Easing joint pain + managing Covid at MIT + climate action

MIT Weekly November 20, 2021 Greetings! Here’s a roundup of the latest from the MIT community.  Want a daily dose of MIT in your inbox? [Subscribe to the MIT Daily](. Easing Joint Pain # Osteoarthritis affects hundreds of millions of people around the globe, creating financial burdens and reducing quality of life. Professor [Alan Grodzinsky]( wants to end the pain of osteoarthritis — and he’s looking to space for a cure. [Full story via MIT Technology Review→]( Top Headlines Managing Covid-19 at MIT this fall: “So far, so good” Ian Waitz, Cecilia Stuopis, and Suzanne Blake answer 3 questions on the fall semester and look ahead. [Full story via MIT News]( [MIT Heat Island]( A key brain region responds to faces similarly in infants and adults Study suggests this area of the visual cortex emerges much earlier in development than previously thought. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( MIT makes strides on climate action plan Online events highlight progress with new climate planning bodies, campus improvements, and involvement of all parts of the MIT community. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( How ultracold, superdense atoms become invisible A new study confirms that as atoms are chilled and squeezed to extremes, their ability to scatter light is suppressed. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( At the UN climate change conference, trying to “keep 1.5 alive” A delegation from MIT traveled to Glasgow for COP26, where international negotiators sought to keep global climate goals on track. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( #ThisisMIT # [Follow @mitarchitecture on Instagram→]( In the Media An artist who disavows the possibility of individual agency // The New York Times Artist Agnieszka Kurant recently unveiled her installation, “The End of Signature,” at MIT. “Looping black lines composed of high-tech lights were designed to simulate the flow of ink scrawl across the facades of two new buildings, as though an invisible hand were repeatedly signing the walls." [Full story via The New York Times→]( Opinion: Earth has seen five mass extinction events. What can we learn from them? // The Guardian Professor Daniel Rothman examines mass extinctions and how Earth seems to experience “a cascade of disruptions when stressed beyond a tipping point.” He writes: “If we do not significantly cut back CO2 emissions, then we risk passing the threshold before the end of the present century.” [Full story via The Guardian→]( A fabric that comes to life when you breathe // Mashable MIT researchers developed a fiber, dubbed OmniFibers, that could potentially be used to help regulate breathing. “When sewn into clothing, the fiber can sense how much it’s stretched. It then gives tactile feedback to the wearer via pressure, stretch or vibration.” [Full story via Mashable→]( Opinion: Closing California’s last nuclear power plant would be a mistake // The Washington Post The Washington Post Editorial Board highlights a new report co-authored by MIT researchers that finds keeping the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California open would help the state reach its climate goals. [Full story via The Washington Post→]( Digit 89 Age at which Manfred Steiner PhD ’67 earned his second doctorate, a PhD in physics, which he will receive in February from Brown University. He received his first PhD from MIT in the former Department of Nutrition and Food Science and spent his career as a hematologist at Brown and at the University of North Carolina. [Full story via Associated Press→]( Blast Off # [Raja Chari SM ’01]( achieved his first spaceflight last week following launch with three crewmates to the International Space Station. Chari lifted off Nov. 10 on a SpaceX Falcon 9, propelled by the Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida along with fellow NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Tom Marshburn, as well as European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer. Chari serves as commander of the crew. The astronauts will spend approximately six months aboard the ISS, conducting scientific research in areas such as materials science, health technologies, and plant science to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and to benefit life on Earth. [Learn more via NASA→]( Listen # A recent episode of the [BioGenesis]( podcast from the Department of Biology and Whitehead Institute introduces listeners to Tina Lopez ’18, a biology graduate student in the lab of MIT Assistant Professor [Kristin Knouse](. Lopez describes her path from a high school in southern Texas to MIT, her experiences as an undergraduate researcher that shifted her interest from chemical engineering to biology, and her current work seeking the mysterious signal that cues the liver to rebuild itself after injury. [Listen to the episode]( This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by [one student’s mom on being a supportive parent](. 🥞 Have feedback to share? Email mitdailyeditor@mit.edu. Thank you for reading! In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, the MIT Weekly will return Dec. 4. Have a restful break! —MIT News Office [Forward This Email]( [Subscribe]( [MIT Logo] Massachusetts Institute of Technology This email was sent to {EMAIL} because of your affiliation with MIT, or because you signed up for our newsletters. [subscribe]( [update preferences]( [unsubscribe]( [view in browser]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( MIT News Office · 77 Massachusetts Avenue · Cambridge, MA 02139 · USA