Volume 53, Number 4 TechTalk Wednesday, October 1, 2008 S e r v i n g Th e MIT Co mm u n i t y

on MIT the ELECTION Science priority MIT experts weigh in ahead of election

Stephanie Schorow News Office correspondent

In the run-up to the Nov. 4 presidential election, the News Office has asked MIT experts to weigh in on the presidential candidates, their policy ideas and aspects of the campaign. In this installment in the series, members of the MIT community share their thoughts on what should be the next presi- dent’s top priority in the areas of science and technology.

Emery N. Brown, professor of Stability in uncertain times computational neuroscience and health sciences and technology: I believe the important scientific State of the Institute Forum touts balanced budget, leadership questions both candidates have to give Stephanie Schorow serious attention to are global warming, News Office correspondent energy and human health. All three of these issues are vital and require focused, MIT’s finances are not only in “terrific concerted attention over the next several shape,” but the Institute stands ready years. to provide service and leadership on key issues of energy and economics in Ian Hutchinson, professor of nuclear a turbulent era, MIT President Susan science and engineering and head of the Hockfield said Monday during the Department of Nuclear Science and annual State of the Institute Forum. Engineering: “I cannot begin without commenting Federally sponsored research sets the that these are unsettling times,” Hock- nation’s overall science and technol- field told a packed . ogy priorities. It exerts that influence “No one can predict where [the econo- by enabling or disabling faculty and graduate students and thereby attracting my] will be at the end of the week, never or repelling them from research areas. mind a month or a year. I want to reflect The recent emphasis on biological and that at a time like this — even more so health-related research has opened many than in normal times — it’s wonderful to fascinating new fields but has left the be part of a place like MIT. The impor- physical sciences, and particularly nuclear tance of what we do is only more impor- science and engineering, weakened by tant as the country and the world seek to neglect. The result is a dangerous dearth solve the most-pressing problems. We of talent and expertise in fields critical can help.” to the major challenge of the century: Tellingly, MIT is in a strong financial PHOTOS / PATRICK GILLOOLY sustainable energy. A top priority should position, according to Hockfield. MIT TOP: Chancellor Phillip Clay gives his address during the State of the Institute be to renew the nation’s educational and will have a balanced budget for fiscal Forum at Kresge Auditorium on Monday. BOTTOM: President Susan Hockfield talks research talent in physical sciences and uPlease see STATE, PAGE 6 with students during the lunch after the event. engineering. uPlease see PRIORITY, PAGE 6 Experts to address MIT community on financial turbulence October events include — and what, if anything, individuals also assembled a series of resources FOCUS should do. for employees who have questions faculty panels, Soros remarks Over the next week, faculty or concerns about volatile financial Greg Frost from the MIT Sloan School of markets. For more information, on News Office Management and the Department please visit http://hrweb.mit.edu/ of Economics will take part in two benefits/retirement/401k/market_ MIT community members panel discussions on the financial volatility.html. FINANCE will have several opportunities in crisis. And on Oct. 28, financier The Sloan faculty panel, October to hear world-renowned and philanthropist George Soros is “Perspectives on the Current Finan- experts discuss the turbulence that scheduled to speak at Kresge. cial Crisis: A Panel Discussion,” will has gripped global financial markets MIT’s Human Resources has uPlease see FINANCE, PAGE 3

AWARDS RESEARCH NEWS Can you spot Excellence? Sniffing out success Energy and the presidency

The deadline for nominations for MIT’s Excellence Recent research could help to make MITEI/MIT Energy Club sponsored debate on energy Awards is approaching. ‘artificial noses’ a reality. will include representatives from the two campaigns.

PAGE 7 PAGE 4 PAGE 3 PAGE 2 October 1, 2008 u PEOPLE MIT Tech Talk

S M T WT Events F S � at MIT

Today • Energy Club lecture series: “Oil Prices, Speculation and Fundamentals: Interpreting Causal Relations Among Spot and Futures Prices.” Speaker: Dr. Robert Kaufmann, Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies (CEES). 6-7 p.m. in 6-120.

• “Ellen Swallow Richards: In Her Own Words.” 7-8 p.m. in 4-370. Come Celebrate MIT women’s history and learn about MIT’s extraordinary first alumna, Ellen H. Swallow Richards. $12 for AMITA members; $15 nonmembers; students free.

