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May 18, 2024
Greetings! Here’s a roundup of the latest from the MIT community.
 
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Brain Bioluminescence
A MRI image of a brain shows bright red blood vessels on a darker red background.
    
A new way to detect light in the brain using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could enable researchers to map changes in gene expression, map anatomical connections between cells, or reveal how cells communicate with each other.
Top Headlines
MIT researchers discover the universe’s oldest stars in our own galactic backyard
Three stars circling the Milky Way’s halo formed 12 to 13 billion years ago.
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Scientists develop an affordable sensor for lead contamination
The chip-scale device could provide sensitive detection of lead levels in drinking water, whose toxicity affects 240 million people worldwide.
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John Joannopoulos receives 2024-2025 Killian Award
The MIT physicist is honored for pioneering work in photonics that helped to advance tools for telecommunications and biomedicine.
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Five MIT faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2024
Guoping Feng, Piotr Indyk, Daniel Kleitman, Daniela Rus, Senthil Todadri, and nine alumni are recognized by their peers for their outstanding contributions to research.
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Elaine Liu: Charging ahead
The MIT senior calculates how renewables and EVs impact the grid.
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The MIT Bike Lab: A place for community, hands-on learning
The student-run bike shop, founded by graduate student Bianca Champenois, provides repair and maintenance services, emphasizes hands-on learning, and promotes sustainable transportation.
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#ThisisMIT
About 100 people from MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics pose for portrait outdoors on sunny day at MIT campus. Text via @‌mitaeroastro: We soared through the semester and celebrated the last day of classes with our annual department BBQ. It’s a great day to be part of the AeroAstro crew!
In the Media
New crop-spraying technologies are more efficient than ever // The Economist
Professor Kripa Varanasi and Vishnu Jayaprakash SM ’19, PhD ’21 co-founded AgZen, an MIT spinoff that is developing new technologies to improve the performance and effectiveness of pesticide treatments.
James Simons, mathematician, philanthropist, and hedge fund founder, has died // Associated Press 
Former MIT Professor James Simons ’58, a life member emeritus of the MIT Corporation, has died at 86.
This Boston startup created renewable energy storage that’s 10 times cheaper than lithium-ion batteries // Fast Company 
Professor Asegun Henry founded Fourth Power, a startup aimed at cutting the cost of storing renewable energy.
Microneedle patches might reverse a form of hair loss // Health Day
MIT researchers developed microneedle patches that are capable of restoring hair growth in alopecia areata patients.
Watch This
Screenshot of David Wallace wearing a bright rainbow colored shirt, dancing in front of the Great Dome on MIT’s Killian Court
Congrats on completing the spring semester, MIT! With classes now complete and finals underway, let’s take a moment to celebrate. This “dance outro” video comes courtesy of course 2.009 (Product Design Processes), which provides mechanical engineering students with a team-based product development experience — and earlier this year showed off some pretty sweet moves!
Scene at MIT
MIT buildings lit up at night, with several bands of glowing green cloudlike areas hovering just above them in the black sky.
Over the past week, coronal mass ejections from the sun have led to strong aurora activity over the Northern Hemisphere. The geomagnetic storm has created visible northern lights in parts of North America that are usually too far south to witness them. This image of an aurora seen above the MIT campus was photographed by Shreya Sharma, a PhD student in aeronautics and astronautics and affiliate of the Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment.
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