Psyche mission launch + robot dexterity + kids’ mindfulness

[view in browser]( MIT Weekly [MIT Logo] October 14, 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](. Mission to a Metal Asteroid #[Top, Psyche launches outdoors; workers in white protective gear stand near the Psyche spacecraft as it sits on a stand at Astrotech Space Operations facility. Bottom, 10 people in blue lab coats smile while inside a lab, with part of Psyche in background; Selfie photograph taken by Lindy Elkins-Tanton and Maria Zuber in a large cleanroom where a large spacecraft appears behind them.]( After a successful launch yesterday, NASA’s Psyche mission, a project with deep MIT roots, is setting course for a metallic space rock that could be the remnant of a planetary core like our own. “This will be the first time we’ve sent a mission to a body that is not mostly rock or ice, but metal,” says Professor Benjamin Weiss, the mission’s deputy principal investigator. “So Psyche could tell us something about how planets formed.” [Full story via MIT News →]( Top Headlines Twelve with MIT ties elected to the National Academy of Medicine Five MIT faculty, along with seven additional affiliates, are honored for outstanding contributions to medical research. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Finger-shaped sensor enables more dexterous robots MIT engineers develop a long, curved touch sensor that could enable a robot to grasp and manipulate objects in multiple ways. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Practicing mindfulness with an app may improve children’s mental health New research suggests daily mindfulness training at home helped reduce kids’ stress levels and negative emotions. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Why female STEM PhDs are less likely to become new inventors Study finds a gender gap in access to faculty advisors who are prolific inventors — a key factor that influences whether students become inventors themselves. [Full story via MIT Sloan→]( [MIT Heat Island]( One of MIT’s “best-kept secrets” offers an outlet for creative writing The MIT’s Writers’ Group has helped community members channel their creative energies since 2002. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( #ThisisMIT #[Collage of four images: Top, Killian Court filled with colorful build challenge material, some atop a pedestal that says “2.009”; A pink seesaw with a jellyfish cutout, yellow cart, and blue crab cart. Bottom, Pink team student in the air on their seesaw build; two Purple team students race across the pool on raft. Text via @‌mitmeche: On Friday, six student teams participated in the annual 2.009, Product Engineering Processes, Build Challenge! The energy was electric as students raced across Killian Court to return the Mojo to the Tree of Life! Congratulations to all! 009 Team]( [Follow @mitmeche on Facebook→]( In the Media The Big Dig // GBH In the first two episodes of GBH’s Big Dig podcast, Assistant Professor Karilyn Crockett and Senior Lecturer Fred Salvucci discuss the impact of the Big Dig on the City of Boston. [Full story via GBH→]( MIT researchers created a solar-powered desalination device that can make seawater drinkable for less than the cost of US tap water // Insider MIT researchers developed a solar-powered desalination system that can inexpensively remove the salt from seawater. [Full story via Insider→]( The brain cells linked to protection against dementia // Nature Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have identified key cell types that may protect the brain against Alzheimer’s symptoms. [Full story via Nature→]( Managers, stop overlooking women’s potential // Bloomberg Researchers from MIT and elsewhere find that “managers in a large retail chain saw women as having less leadership potential even though their performance reviews were better, on average, than those of their male peers.” [Full story via Bloomberg→]( Listen #["Curiosity Unbounded" logo, which includes those words on a white circle that is effusing particles at the top]( In the latest episode of the [Curiosity Unbounded podcast]( MIT President Sally Kornbluth speaks with [Joshua Bennett]( a professor of literature and Distinguished Chair of the Humanities at MIT who is an accomplished spoken word artist and the author of several books. The two discuss the power of words, the beauty of quiet things, and the value of learning for its own sake. Plus, we hear Bennett perform his poetry. [Listen to the episode]( Watch This #[Video still of Neal Carlson and close-up of bicycle wheel. “Engineer takes bike repair for a spin” is in all caps on left side.]( Following a successful career in aerospace engineering, Neal Carlson SM ’65, EAA ’65, PhD ’69 has recently turned his attention to a decidedly Earth-based mode of transportation. In the past five years, he has learned how to refurbish abandoned bicycles, which are then sold through his church, with proceeds going to charity. Carlson fixed about 20 bikes in his first year, and last year he repaired roughly 55. It’s rewarding, he says, “to take a bike that’s almost unrideable and turn it back into a bike that somebody can really enjoy.” [Watch the video→]( This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by [learning to love MIT acronyms](. 🔤 Have feedback to share? Email mitdailyeditor@mit.edu. 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