• Grad Rat New Design Ring premiere. 7-10 p.m. in 50-140, Morss Hall, Walker Memorial. Come to the unveiling of the newly redesigned graduate ring, the Grad Rat! Enjoy free food and refreshments, T-shirts, giveaways and entertainment. All graduate students from all schools and PHOTO / NASA degrees welcome. The sky’s the limit • Auditions: Dramashop student- The MIT Aero-Astro Department is keeping astronaut Greg Chamitoff PhD ’92 company during his six-month stay aboard produced, student-written one acts. 8 the International Space Station. In this recent photo, Chamitoff is holding a picture of department students, staff and p.m. in W16, Kresge Rehearsal Room A. faculty taken last fall in response to his request for an MIT memento that he could carry with him when he launched in Performances take place Nov 6-8. May. Now, more than 200 Aero-Astrians can say that they have “flown aboard the ISS.” Chamitoff noted that taking photos URL: http://dramashop.mit.edu/oneacts/ from space lets him “zoom in and see the building that I lived in on campus at MIT for many years — Tang Hall.” index.php Thursday, Oct. 2 • Page Hazlegrove Lecture in Glass Art: Dale Chihuly. 6:30-8 p.m. in 10-250. Chihuly is most frequently Development fair showcases lauded for revolutionizing the Studio Search under way Glass movement by expanding its world of opportunities original premise of the solitary artist Students who might be inter- promotes and shares information for new OME director working in a studio environment to ested in fostering development in about activities, programs, events encompass the notion of collaborative a sustainable way in different parts and formal academic offerings Dean for Undergraduate Education Daniel Hast- teams and a division of labor within the of the world will have a chance to related to international develop- ings has announced a national search for a new direc- creative process. sample a wide range of opportuni- ment. In addition to - tor of the Office of Minority Education. Karl Reid, ties this week at MIT’s seventh nology and Culture Forum, it the former director, was recently named senior vice • Perspectives from Women in annual International Develop- is sponsored by the MIT Public president of academic programs and strategic initia- Engineering seminar. 4-5 p.m. in ment Fair. Service Center, the Edgerton tives at the United Negro College Fund. 3-370. Perspectives from Women The fair takes place from 11 Center, the International Devel- The search committee will be led by Professor in Engineering: Choose Your Own a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, in opment Initiative, the Program Robert Redwine, professor of physics and director of Adventure. Seminar #3 with Megan Lobby 13. Patricia Weinmann, in Developmental Entrepreneur- the Bates Linear Accelerator Center, and is composed Smith, MS, Vice President, New associate coordinator of MIT’s ship, the office of the Dean of the of the following faculty, staff, student and alumni Business Development, Google. Technology and Culture Forum, School of Humanities, Arts, and representatives: which co-sponsors the event, Social Sciences, and the office • Architecture Lecture Series: says that “this exciting event of Undergraduate Advising and • Martin Culpepper, associate professor in the Climate Change — Urgent! 6:30-8 introduces incoming students Academic Programming. Department of Mechanical Engineering; p.m. in 34-101. Matthias Sauerbruch: and other members of the MIT The fair “celebrates and • Claudia Espinoza, a junior in the Department of “When Less is Really More,” will speak. community to the many student supports engaging in interna- Civil and Environmental Engineering; This lecture series showcases the state of groups, classes, centers, programs tional development MIT-style, • John Essigmann, the William R. (1956) and practice in response to climate change, and academic departments at learning-by-doing,” says Joost Betsy P. Leitch Professor of Chemistry and which is happening at an increasingly MIT who, through their activi- Bonsen, a lecturer in the Media Biological Engineering in the Department of faster pace, and conveys a sense of ties, have demonstrated an inter- Lab who co-teaches a course Biological Engineering; urgency. est in sustainable international called “Development Ventures.” • Kimberly Francis ’78, director of engineering development.” “We first started the International for Acushnet Company; • “Perspectives on the Current The fair is a way for incoming Development Fair in 2002 to help • Margarita Ribas Groeger, director of Spanish Financial Crisis: A Panel Discussion.” and continuing MIT students to everyone at MIT interested in Language Studies; 5:30-7 p.m. at Wong Auditorium. All learn about ways that they can development meet one another • Jarrell Johnson, a senior in the Department of members of the MIT community are become engaged in international and make the most of the rich Chemical Engineering; welcome to attend. development through student opportunities at the Institute. • Sekazi Mtingwa, senior lecturer, Concourse, groups, nonprofit organizations, Students find out about classes to and faculty advisor in the Office of Minority Saturday, Oct. 4 or academic course offerings in take, clubs to join, fellowships to Education; and around MIT campus. More apply for, events to attend, and • Kristala L. Jones Prather, the Joseph R. Mares • 50th anniversary. All day, (1924) Career Development Assistant Professor starting with a Charles River cleanup than four dozen groups and orga- people to team up with to pursue nizations of all types set up booths compelling projects.” of Chemical Engineering in the Department of and BBQ at Kresge Oval from 11:30-4. Chemical Engineering; Followed by several events marking the around Lobby 13 to display their In addition to the fair, the measurement feat. development projects and reach group publishes an annual booklet out to interested students. describing the many different Community members are encouraged to share The annual event is organized groups, activities and courses their suggestions and thoughts on this search with by the MIT International Devel- featured there. The guide will be committee members. opment Network (IDN), which posted at web.mit.edu/idn.

