| Reprieve for International Students | | | | | | Following a lawsuit filed by MIT and Harvard University, the federal government this week rescinded a policy that would have prevented foreign students from studying in the U.S. this fall if classes were taught remotely. “This misguided policy was one of many signals that the administration wants foreign students to stay away — an attitude that reflects a stark misreading of our national interest,” MIT President L. Rafael Reif wrote in a New York Times op-ed. “America gains immense creative advantage by educating top domestic students alongside top international students. By challenging, inspiring, and stretching one another, they make one another better.” Letter to the MIT community | Full New York Times op-ed → |
| MIT team collaborates with 3M to develop a rapid Covid-19 test |
Company working with Sikes Lab to test feasibility of low-cost diagnostic that could be manufactured by the millions each day. Full story via MIT News → |
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| A collective cry for justice Today's cloth masks to minimize virus transmission reflect traditions of masks used in sacred rituals. Full story via MIT SHASS → | |
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| In a first, astronomers watch a black hole’s corona disappear, then reappear A colliding star may have triggered the drastic transformation. Full story via MIT News → | |
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| Communicating the “beauty and complexity” of science With a newly minted PhD, Fernanda de Araújo Ferreira now explores the scientific enterprise through journalism. Full story via MIT News → | |
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| A new approach to carbon capture |
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MIT researchers design an effective treatment for both exhaust and ambient air. Full story via MIT News → | |
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| CRISPR comes to COVID: A pandemic pivot and the push for a simple coronavirus test // WBUR |
While tinkering with the gene-editing tool CRISPR, MIT researchers developed a new technique to detect diseases that can be used to diagnose Covid-19. Full story via WBUR → |
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| A new mask that’s easier to sterilize // The Boston Globe |
Researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a new silicon mask with N95 filters that can be sterilized and reused. Full story via The Boston Globe → |
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| What should Cambridge’s monument to women’s suffrage look like? // Boston Magazine Associate Professor Azra Aksamija has designed a proposal for a new piece of public art in Cambridge that would honor the passage of the 19th Amendment while also acknowledging the ongoing struggle for voting rights for all. Full story via Boston Magazine → |
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| A way to deter people from sharing Covid-19 conspiracies // Fast Company |
A study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that asking social media users to evaluate the accuracy of news headlines can help reduce the spread of Covid-19 misinformation. Full story via Fast Company → |
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| | | In March, Massachusetts shut down service at restaurants across the state in response to Covid-19. Clover Food Lab, founded by Ayr Muir ’00, SM ’01, closed 13 locations and quickly cleared its excess inventory by selling boxes of fresh food to customers. When those customers began asking for suggestions on what to cook with the ingredients they’d bought, Muir decided to start a cooking show on YouTube. Often joined by his three kids, he focuses each episode of “In Ayr’s Kitchen” on cooking simple, wholesome recipes even a novice can prepare. Watch the video → |
| | | | | After much thought, we have concluded that our commitment to conducting college admissions in the public interest means that we have an ethical obligation to waive our typical testing requirements under these circumstances. | | —Stu Schmill, dean of admissions and student financial services, on MIT’s recent decision to suspend the SAT/ACT requirement for the 2020–2021 application cycle Full post via MIT Admissions → |
| | | MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing alumna Sue Ding SM ’17 has just released a new short documentary film, “The Claudia Kishi Club.” The 17-minute film follows a handful of writers, illustrators, and others who grew up fans of the character Claudia Kishi of the 1980s and 90s childrens’ serial, “The Baby-Sitters’ Club,” which has recently been reimagined as a TV series. Ding’s short, “a love letter to Claudia-philes,” according to The Associated Press, impresses how influential the character was on a generation of Asian American children. “I want the vibe of the film to be you’re at a ‘Baby-Sitters Club’ sleepover with your closest friends and you’re reminiscing,” Ding says. Learn more via CMS/W | Watch the trailer → |
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