
In a way, every person who has lost a loved one last year has had to grieve from a distance. In a year defined by lockdowns and travel restrictions, a 15-minute drive to visit the nursing home up the street was no more feasible than a 13-hour trans-Atlantic flight. ... I hope that we continue to remember the universality of these experiences, and of the shared languages of loss and hope that bind us together.
—Graduate student Mingyu Y., in a recent essay, “On grieving from a distance”
Full essay via the MIT Graduate Admissions Blog→
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