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Anne Trafton MIT Tech Talk u NEWS October 1, 2008 PAGE 3 FINANCE: Experts Oct. 6 energy debate to feature to address MIT community on market presidential campaign reps turbulence The economy may be dominating the needed to fill a void that was sorely lacking Continued from Page 1 headlines right now, but anyone concerned in any other outlet,” says MIT Energy about the long-term view will have a Club Co-President Amy Fazen. “It goes run from 5:30-7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. chance next week to find out what the two without saying that members of the Energy 2, in Wong Auditorium. All members presidential candidates would do about Club are very interested in the energy plat- of the MIT community are welcome to one of the major issues of our time, one forms of the candidates, but we knew that attend. that has a significant impact on the world there was something much bigger going “The financial sector runs to a great economy: energy. on when club members were telling us that degree on confidence and trust, so if fear Representatives selected by the McCain their family and friends with no particular comes to rule and failures are expected, and Obama campaigns will face off next McCain will be represented by James interest in energy kept asking them about then failure becomes self-fulfilling,” said Monday, Oct. 6, in Kresge Auditorium for Woolsey, who was director of the Central the energy platforms of the candidates.” David Schmittlein, the John C. Head III a debate on energy, moderated by NPR’s Intelligence Agency under President Fazen adds, “Along with MITEI, we Dean of the Sloan School of Manage- Tom Ashbrook, host of the daily talk show Clinton and has served in four different decided we would try to get high-ranking ment. “That is why steps to restore “On Point.” The debate, co-sponsored by administrations, both Democratic and representatives of the campaigns to come confidence are so important, even as we the student-run MIT Energy Club and the Republican. Obama will be represented to campus and educate not only our ensure that those who made bad risky MIT Energy Initiative, will start at 7:30 by Jason Grumet, executive director of members, but the Cambridge/Boston bets pay a price for those mistakes. p.m. and last for 90 minutes. Questions the bipartisan National Commission on community at large about this extremely “This panel of MIT Sloan experts will will be asked by a panel of journalists, still Energy Policy and former director of important topic.” discuss and shed light on the economic being finalized, as well as by some MIT Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use The debate is free and open to the crisis and what should be done in the students, who were invited to send in their Management. public. For more information, please short and near term to avoid self-fulfill- questions in advance. “We decided the MIT Energy Club contact Fazen at [email protected]. ing failure,” he continued. Panelists at the Sloan event include David Geltner, the George Macomber Professor of Real Estate Finance; Simon Johnson, the Ronald A. Kurtz Profes- sor of Entrepreneurship; Andrew W. Lo, the Harris & Harris Group Profes- sor; Jiang Wang, the Mizuho Financial MIT in the world Group Professor of Finance; and Ross Watts, the Erwin H. Schell Professor of Management. On Wednesday, Oct. 8, a separate faculty panel will discuss “The U.S. An a-maize-ing path out of poverty Financial Crisis: What Happened? What’s Next?” The event will begin D-Lab-developed device extra investment, can travel from village to Wu had tested the earlier, permanently at 4:30 p.m. in Room 10-250 and is village to carry out a variety of useful tasks. mounted version of the sheller in Tanzania sponsored by the Office of the President, makes corn processing A simple bike thereby becomes an ongoing in January but found that it had some tech- the Department of Economics, and the source of income. nical issues and was too expensive for the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social more efficient Wu refined the corn-sheller system, local people to afford. The key to making Sciences. As with the Oct. 2 event, all which was originally designed as a perma- it practical was to turn it into an add-on, members of the MIT community are David Chandler nent installation that required a bicycle something she accomplished during the welcome to attend. News Office dedicated solely to that purpose, to make spring semester D-Lab class. “That made Ricardo Caballero, the Ford Interna- it an add-on, like Kiwia’s tools, that could it a mobile device, something that could tional Professor of Economics and the cross Tanzania and elsewhere in be easily bolted onto an ordinary bike be used as a service” by pedaling from one head of the Department of Econom- Africa, processing the corn harvest and removed easily. She traveled through village to another, Wu says. And while this ics, said the Institute-wide event would Ais labor intensive: Families and Tanzania this summer, thanks to a grant version was developed for Tanzania, she discuss the causes and consequences of friends gather to spend a day or two filling from the Baker Foundation through MIT’s says, corn is grown widely in Africa and this turmoil, which he characterized as bags with the dried cobs, beating then to Public Service Center, to demonstrate how Latin America, and the simple bicycle- “the most severe financial crisis since loosen the kernels, and then separating out to build the corn sheller and how to use based technology is readily available in the Great Depression” and one that is the kernels from the cobs, or else simply it, and to encourage local people to adopt most developing countries, so the device jeopardizing the global economy. removing the kernels by hand. the new technology. In order to make it could find widespread application. “What happened to the real estate and It would take one person about two possible for more people to buy the simple “It was exciting to see my device, which financial markets? What are the public weeks to complete the job alone, but devices, she worked with a microloan I’d worked on with other students, being finance implications of the bailouts? Will thanks to a technology largely developed at program run by the Global Alliance for used by people who are now making these bailouts work? What else can we MIT, there’s a better, faster way. Africa. money from it,” she says. Wu hopes to do? What are the main macroeconomic Jodie Wu, an MIT junior in mechanical Wu found the experience highly inspir- further refine the design this fall, and plans scenarios going forward? What are the engineering, spent the summer travel- ing and was especially impressed with to return to Tanzania to continue demon- global implications of this crisis? These ing from village to village in Tanzania to Kiwia’s workshop in Arusha, where new strating its construction and use during are some of the questions that our expert introduce a new system for processing the devices are being spawned and tested next January’s IAP. panel will address,” Caballero said. corn: A simple attachment for a bicycle constantly. “It was the first place where I A blog detailing Wu’s experiences in Participants at the Oct. 8 discussion that makes it possible to remove the had seen local technology created right Tanzania can be seen at tumainicycles. include Caballero; Bengt Holmstrom, kernels quickly and efficiently using pedal there in the workshop,” she says. blogspot.com. the Paul A. Samuelson Professor of power. The device makes processing up to Economics; Andrew Lo; James Poterba, 30 times faster and allows one person to the Mitsui Professor of Economics; and complete the job alone in one day. William Wheaton, professor of econom- The basic concept for the maize-sheller ics and director of the Center for Real was first developed in Guatemala by an Estate. NGO called MayaPedal, and then refined by Wu last semester as a class project in D-Lab: Design, a class taught by Depart- AWARDS ment of Mechanical Engineering Senior Lecturer Amy Smith. Now, thanks to Wu’s &HONORS efforts, the technology is beginning to make its way around the world. Wu developed the new version of the Sappok wins 2008 SAE device after being inspired by the work of Bernard Kiwia, who teaches appropri- Excellence in Oral ate technology in Tanzania for an NGO called the Global Alliance for Africa. Kiwia Presentation Award visited MIT in the summer of 2007 for the PhD candidate in mechanical engi- first International Design and Develop- neering Alexander Sappok, who is also a ment Summit and returned to Tanzania graduate research assistant at the Sloan greatly inspired by the workshop, and Automotive Laboratory, has received immediately began producing a variety of the 2008 Society of Automotive Engi- devices to address local needs. neers Excellence in Oral Presentation Among these were several bicycle- Award — the second time he has won the powered devices, including machine-shop annual honor. tools like drills and bandsaws. A simple This award was for the presentation of power-transfer system bolted onto the the paper titled “Impact of Biodiesel on bicycle’s frame allows the bicycle to be Ash Emissions and Lubricant Proper- used normally for transportation, but then ties Affecting Fuel Economy and Engine quicly converted by switching the chain Wear: Comparison with Conventional so that it can be adapted for a variety of Diesel Fuel” at the 2008 SAE Congress. tasks — making or repairing furniture, The SAE Excellence in Oral Presenta- sharpening knives or processing corn. PHOTO / NASSIBU tion Award is bestowed annually only to Thus, the owner of a bicycle, with a small MIT junior Jodie Wu sits among the shelled corn in Tanzania. a distinguished few. PAGE 4 October 1, 2008 u RESEARCH MIT Tech Talk Sniffing out success Engineers mass-produce smell receptors in lab; ‘artificial noses’ to follow?

