Taming chronic pain + new NAE members + cheap solar desalination

MIT Weekly February 26, 2022 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](. Taming Chronic Pain # “Chronic pain is a major societal issue,” says Professor [Fan Wang](. “As scientists, it’s our duty to tackle this problem.” Her studies of how the brain controls pain may one day lead to new treatments that could help millions of people. [Full story via MIT News →]( Top Headlines New power sources Thirty-six million people in the U.S. use an energy system developed by a handful of activists in the 1990s. An MIT scholar examines this unusual story. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( MIT community members elected to the National Academy of Engineering for 2022 John Cohn and Franz-Josef Ulm, along with 19 additional MIT alumni, are honored for significant contributions to engineering research, practice, and education. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( New solar-powered system offers a route to inexpensive desalination The passive solar evaporation system could be used to clean wastewater, provide potable water, or sterilize medical tools in off-grid areas. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Can machine-learning models overcome biased datasets? A model’s ability to generalize is influenced by both the diversity of the data and the way the model is trained, researchers report. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Six arguments for carbon taxes Long touted by economists, carbon taxes are transparent, enforceable, and adjustable. MIT Sloan professor of finance Deborah Lucas explains her support. [Full story via MIT Sloan→]( [MIT Heat Island]( #ThisisMIT # [Follow @mitblackhistory on Instagram→]( In the Media Martin Schmidt reflects on his time as provost // The Tech Provost Martin Schmidt discusses his proudest accomplishments as MIT’s senior academic officer, what he will miss most about MIT, and the importance of integrating ethics into engineering education. [Full story via The Tech→]( Work inspired by the Gardner Museum, a children’s book set in a garden, and word of a new book series from MIT // The Boston Globe MIT Press and Brown University Library announced a new book series called “On Seeing” that will be “‘committed to centering underrepresented perspectives in visual culture,’ exploring places where visual culture intersects with questions of race, care, decolonization, privilege, and precarity.” [Full story via The Boston Globe →]( The weather on this exoplanet includes metal clouds and rain made of precious gems // CNN MIT researchers have observed the dark side of an exoplanet that is 855 light-years from Earth and found that the gas giant may have metal clouds and rain containing liquid gems. [Full story via CNN→]( Justice Department drops China spy initiative as past target speaks out // CBS News Professor Gang Chen speaks about his ordeal following charges he faced — all now dismissed — under the “China Initiative.” Describing the accusations against Chen as “a massive jolt,” President L. Rafael Reif said, “I felt it was an attack on all Chinese Americans in America, particularly in academia.” [Full story via CBS News→]( Featured Video # Professor [Hugh Herr]( an MIT Media Lab biophysicist working to create brain-controlled robotic limbs, is profiled in “Augmented,” a new NOVA documentary. At age 17, Herr’s legs were amputated after a climbing accident. Frustrated by the crude prosthetic limbs he was given, he set out to remedy their design, leading to a career as an inventor of innovative prosthetic devices. Now, Herr is teaming with an injured climber and a surgeon to test a new amputation approach that allows prosthetic limbs to move and feel like the real thing. [Watch the film→]( Digit 5 The number of different entrepreneurial personas, according to the Martin Trust Center’s Bill Aulet. Are you a curious entrepreneur, a ready-to-go entrepreneur, a joiner, an amplifier, or a corporate entrepreneur? [Learn more via MIT Sloan→]( This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by [juggling in Lobby 10](. 🤹🏻 Have feedback to share? Email mitdailyeditor@mit.edu. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! —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