Improving implants + Fulbright Fellows + greener steel

[view in browser]( MIT Weekly [MIT Logo] May 25, 2024 Greetings! As we count down to [Commencement]( note that if you are graduating or otherwise leaving MIT this spring, you’ll need to adjust your preferences (at the bottom of this email) or [sign up with your new email]( to keep receiving the MIT Weekly and/or MIT Daily. Now, here’s a roundup of the latest from the MIT community. Improving Implants #[An open notebook shows illustrations of the heart, liver, and intestines with translucent bandages.]( MIT engineers found a way to eliminate the buildup of scar tissue around implantable devices, by coating them with a hydrogel adhesive. The material binds the device to tissue and prevents the immune system from attacking the device. [Full story via MIT News →]( Top Headlines Eleven from MIT awarded 2024 Fulbright fellowships The Fulbright US Student Program funds research, study, and teaching opportunities abroad. [Full story via MIT News →]( [News thumbnail]( Making steel with electricity MIT spinout Boston Metal is commercializing a new method for making steel and other metals, to help clean up the emissions-intensive industry. [Full story via MIT News →]( [News thumbnail]( Using wobbling stellar material, astronomers measure the spin of a supermassive black hole for the first time The results offer a new way to probe supermassive black holes and their evolution across the universe. [Full story via MIT News →]( [News thumbnail]( US voters exhibit “flexible morals” when confronting misinformation A new study finds both Democrats and Republicans are more likely to permit the spreading of misinformation when it articulates a “deeper truth” that captures their grievances. [Full story via MIT Sloan→]( [News thumbnail]( Janabel Xia: Algorithms, dance rhythms, and the drive to succeed When the senior isn’t using mathematical and computational methods to boost driverless vehicles and fairer voting, she performs with MIT’s many dance groups to keep her on track. [Full story via MIT News →]( [News thumbnail]( Q&A: A graduating student looks back on his MIT experience Christopher Wang, a senior in EECS, shares his favorite study spaces, how he discovered theater at the Institute, and what he’ll miss most. [Full story via MIT News →]( [News thumbnail]( #ThisisMIT #[Aerial view of about 40 students and members of MIT’s Chemical Engineering department looking up and posing for portrait with arms crossed to resemble an “X.” Text via @mit_cheme: A big congratulations to our Course X seniors! Classes are out and it's time to start celebrating!]( [Follow @mit_cheme on Instagram→]( In the Media Unusual giant planet as fluffy as cotton candy spotted by astronomers // CNN MIT astronomers discovered an exoplanet that is 50% bigger than Jupiter, but still the second lightest planet ever found, with a density similar to cotton candy. [Full story via CNN→]( Opinion: Meet the Montreal mayor who declared war on SUVs // Bloomberg David Zipper, a senior fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative, discusses new parking fees based on vehicle weight established in Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, a borough in the city of Montreal, to combat congestion and carbon emissions. [Full story via Bloomberg→]( C. Gordon Bell, creator of a personal computer prototype, dies at 89 // The New York Times Called the “Frank Lloyd Wright of computers,” technology visionary C. Gordon Bell ’57, SM ’57, “the master architect in the effort to create smaller, affordable, interactive computers that could be clustered into a network,” has died. [Full story via The New York Times→]( Scientists shrunk the gap between atoms to an astounding 50 nanometers // Popular Mechanics MIT physicists have “successfully placed two dysprosium atoms only 50 nanometers apart — 10 times closer than previous studies — using ‘optical tweezers.’” Utilizing this technique could allow scientists to better understand quantum phenomena such as superconductivity and superradiance. [Full story via Popular Mechanics→]( Watch This #[Aerial view of square-like spiral staircase as six students are walking throughout.]( Set in various familiar MIT locations, “Hall That Never Ends” is the opening song from “Log Log Land,” a new film from the [MIT Logarhythms](. The film contains five original songs inspired by the Oscar Award-winning “La La Land.” According to the group, a full “Log Log Land” album is forthcoming this summer. [Watch the video→]( Look Back #[Monochromatic headshots of Mon Cham Cheong and Yung Chung Kwong from the late 19th century.]( To mark Asian American and Pacific Islander Month, we highlight two of the first Chinese students to matriculate at MIT, both of whom were members of the Class of 1883. The first, at left in the image here, was Mon Cham Cheong. While not much is known about Cheong, his studies were financed by his father so that he might acquire “a thorough knowledge of mechanics, with a view to its practical use.” In 1879, Cheong was joined by Yung Chung Kwong (right), the first student from the historic [Chinese Educational Mission]( (CEM) to attend MIT. Following in the footsteps of this pioneering pair, as more CEM students matriculated at MIT in the next academic year, Chinese students would gain a real presence on campus. [Learn more via “China Comes to MIT”→]( Know Your Cookie #[A blue clue card with white text reads “A 2022 M.I.T. study examined the physics behind the process of twisting these sandwich cookies apart” in capital letters atop Jeopardy game board.]( Can you guess the correct response to this clue that appeared on “Jeopardy!” this week? It’s based on a study in which MIT engineers investigated why a particular cookie’s cream sticks to just one wafer when twisted apart. The researchers subjected the cookie to various tests and even designed a 3D-printable device to grasp and twist it open. “There’s the fascinating problem of trying to get the cream to distribute evenly between the two wafers, which turns out to be really hard,” says Max Fan ’23. [Learn the answer via MIT News →]( This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by [what it’s like on exam day](. ✍🏾 Have feedback to share? Email mitdailyeditor@mit.edu. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! —MIT News [Forward This Email]( [Subscribe]( [MIT Logo] 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