Anne Trafton When such proteins are removed from the News Office cell and placed in water-based solutions, they clump up and lose their structure, said Liselotte MIT biological engineers have found a way to mass- Kaiser, lead author of the PNAS paper. That produce smell receptors in the laboratory, an advance that makes it very difficult to isolate the proteins in paves the way for “artificial noses” to be created and used in quantities large enough to study them in detail. a variety of settings. Kaiser and others spent several years develop- The work could also allow scientists to unlock the mystery ing a method to isolate and purify the proteins of how the sense of smell can recognize a seemingly infinite by performing each step in a hydrophobic range of odors. detergent solution, which allows the proteins “Smell is perhaps one of the oldest and most primitive to maintain their structure and function. senses, but nobody really understands how it works. It still The technique reported this week in remains a tantalizing enigma,” said Shuguang Zhang, associ- PNAS involves a cell-free synthesis using ate director of MIT’s Center for Biomedical Engineering commercially available wheat germ extract and senior author of a paper on the work appearing online to produce a particular receptor, then this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of isolating the protein through several puri- Sciences (PNAS). fication steps. The method can rapidly Artificial noses could one day replace drug- and explosive- produce large amounts of protein — sniffing dogs, and could have numerous medical applications, enough to start structural and functional according to Zhang and his colleagues. DARPA recently studies. approved funding for the team’s MIT (microfluidic-integrat- The team has also demonstrated a ed transduction) RealNose project. similar method that uses engineered Until now, efforts to understand the molecular basis of mammalian cells to produce the recep- smell have been stymied by the difficulty in working with the tors. That method, reported in PLoS One proteins that detect odors, known as olfactory receptors. in August, takes more time and labor than the “The main barrier to studying smell is that we haven’t cell-free approach, but could have advantages in that the been able to make enough receptors and purify them to receptor is processed more naturally. homogeneity. Now, it’s finally available as a raw material for In future work, the team plans to work with research- people to utilize and should enable many new studies into ers worldwide, including MIT’s Media Lab and Depart- smell research,” said Brian Cook, who just defended his MIT ment of Biology, to develop a portable microfluidic device PhD thesis based on this work. that can identify an array of different odors. Such a device Smell is one of the most complex and least-understood could be used in medicine for the early diagnosis of certain senses. Humans have a vast olfactory system that includes diseases that produce distinctive odors, such as diabetes and close to 400 functional genes, more than are dedicated to any lung, bladder and skin cancers, Zhang said. There are also a other function. Animals such as dogs and mice have around wide range of industrial applications for such a smell-based 1,000 functional olfactory receptor genes. biosensing device, he said. That variety of receptors allows humans and animals to Other authors of the PNAS paper are Johanna Graveland- discern tens of thousands of distinct odors. Each odor acti- Bikker, a postdoctoral fellow at MIT, visiting graduate vates multiple receptors and this pattern of activation creates students Dirk Steuerwald and Melanie Vanberghem, and a signature that the brain can recognize as a particular scent. Kara Herlihy of GE Healthcare Biacore. The olfactory receptors that bind to odor molecules are The research was funded by the ROHM Corpora- membrane proteins, which span the cell surface. Since cell tion (Japan), the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation membranes are composed of a bilayer of fatty lipid mole- (Sweden), the Netherlands Organization for Scientific cules, the receptor proteins are highly hydrophobic (water- Research, and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. Joyce fearing). and Roger Kiley ’60, MS ’61 provided pure odorants.

