Secrets of anesthesia + war in Ukraine + women at MIT

MIT Weekly March 11, 2023 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](. Understanding Going Under #[Emory Brown stands in a sunlit space inside the Picower building, with yellow walls and staircases in background.]( By unlocking the secrets of anesthesia, Professor [Emery Brown]( could help shed light on brain diseases, hibernation, and possibly even human consciousness: Anesthetic compounds, it turns out, are powerful neuroscience research tools. [Full story via MIT Technology Review→]( Top Headlines Assessing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after a year of war MIT event examines effects of the war on domestic politics and daily life in both Ukraine and Russia. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Study: Smoke particles from wildfires can erode the ozone layer MIT chemists show the Australian wildfires widened the ozone hole by 10 percent in 2020. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Gabriela Schlau-Cohen: Illuminating photosynthesis Using ultrafast spectroscopy, the chemistry professor studies the energy transfer that occurs at femtosecond timescales inside plant leaves. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( On social media platforms, more sharing means less caring about accuracy An MIT-led study reveals a core tension between the impulse to share news and to think about whether it is true. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Daniel Hastings named American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics president-elect The head of MIT AeroAstro will assume the presidency in 2024 as the organization’s first Black president. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( #ThisisMIT #[Melissa Nobles, Maria Zuber, Cynthia Barnhart, and Sally Kornbluth stand from left to right for portrait. Text via Massachusetts Institute of Technology on LinkedIn: A portrait of some of MIT’s top leaders (l-r): Melissa Nobles, chancellor and political scientist; Maria Zuber, vice president for research and planetary scientist; Cynthia Barnhart, provost and civil engineer; and Sally Kornbluth, president and cell biologist. #WomenLead]( [Follow MIT on LinkedIn→]( In the Media Opinion: The pushback against the 15-minute city // The Boston Globe Professor of the practice Carlo Ratti and Robert Muggah of the SecDev Group explore the pushback against 15-minute cities and how the concept behind creating more accessible neighborhoods could help “facilitate the meaningful and sustained in-person connections that the internet cannot.” [Full story via The Boston Globe →]( These researchers used AI to design a completely new “animal robot” // Scientific American Assistant Professor Ritu Raman discusses her work “building machines that we call bio-hybrid because they’re part biological and part made out of synthetic materials. The biological robots that we’re building are powered by muscle tissue so that every time the muscle contracts, you could get something that looks like movement.” [Full story via Scientific American→]( Celebrate women in science — today, and every day // Nature Nature highlights the Rising Stars program at MIT, which “offers mentoring and support for researchers from historically marginalized or under-represented groups, as they move through their careers.” [Full story via Nature→]( MIT is developing a soft robot that takes its inspiration from sea turtles // Mashable Postdoc Zach Patterson discusses how he and his colleagues are developing a soft robot inspired by a sea turtle that could “potentially offer a closer look at ocean life and assist in further studying aquatic creatures.” [Full story via Mashable→]( Scene at MIT #[Collage of three photos arranged vertically. First: Lauryn McNair stands, speaking into a microphone. On the wall behind her is a pink neon sign atop fake grass that says "The way you speak to yourself MATTERS." A piano sits below that. Second: 10 women, all wearing black, sing in MIT's Cheney Room while others look on. Third: About a dozen women sit around a table and mingle around the Cheney Room.]( MIT’s historic Margaret Cheney Room recently reopened with a celebratory event following renovations and a refresh. The room, originally located [at MIT’s Boston campus]( was first established as a space for MIT women to gather. It was named after Margaret Swan Cheney, a member of the Class of 1882 who died that same year after a brief illness. The Cheney Room has been located on the third floor of Building 3 since MIT’s move to Cambridge in 1916, and today, it is a space where women-identifying community members gather to relax, study, connect, and build connections. “The Cheney Room really has been there for me whenever and for whatever I needed it to be,” says MIT senior Isabella Salinas. “When I first came by, I immediately felt at home and safe inside an inclusive female-identifying space.” [Learn more via MIT News→]( [“] We shall long cherish the memory of her alert, original, incisive, and powerful personality; of her determination to uphold whatsoever things are lovely and of good report; and her eagerness to put down all evil, to do away with filth, and to cleanse and purify the dirty places of this too often unclean world. —William Sedgwick, founding head of the MIT Department of Biology, of the late MIT donor Sarah Hughes, who funded critical research into Boston’s odoriferous sewage system in the early 1900s [Full story via MIT Technology Review→]( Look Back #[Black and white photo of 15 women — 13 players and two coaches — lined up on a grassy field for a formal team portrait with MIT’s main campus in the background]( Women’s intercollegiate athletics began at MIT in 1973 with basketball, crew, and sailing teams. (Seen here is the inaugural MIT field hockey team in 1977.) Today, female student-athletes can participate in more than a dozen [varsity sports]( and more than two dozen [club teams]( some of which are co-ed. This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by [a tunnel full of walkers](. 👟 Have feedback to share? Email mitdailyeditor@mit.edu. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to spring your clocks forward tomorrow! 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