Reimagining creation + Kavli Prize + LGBTQ+ in academia

[view in browser]( MIT Weekly [MIT Logo] June 15, 2024 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](. Reimagining Creation #[Dancer in Indigenous ceremonial dress front of a green screen]( Multimedia artist Jackson 2bears, an artist in residence at the [MIT Center for Art, Science, and Technology]( has created a new immersive experience reimagining the Haudenosaunee creation story. “It really was a project made in community,” he says. [Full story via MIT News →]( Top Headlines Nancy Kanwisher, Robert Langer, and Sara Seager named Kavli Prize Laureates The MIT scientists are honored in each of the three Kavli Prize categories: neuroscience, nanoscience, and astrophysics, respectively. [Full story via MIT News →]( [News thumbnail]( Exotic black holes could be a byproduct of dark matter In the first quintillionth of a second, the universe may have sprouted microscopic black holes with enormous amounts of nuclear charge, MIT physicists propose. [Full story via MIT News →]( [News thumbnail]( Through econometrics, Isaiah Andrews is making research more robust “I would like to understand the extent to which we understand things,” the MIT economist says. [Full story via MIT News →]( [News thumbnail]( The unexpected origins of a modern finance tool Discounting calculations are ubiquitous today — thanks partly to the English clergy who spread them amid turmoil in the 1600s, an MIT scholar shows. [Full story via MIT News →]( [News thumbnail]( Study models how ketamine’s molecular action leads to its effects on the brain New research addresses a gap in understanding how ketamine’s impact on individual neurons leads to pervasive and profound changes in brain network function. [Full story via MIT News →]( [News thumbnail]( #ThisisMIT #[Jaylen Brown poses for portrait with Tim the Beaver. Text via @‌mittimthebeaver: Ready for nba finals, letssss go @‌celtics!]( [Follow @mittimthebeaver on Instagram→]( In the Media What is the best way to cut an onion? // The New York Times Kenji López-Alt ’02 slices into his research with Rui Viana ’05 on the best method for cutting an onion. [Full story via The New York Times→]( At its first open house since the pandemic, the Haystack Observatory in Westford unveils its window to space // The Boston Globe The MIT Haystack Observatory held its first open house since the Covid-19 pandemic, during which the general public was invited into the facility and offered a hands-on look at the work observatory scientists are conducting to investigate complex questions about our universe. [Full story via The Boston Globe →]( Susan Solomon: “Healing the Earth is possible” // Times Higher Education Professor Susan Solomon chronicles her work “researching, teaching, and communicating climate science while also leading seemingly endless international environmental negotiations.” [Full story via Times Higher Education→]( Metabolizing new synthetic pathways // Nature Professor Kristala Prather delves into what inspired her research on metabolic engineering, how her work in industry helped shape her career in academia, and her new role as head of MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering. [Full story via Nature→]( Watch This #[Video screenshot of Nergis Mavalvala sitting at her desk, speaking, with bookshelves in the background]( Several co-leaders of MIT’s [LGBTQ+ Grad]( student group recently interviewed queer MIT faculty and discussed their own experiences and the importance of visibility in academia in a new video, “Scientific InQueery.” The video is meant to inspire young LGBTQ+ academics to take pride in the intersections of their identities and their academic work. “People need to create spaces for researchers to be able to discuss their scientific work and also be queer,” says Nergis Mavalvala, the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics and dean of the MIT School of Science. [Watch the video→]( Listen #[The text "TILclimate" is printed with a half-globe graphic below it.]( Today, companies are storing millions of tons of carbon dioxide underground each year to prevent it from warming the planet. But is it dangerous to pump so much liquefied carbon below our feet? Geologist and carbon storage expert [Bradford Hager]( a professor in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, joins the [TILclimate podcast]( to explain the risks and how to avoid them. [Listen to the episode]( Quantum Explained #[Close-up of square-shaped quantum computer]( “Interdisciplinarity thrives at MIT, and it’s very important for technologies like quantum,” says Professor Will Oliver, director of the [MIT Center for Quantum Engineering](. “As we build quantum technologies, we need to draw on information from different expertise.” In this new video, Oliver, along with Research Scientist Jeff Grover, explore the origins of quantum mechanics and the state of quantum computing today. [Watch the video→]( This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by [pet videos in outer space](. 🐶 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