Renewable energy regulations may miss the mark Research shows different approach is needed David Chandler But by introducing a few refinements to business he was responsible for the devel- in wind farms, these almost never displace News Office these programs, he says, it is possible to opment of more than $8 billion in energy- baseload coal-fired plants, he says, which greatly improve the chances that they will related assets in seven countries. is the key objective. Among other changes, Well-intentioned rules passed by many achieve the desired results. The central problem, Hogan says, is that he proposes that the rules be modified to states to combat climate change through Hogan’s professional background is 80 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide from create “bands” of technologies, based on the development of renewable energy tailor-made for this line of research: He electricity generation, and about a third of their degree of commercial readiness, and technologies may not achieve the intended spent 28 years in the energy business, the nation’s overall emissions, come from that the regulations should strongly favor effects and may even be counterproductive, including leading roles in starting and just 620 coal-burning power plants. Thus, promising but still early stage technologies. according to research by an MIT graduate running a number of energy companies and any attempt to reduce greenhouse gas Encouraging investment in technology student. But the problem is easy to fix: A organizations, before deciding to resume emissions must focus squarely on address- that won’t produce results until later in the modified set of regulations could be much his education with the MIT Department ing these plants. “In a very real sense,” he process could actually foster much more more effective, the study found. of Urban Studies and Planning master’s writes, “nothing else matters.” significant progress, he says. “We have to At least 25 states have enacted renewable program. During his years in the energy While RPS tends to foster investment bet on all the horses,” he says. portfolio standards (RPS), which require In addition, it is important to recognize electric utilities to obtain a certain percent- that rules should be tailored to the condi- age of their power from renewable sources tions in particular parts of the country, by a certain date (such as “20 percent from he says. For example, while land-based renewables by 2020”). But these standards wind dominates the upper Midwest, solar will not achieve the desired effects and may thermal systems should be favored in the actually end up delaying some of the most Southwest, deep-offshore wind in the promising renewable-energy technologies, Northeast, and biomass in the Southeast. the study found. Lawrence Susskind, Ford Foundation Michael Hogan, the student who carried Professor of Urban and Environmental out the study as part of his master’s thesis Planning and Hogan’s thesis adviser, says work in MIT’s Environmental Technology his student has demonstrated that renew- and Public Policy Program, says that such able portfolio standards “are not working as standards push investments much too heav- well as they should.” ily toward technology that is already well Susskind says that in carrying out this proven and close to being economically study, Hogan “builds on his long experi- competitive, especially land-based wind ence developing energy facilities in many power. In the process, technologies that parts of the world” and through his analysis may have much more potential to replace “offers a detailed package of reforms that coal plants in the longer term, such as solar could make a difference.” thermal systems and offshore wind, get Hogan said the research changed his short shrift. own perspective. “I went in thinking I Current RPS programs, Hogan found, would reaffirm things I already believed,” “are likely to play at best a very marginal he says, but that turned out not to be the role at an unnecessarily high cost in deliv- PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY case. For example, he said, “I went in very ering the necessary reductions in green- Graduate student in urban studies and planning Michael Hogan, left, and Larry negative about offshore wind in the near house gases, with little in the way of long- Susskind, Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, discuss Hogan’s term,” but the study “completely changed term technological development benefits.” thesis on government rules and renewable energy technologies. my mind.” MIT Tech Talk u RESEARCH October 1, 2008 PAGE 5 MIT: Worms provide clues for treating brain diseases Cathryn Delude McGovern Institute

