A new semester + value in CO2 + fusion ignition + cycling and STEM

MIT Weekly September 10, 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](. Seeking Value in CO2 #[Ariel Furst, Rachel Ahlmark, and Gang Fan look intently at a setup of convoluted tubes in a science lab]( Left to right: Assistant Professor Ariel Furst, undergraduate Rachel Ahlmark, postdoc Gang Fan, and their colleagues are working to convert carbon dioxide into valuable products. Carbon dioxide is available in abundance, but has not yet been widely used to generate valuable products. MIT chemical engineer [Ariel Furst]( is leading efforts to employ biological materials, including DNA, to transform this widespread waste product. [Full story via MIT News →]( Top Headlines MIT students contribute to the success of an historic fusion experiment Students are part of large team that achieved fusion ignition for the first time in a laboratory. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Analysis of email traffic suggests remote work may stifle innovation At MIT, social networks with “weak ties,” which help foster new ideas, declined during the Covid-19 pandemic, researchers report. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Using machine learning to identify undiagnosable cancers A new model that maps developmental pathways to tumor cells may unlock the identity of cancers of unknown primary. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Forging political alliances through supply chains International firms sharing production networks lobby together to secure favorable trade conditions. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( MIT Spokes cycles across the country to teach STEM classes Sore legs, 10 flat tires, and hot temperatures did not deter these MIT students and recent graduates. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( #ThisisMIT #[Twitter photo of a custom Monopoly board with the MIT logo in the middle and properties named after MIT places and things. Text, in part: @MITEdgerton Introducing @MIT Monopoly! Designed by Interphase EDGE/x students ... this MIT-themed monopoly board lights up when properties are purchased.]( [Follow @MITEdgerton on Twitter →]( In the Media Opinion: Not quietly quitting but quietly returning, older workers are changing work and retirement // Forbes Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, explores why many former retirees are returning to the workforce. “These older adults are inventing something that is neither our current idea of retirement or of work,” he writes, “a new life stage altogether that sees the retirement age of today as a mile marker, not an exit.” [Full story via Forbes →]( NASA’s Artemis moon rocket launch will open new chapter in space exploration, MIT expert says // CBS Boston “It’s very exciting because the last time we were on the moon was during the Apollo years and we didn’t stay. Our current generation has just a vague memory of that,” says Professor Paul Lozano of the Artemis 1 moon mission. “All we learn by going to the moon we can apply to go to other places in the solar system.” [Full story via CBS Boston →]( Immigrant Hari Balakrishnan has made roads safer for drivers // Forbes Professor Hari Balakrishnan discusses his decision to leave India to pursue a PhD in computer science in the U.S., his love for teaching students as a professor at MIT and his work co-founding Cambridge Mobile Telematics, a software company that utilizes technology to make roads safer. “Immigration and immigrants make the United States stronger,” says Balakrishnan. [Full story via Forbes →]( Opinion: America’s seeing a historic surge in worker organizing. Here’s how to sustain it // WBUR Professor Emeritus Thomas Kochan and Wilma Liebman, former chair of the National Labor Relations Board, explore the current rise in worker activism and how to rebalance the relationship between employees and management. [Full story via WBUR→]( Time to Shine #[Graphic illustration of Tim the Beaver wearing a backpack and about to cross the street into MIT's main entrance. "First Day" is written above a domed and columned building drawn to represent MIT Building 7]( We are all rooting for you in this first week of classes, MIT students! Best wishes to you — and to all faculty and staff who support you — for a successful fall term. Image: Jenny Baek Watch This #[Video still featuring a headshot of Lynn Davis]( Retired engineer Lynn Yamada Davis ’77, the social media personality behind the wildly successful “[Cooking With Lynja]( was recently named one of Forbes’ 2022 Top Creators. With more than 16 million followers on TikTok and YouTube, Davis, 66, has grown a devoted following by creating delightful, effects-laden videos with her son, Tim. In this interview, she describes her late-in-life success. [Watch the video →]( This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by [a magical place](. 🤩 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