An Extraordinary Year | | | Although 2020 has been a year most of us would prefer to forget, it still featured quite a few reasons to celebrate. On the research front, MIT scientists and engineers found a signature of life on Venus; deployed an open-source, low-cost ventilator; developed a flat fisheye lens; and used AI to identify a powerful new antibiotic. These were among the top research stories of the year on MIT News. (Reviews of 2020 community news and MIT media mentions appear below.) We wish you all a safe and warm holiday season, and a very happy new year! Top research stories in 2020 via MIT News→ |
Dava Newman named director of MIT Media Lab The visionary astronautics researcher, explorer, and expert on human adaptation to space will lead the Institute’s world-renowned research center. Full story via MIT News → | |
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MIT community in 2020: A year in review | In a year full of challenges, top Institute stories dealt with resilience, innovation, and MIT’s drive to embody its longstanding values in a changing world. Full story via MIT News → | |
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Eighteen quotes for business and management from 2020 Amid the chaos of 2020, some wisdom shone through. Here are words worth rereading from business leaders, scholars, and scientists. Full story via MIT Sloan→ | |
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Task Force 2021 and Beyond shares its initial compilation of ideas | More than 50 proposals to recast MIT for the post-Covid era released for review and community input. Full story via MIT News → | |
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If Covid-19 vaccines bring an end to the pandemic, America has immigrants to thank // NPR MIT Corporation member Noubar Afeyan ’87 discusses the importance of immigration in major scientific advances, such as the development of two Covid-19 vaccines. Full story via NPR→ |
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Alex Padilla will replace Kamala Harris in the Senate // The New York Times | Alex Padilla ’94 has been appointed to fill the U.S. Senate seat held by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Full story via The New York Times→ |
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Opinion: We must tear down the barriers that impede scientific progress // Scientific American | “We call on universities to emulate MIT and launch an open science task force,” write Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University, and Greg Tananbaum, director of the Open Research Funders Group, in a piece underscoring the importance of open science. Full story via Scientific American→ |
| | Since the 1930s, the MIT Women’s League has created the large holiday wreaths that hang at 77 Mass Ave. This video from 2017 documents their process. In 2020, the league was not able to gather in person, but they still found a way to get the wreaths made and hung, with help from MIT Buildings and Grounds. The league also hosted a webinar, with support from the MIT Activities Committee, on making your own wreaths from home. Watch the video→ | | Monday was the “great conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn, which appeared just a tenth of a degree apart – the closest they’d been, from our vantage point, in nearly 400 years. The giant planets had been inching closer in the night sky as Jupiter overtook Saturn. Can you spot them in this photo taken a few days ago near Simmons Hall? | | MIT President L. Rafael Reif and Christine Reif send holiday greetings: “The great lasting lesson of 2020 is to cherish the human connections.” Watch the video→ | This edition of the MIT Daily was brought to you by love in the time of Covid. 💕 Thanks for reading, and have a safe and restful holiday season and start to the new year. See you in January! — MIT News Office |
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