On the surface, the tiny roundworm bears little resemblance to a person. Its nervous system, for example, has just 302 neurons to our 100 billion. Yet it uses many of the same genes and signaling chemicals as the human brain, so studies of its system could have relevance to our own. PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Now an MIT team has shown that Professor Tom Peacock in the lab where his group performed even the simplest worm behaviors can be experiments on a new approach to unsteady flow separation, controlled by multiple signaling pathways. a limiting factor in the design of transport vehicles. The results might have implications for the treatment of human brain disorders. In a new study, published online in the journal Nature Neuroscience, H. Robert Horvitz and postdoctoral scientist Niels Ringstad investigated neural pathways of a mutant worm strain with defective egg- 100-year-old engineering problem solved laying behavior. Horvitz, a Nobel laureate and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Insights on fluid flow could separation in two dimensions. This month, his team reports Investigator, is the David H. Koch Profes- completing the theory by extending it to three dimensions. sor of Biology, a member of the McGovern impact fuel efficiency, more Haller’s coauthors are Amit Surana, now at United Technolo- Institute for Brain Research at MIT and gies; MIT student Oliver Grunberg; and Gustaaf Jacobs, now Elizabeth Thomson on the faculty at San Diego State University. affiliated with the Koch Institute for Inte- News Office grative Cancer Research. Equally important, this month Peacock and colleagues report important experimental work. Said Peacock, “while As a car accelerates up and down a hill then slows to we fully trust George’s new mathematical results, the engi- follow a hairpin turn, the airflow around it cannot keep up neering community is usually skeptical until they also see ❞ and detaches from the vehicle. This aerodynamic separation experimental results.” Haller added, “while giving a beautiful It’s like having two brakes in a creates additional drag that slows the car and forces the engine validation of the 2-D theory, Tom’s work also gives strong car. We removed the footbrake, to work harder. The same phenomenon affects airplanes, experimental backing to our new 3-D theory.” Coauthors on boats, submarines and even your golf ball. Now, in work the experimental work are Haller, Jacobs, Matthew Weldon, expecting the car to roll away. that could lead to ways of controlling the effect with poten- now at Penn State, and Moneer Helu, now at the University tial impacts on fuel efficiency and more, MIT scientists and of California, Berkeley. Niels Ringstad colleagues have reported new mathematical and experimental The research was initially supported by an internal source, work for predicting where that aerodynamic separation will the MIT Ferry Fund. Currently the work is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Normally, a hermaphrodite worm fertil- occur. Science Foundation. izes its own eggs within the uterus and lays The research solves “a century-old problem in the field The researchers said it’s too soon to quantify the level of them steadily as they mature. In certain of fluid mechanics,” or the study of how fluids — which for improvement in performance of cars mutant strains, though, this process is scientists include gases and liquids — move, said George and planes that might stem from the blocked, causing the animals to bloat with Haller, a visiting professor in the Department of Mechanical work, noting that more work must 50 or more retained embryos. Engineering. Haller’s group developed the new theory, while be done before it can be applied to A genetic screen for such mutants had Thomas Peacock, the Atlantic Richfield Career Development commercial technologies. “This is earlier identified a gene called egl-6. Ring- Associate Professor in the same department, led the experi- the tip of the iceberg, but we’ve stad and Horvitz discovered that this gene mental effort. shown that this theory works,” encodes a member of a class of proteins Papers on the experiments and theory were published in Peacock said. known as G-protein coupled receptors the Sept. 25 issue of the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and in the (GPCRs). GPCRs allow cells to respond September issue of Physics of Fluids, respectively. to hormones, neurotransmitters and other Fluid flows affect everything in our world, from blood flow signals, and they are important targets for to geophysical convection. As a result, engineers constantly many human drugs. seek ways of controlling separation in those flows to reduce Ringstad and Horvitz found that the losses and increase efficiency. One recent accomplishment: the egl-6 mutants had an overactive form of sleek, full-body swimsuits used at the Beijing Olympics. the receptor, suggesting that the normal Controlling fluid flows lies at the heart of a wide range of function of the receptor is to limit the rate scientific problems, including improving the performance of of egg laying. So Ringstad and Horvitz vehicles, Peacock said. postulated that blocking this signaling For example, picture air flowing around, over and past an pathway genetically might cause the worms object. “Instead of flowing smoothly past the object, the air to lay their eggs faster. However, doing so tends to dramatically part from the surface, or separate,” said produced no effect. Peacock. Like the wake behind a boat, the water doesn’t auto- Suspecting the existence of a second matically reconfigure into a single stream. Rather, the region inhibitory pathway, the authors tested is quite turbulent. “And that adversely affects the lift [or verti- a variety of candidates. They found an cal forces] and drag [or horizontal forces] of the object.” effect when they also blocked signaling by In 1904, Ludwig Prandtl derived the exact mathematical acetylcholine, a well-known neurotransmit- conditions for flow separation to occur. But his work had two ter in both worms and humans. Animals major restrictions: first, it applied only to steady flows, such as IMAGE / PEACOCK LAB lacking both pathways became hyperactive those around a car moving at a constant low speed. Second, it The spike in this egg layers. only applied to idealized two-dimensional flows. experimental 2-D image “Inhibition of this simple behavior uses “Most engineering systems, however, are unsteady. Condi- shows where a fluid two neurochemical signals,” said Ringstad. tions are constantly changing,” Haller said. “For example, is separating from the “It’s like having two brakes in a car. We cars accelerate and decelerate, as do planes during maneuvers, surface it is flowing past. removed the footbrake, expecting the car takeoff and landing. Furthermore, fluids of technological Spikes such as these to roll away, but we also had to disable the interest really flow in our three-dimensional world,” he added. can now be reliably handbrake.” As a result, ever