"Wakanda Forever" at MIT + silent synapses + observing entanglement

MIT Weekly December 3, 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](. MIT on the Silver Screen # Danai Gurira (left) as Okoye and Letitia Wright as Shuri in Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” in a scene shot at MIT. During a special screening of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” students and staff expressed pride at seeing MIT portrayed in a film that celebrates racial and gender diversity in science and technology. In particular, one of the film’s characters, Riri Williams (also known as Ironheart), is depicted as a student at the Institute. [Full story via MIT News →]( Top Headlines Silent synapses are abundant in the adult brain These immature connections may explain how the adult brain is able to form new memories and absorb new information. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( MIT researchers use quantum computing to observe entanglement Researchers at the Center for Theoretical Physics lead work on testing quantum gravity on a quantum processor. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( Looking beyond “technology for technology’s sake” Whether building robots or helping to lead the National Society of Black Engineers, senior Austen Roberson is thinking about the social implications of his field. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( New CRISPR-based tool inserts large DNA sequences at desired sites in cells Known as PASTE, the technique holds potential for treating a variety of diseases caused by faulty genes. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( A mysteriously bright flash is a black hole jet pointing straight toward Earth, astronomers say The observations could illuminate how supermassive black holes feed and grow. [Full story via MIT News →]( [MIT Heat Island]( #ThisisMIT # [Follow @sustainablemit on Instagram→]( In the Media This is how an Alzheimer’s gene ravages the brain // Nature A new study by MIT scientists explores the role of the gene variant APOE4 in Alzheimer’s and finds that the gene is linked with faulty cholesterol processing in the brain, impacting the insulation around nerve cells and potentially causing memory and learning deficits. “The work suggests that drugs that restore the brain’s cholesterol processing could treat the disease.” [Full story via Nature→]( How to make Covid the last pandemic // Vox A report by Associate Professor Kevin Esvelt provides a roadmap for how to prepare for the next pandemic. In it, Esvelt emphasizes that: “We’re not helpless, whether against nature or malign actions by human beings. We do have to invest in actually being prepared, but if we’re prepared, we could weather even a worst-case scenario: a deliberate release of a human-made virus engineered to be both extra deadly and extra contagious.” [Full story via Vox→]( Building robots that can build themselves // TechCrunch Researchers from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms are developing robots that can self-assemble and could even build large structures. “At the system’s center are voxels (a term borrowed from computer graphics), which carry power and data that can be shared between pieces. The pieces form the foundation of the robot, grabbing and attaching additional voxels before moving across the grid for further assembly.” [Full story via TechCrunch→]( Opinion: Xi broke the social contract that helped China prosper // The New York Times Professor Yasheng Huang examines the roots of the protests underway in China. “Covid protests are occurring at the height of China’s autocratic moment,” writes Huang. “While there are calls for free speech and elections, the rallying cry since Sunday has been against a jarring oppression: the incarceration of hundreds of millions of people in their homes and in field hospitals.” [Full story via The New York Times→]( Engineering Movement # As a biomedical engineer and professional dancer, Research Affiliate [Shriya Srinivasan]( PhD ’20 is dedicated to investigating the body’s movements and sensations. Whether in the lab or on stage, “I’m thinking about how we create a sense of feeling,” she says. [Watch video→]( Digit 100,000,000 Number of individuals, or Scratchers, in the Scratch coding community for children developed at the MIT Media Lab [Learn more via Scratch→]( Listen # A new episode of the [Slice of MIT Podcast]( highlights Ravi Patil ’93, SM ’95 and his own new podcast, [Institrve: True Stories About MIT](. “When you think of MIT, you immediately think of science and technology. I want to dive into the human stories behind those humans who are driving those innovations,” says Patil of Institrve (pronounced “insti-true”). In addition to introducing his new project, Patil speaks with Curtis Blaine ’67, the educational counselor who interviewed Patil when he first applied to MIT. “I’ve taken up the challenge of appealing to human emotions through storytelling and hopefully inspiring the audience in some way,” Patil says. [Listen to the episode]( This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by [flipping failure](. 🙃 Have feedback to share? 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