August 15, 2020
Greetings! Here’s a roundup of the latest from the MIT community.
 
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MIT's Testing Trailer
In two months, staff from MIT Medical and across campus designed and built a 60-foot trailer that is now the main Covid-19 testing site for members of the MIT community. The trailer began operating in early July, and can test up to 1,500 people per day.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Top Headlines
Diane Greene SM ’78 elected chair of the MIT Corporation
Former CEO of Google Cloud succeeds Robert Millard; will become the first female leader of the Corporation.
MIT Heat Island
Building empathy and sharing wisdom on MIT’s Day of Dialogue
With more than 1,000 participants, the daylong event encouraged anti-racism conversations in the MIT community.
MIT Heat Island
Finding Joy in Making, and the Making of #HellaJuneteenth
Over a few days, designer Quinnton Harris ’11 and his firm built a campaign that led 655 companies to recognize Juneteenth.
MIT Heat Island
How airplanes counteract St. Elmo’s fire during thunderstorms
On the ground, windy conditions strengthen these electrical flashes, but new experiments tell a different story for flying objects.
MIT Heat Island
Rebuilding cultures through art, design, and community
Once displaced by war, MIT’s Azra Akšamija creates works of cultural resilience in the face of social conflict.
MIT Heat Island
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
#ThisisMIT
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In the Media
How I cracked a 50-year-old math problem in a week // New Scientist
Assistant Professor Lisa Piccirillo discusses what led her to a career in math and how she solved the decades-old Conway knot problem.
A reckoning has emerged on American English, rife with words and phrases with racist origins or connotations // The Boston Globe
Professor Michel DeGraff discusses the growing awareness of language with racist connotations or history. “People have always been aware of the power of language to discriminate, to dominate, but also to liberate,” says DeGraff.
Water cooler moments don’t have to disappear in the virtual workplace // Quartz
Professor Thomas Malone discusses Minglr, a new videoconferencing platform he co-created that replicates the type of chance meetings that happen at in-person conferences.
Cutting-edge research shows how hair dulls razor blades // NPR
Using a scanning electron microscope, MIT researchers observed how hair produces tiny chips in steel razor blades. “For me, personally, it was both a scientific curiosity, of 'What’s going on?’ and also aiming to solve an important engineering problem,” says Associate Professor C. Cem Tasan.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Digit
170
Hours of Mocha Moves dance practice undertaken thus far by rising sophomore Ankita D. ’23, as recounted in a numerical listing of her many first-year activities at MIT
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Watch This
The lead-up to NASA’s April 9 launch to the International Space Station coincided with the unfolding of the Covid-19 pandemic. Astronaut Chris Cassidy SM ’00 says the launch process remained the same, but precautions were different. “It was a different feel,” the astronaut explained in an interview recorded hundreds of miles above Earth. In a new video, Cassidy describes prelaunch isolation, fellow crew members’ experience returning to a planet in the grip of coronavirus, and more.
This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by why the hike is worth it. ⛰️

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