since 1904 there have been intense efforts predicted thanks to a The results support an approach to drug to extend Prandtl’s results to real-life problems, i.e., to new MIT theory. discovery in the field of neuroscience, unsteady three-dimensional flows. suggest the authors. If multiple pathways A century later, Haller led a group that did just control a neural output so that either path- that. In 2004, Haller published his first paper way is capable of inhibiting that output, in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics explain- then drugs that target just one pathway ing the mathematics behind unsteady might have absolutely no effect. Instead, appropriate combinations of drugs will need to be identified. The Life Sciences Research Founda- tion, The Medical Foundation and the National Institutes of Health supported this study. PAGE 6 October 1, 2008 u NEWS MIT Tech Talk STATE: Institute in ‘terrific’ shape, administrators say Continued from Page 1 appreciative of their MIT education; partici- NEWS IN BRIEF year 2009. pation in the “Senior Gift” has increased “This is the first balanced budget MIT has had from 27 percent to about 64 percent in recent awarded major grant years, a record Hockfield noted. in many years,” Hockfield said. “A balanced budget Researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have • Faculty. MIT faculty continue to receive means we can focus on the future.” received a five-year grant of about $15 million from the National accolades, including two MacArthur “genius” The balanced budget is a result of a new Institutes of Health (NIH) to map the epigenomes of a variety of grants and three NIH Pioneer awards this framework for the university’s operating finances medically important cell types, including human embryonic stem year. and new policies for endowments, Hockfield said. cells. MIT also plays a major role in national policy Last year, endowments — which now provide 20 The grant, part of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, initiatives; MIT-related witnesses appeared at 23 percent of operating revenues — had a 3.2 percent designates Broad as one of four Reference Epigenome Mapping congressional hearings on energy in the last year return on investment, in line with similar university Centers nationwide that will aim to transform the understanding and a half. “The world is hungry for the kind of endowments, Hockfield said. “The stratospheric of an exquisite control system — a code of so-called “epigenetic” solutions that MIT provides,” Hockfield said. rates of return of the past are likely to be in the cues that specify when and where in the body genes are made Hockfield’s remarks were followed by those past for quite a while. And there are more difficult active. of Provost L. Rafael Reif, who noted that MIT’s times ahead,” she said. To systematically decipher and analyze these controls, research- strength came from the interaction among its five But the Institute’s financial officers will rigor- ers from across the MIT and Harvard communities will come schools: “MIT works as a single community.” ously continue to monitor the nation’s economics: together to study at least 100 distinct types of human cells using Reif cited various significant ongoing programs, “Our watchwords are ‘prudence’ and ‘vigilance,’” the latest methods in stem-cell biology, genomics, technology, such as a School of Engineering initiative to she said. computation and production-scale research. Hockfield outlined progress in other key areas: replace batteries with devices charged by vibrations or body heat. Draper Lab holding Tech Expo • Building. The extension of the Media “MIT Sloan just launched a master’s of finance Lab will enhance its programs while new program. Recent events on Wall Street suggest the MIT faculty and students are invited to visit Draper Lab’s Tech- construction for the MIT Sloan School world’s financial system needs the kind of business nology Exposition on Oct. 7-8 to see Draper projects and technol- of Management “will enable the school to leaders that MIT uniquely develops, with deep ogies and discuss them with staff. Draper’s Tech Expo will be open undertake 21st century business education knowledge of uncertain, complex systems,” Reif to students and faculty from 12:30-3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 7, and research … increasingly tailored to indi- said. and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 8. Both events will vidual needs.” The new David H. Koch Insti- Chancellor Phillip Clay emphasized the physical be held in Draper’s Hill Building, located at the intersection of tute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, improvements to the campus, asserting, “The MIT Broadway and Hampshire streets. a collaboration between the School of Science of today is better than the MIT any of us attended Exhibit topics will include space systems, robotics, microelec- and School of Engineering, will “change the as alumni.” tromechanical systems, biomedical engineering and independent frontier of cancer diagnosis, treatment and Vice President and Treasurer Theresa M. Stone research and development projects. A number of projects have prevention,” Hockfield said. outlined specific examples of how MIT’s Energy been worked on by teams that include students, particularly • Admissions. Despite new admission and Initiative was spearheading cost-effective innova- through the Draper Fellow Program. Visitors will need to present financial aid policies by schools such as tions in heating conservation in campus buildings. photo identification, such as a driver’s license, for admittance. For Harvard, MIT applications increased by 8 Such breakthroughs can change long-term patterns more information, contact communications at 617-258-2600. percent; moreover, 91 percent of this year’s around the country, she said. MIT hosts first UrbLab conference freshmen were in the top 5 percent of their “It’s not just the engineering solutions that are high schools. Students are also increasingly critical, it’s the behavioral solutions,” she said. The MIT Urbanization Laboratory is organizing a symposium on the culture and politics of urban change that will be held from 1-5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3, in 7-431. This event will use Mumbai, India, as a case study to examine how architects, urban designers and planners are responding to the challenges and opportunities of rapid urbanization in the developing world. Speakers include professionals and academics from India as well as economists from the World Bank and Rock- efeller Foundation. The symposium will be opened by Adele Naude Santos, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning. Library book sale next week MIT Libraries’ book sale will be held from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Oct. 9 in the Bush Room, 10-105. The sale offers a selection of material including biology, computer science, economics, earth science, engineering, history, PHOTO / PATRICK GILLOOLY philosophy, miscellaneous