March 27, 2021
Greetings! Here’s a roundup of the latest from the MIT community.
 
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Particle Detector
 
Physicist Lindley Winslow helps build experiments to detect the universe’s smallest, most elusive particles, in search of answers to its biggest questions. “I like the challenge of measuring things that are very, very hard to measure,” she says.
Full story via MIT News →
Top Headlines
Study reveals plunge in lithium-ion battery costs
Analysis quantifies a dramatic price drop that parallels similar improvements in solar and wind energy, and shows further steep declines could be possible.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Am I still contagious?
MIT Medical describes the latest science on when and why individuals stop being contagious if they’ve had Covid-19.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Transforming lives by providing safe drinking water
MIT’s Susan Murcott is dedicated to providing clean water access and building a new generation of humanitarian water leaders.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Astronomers image magnetic fields at the edge of M87’s black hole
A new image of the M87 galaxy reveals how it looks in polarized light.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
Vaccination by inhalation
Delivering vaccines directly to the lungs can boost immune responses to respiratory infections or lung cancer, a new study finds.
Full story via MIT News →
 MIT Heat Island
#ThisisMIT
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In the Media
Robotic dog works wonders in ER in age of Covid-19 // CNN
Assistant Professor Giovanni Traverso discusses his study exploring how comfortable patients were interacting with Dr. Spot, a robotic dog outfitted with a computer tablet that allows ER doctors to engage with patients remotely. “The robot looks like a dog, and dogs are endearing to many, so actually, the reception was very positive,” said Traverso.
Full story via CNN→
Silicon Valley startup unveils innovative zero emissions hydrofoiling yacht // Forbes
Navier Yachts, a company founded by two MIT graduates, has built “a 27-foot long, zero-emissions all-electric hydrofoil yacht capable of flying above the water’s surface at 20 knots.”
Full story via Forbes→
Meet the woman leading the Fed’s crucial economic forecasting team // Bloomberg
Stacey Tevlin PhD ’95 leads the Federal Reserve’s Research and Statistics division and is “the most important person in U.S. economics that you have probably never heard of.” Tevlin’s team is entrusted with “the forecasts for policy makers as they weigh interest rates every six weeks.”
Full story via Bloomberg→
2021 rising graduate scholars: Meet Cherish Taylor // Diverse: Issues in Higher Ed
Cherish Taylor, a fifth-year PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin, discusses the MIT Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) program: It “exposed me to the possibility of a career in academic research. Prior to my time at MITES, having a career in science meant serving as a medical professional or forensic analyst,” says Taylor. “I had no idea universities housed large research facilities that allowed scientists to answer questions about basic science (and) human disease.”
Full story via Diverse: Issues in Higher Ed→
Digit
82
Percentage of men’s average pay that women earn for the same work in the United States. Wednesday was All Women Equal Pay Day, symbolizing how far into the year women must work to earn the same amount that men earned in the previous year. (There are a number of Equal Pay Days in 2021, as intersectionality affects women’s earnings even more: Asian American and Pacific Islander Equal Pay Day was March 9, Black Women Equal Pay Day is Aug. 3, Native American Women Equal Pay Day is Sept. 8, and Latina Women Pay Day is Oct. 21.) MIT’s newly launched Equal Pay Working Group serves to promote pay equity for MIT community members from diverse backgrounds and experiences throughout their career.
Learn more→
Your Shot
Getting vaccinated matters to me because ...
 
I long to experience the vibrant life at MIT (and everywhere else) again ... and soon.

—L. Rafael Reif, MIT president
Coded Illustrations
Zach Lieberman is an adjunct associate professor of media arts and sciences and founder of the Future Sketches group at the MIT Media Lab. He is also the artist behind the March 21 cover article of The New York Times Magazine on facial recognition technology. In a new Medium post, Lieberman describes his artistic vision for the piece, and how he worked to combine aesthetic and technical aspects of his portraits.
Full story via Medium→
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