science, political science and social President Susan Hockfield science. Proceeds will benefit the Libraries’ Preservation Fund. reacts to remarks by The sale is open to the MIT community only; dealers and their Chancellor Phillip Clay during representatives by appointment only. the State of the Institute For more information, contact the MIT Libraries’ Gifts Office Forum held on Monday in at 617-253-5693 or [email protected]. Kresge Auditorium. PRIORITY: MIT experts weigh in on how the next president needs to focus on science Continued from Page 1 retire the shuttle, how to transition to the The next administration needs a grand are dismissed as elitist. A top priority for Marc Kastner, dean of the School of new constellation system, what to do with plan for our collective future — one that all Americans — not just the next president Science and the Donner Professor of Science: the International Space Station, and what will galvanize the talents and enthusiasm of — is to cultivate these habits and to defend The next president must invest in should be the appropriate scale and goals current and future scientists and engineers them vigorously. They are as essential for research on carbon-free energy technolo- for a U.S.-led program of human explora- and support them in their quest to address democracy as for science. gies, not only to limit greenhouse gases, tion of space. MIT’s research group in the major issues of our time. Solutions to but also for U.S. competitiveness in what Space, Policy and Society is preparing a the challenges of energy, environmental is likely to be a huge part of the world white paper to help chart these choices for sustainability and transportation will not economy. However, we know too little of the next administration. come easily. So, too, are the political chal- CLASSIFIED ADS the fundamental science underlying these lenges of reversing the last decade’s decline technologies to implement them safely and Phillip Sharp, Institute Professor: in funding for scientific research. Our Members of the MIT community may submit economically. Furthermore, the nation’s The recent heart-touching national tele- next president must bring a long-term, one ad each issue. Ads should be 30 words science cannot be strong if there is only vision appeal for funds to advance cancer science-oriented perspective into govern- maximum; they will be edited. Submit by e- support for research obviously related research by Stand Up to Cancer reminded ment, and he must quickly and decisively mail to [email protected] or mail to Classifieds, to energy and competitiveness. The new the country of the need for better treat- reverse the more recent, opposing trends. Rm 11-400. Deadline is noon Wednesday the president should make a commitment ment of this disease and further research. The United States’s economic leadership week before ­publication. to broad-based support of basic science, However, federal funding for cancer has always depended on its ability to foster implementing the plan to double the research has actually decreased over the and maintain an ecosystem of scholar- FOR SALE budgets of the NSF and the DOE Office past several years. This is at a time when ship and innovation in all fields. This Nikon FE camera with carrying case and lenses: of Science, as well as putting the NIH on a decades of science have uncovered more system— our system — is perilously close Skylight 1A 55mm, 67mm haze-uv telephoto, au- trajectory with reasonable growth. targets for treatment and there are more to a tipping point. We need leadership that tomatic extension tube 12,20,36 mm, 2x telepho- drugs and treatments ready for testing in will invest in and help create a future as to converter 4E/MC N1, 3x telephoto converter N/ David Mindell, the Frances and David clinical trials than ever before. Further, brilliant as our past. A1, lightmeter, tripods. $300. Call 508-224-6135. Dibner Professor in the History of Engineering here at MIT and elsewhere there is a and Manufacturing and director of the highly promising convergence of engineer- Rosalind Williams, the Bern Dibner New Steelcraft front grill guard for 2008 Toyota Program in Science, Technology, and Society: ing and cellular science that will generate Professor of the History of Science & Highlander, black finish. $325. Call Paul 617-253- The United States stands at the start new means of diagnosis and treatment Technology: 4211 (MIT) or 617-698-8581 (home). of a new, if uncertain, era in human space of cancer. Thus, the next administration You are asking which dish should be flight. Events of the past five years have needs to develop a long-term strategy for served first when science isn’t even on the Pegasus brushed nickel kitchen faucet with side thrust NASA and the country into a major funding biomedical research that assures menu. It needs to get back on the table spray. Model 481-670F. Excellent condition. $50. Call Cheryl 617-258-5673 or [email protected]. transition, exemplified by the impending as much as possible that better treatments for serious consideration, not as a special retirement of the space shuttle. The transi- for cancer continue to advance into routine interest but as an essential element of every tion has begun, but how it evolves remains care. major challenge facing American society. FOR RENT undefined. In its first term, the new admin- This will not happen if the habits of mind Cambridge. Two totally furnished apartments. istration will make the most important Subra Suresh, dean of the School of and conduct associated with science and Walk to MIT. 2 BR/$1900/avail Oct. 15. 1 decisions in U.S. human spaceflight in a Engineering and the Ford Professor of engineering — curiosity, self-awareness, BR/$1500/avail Nov. 1. Photos avail. John 781- generation. These include when/how to Engineering: modesty, accuracy, respect for education — 729-7725. [email protected]. MIT Tech Talk u NEWS October 1, 2008 PAGE 7

IMAGES COURTESY OF ALEXANDER D’HOOGHE AND NADER TEHRANI Architectural drawings of a proposed city built on landfill in South Korea, including, on left, a spaceport. Designing a landfill of epic proportions

their entry. While hewing to the contest’s way that programs could change over time; MIT-led team among winners requirements of hardnosed realism, the form might be final but the function for Korean project they envisioned islands created with soil would be fluid. People would be living dredged from the sea floor and filled with many years in one section before the total farms and small cities, with a total popula- project was completed. Stephanie Schorow tion of 600,000. “A city can truly be a laboratory for a News Office correspondent By any measure, the challenge was certain kind of urban or territorial specula- huge. “Our field has never been asked to tion and you can see its results in a much Many architects dream of being given deal with this scale of design,” D’Hooghe shorter plan of time than you would 50 a “tabula rasa” — a blank slate — upon said. “It’s effectively a new scale. And who years ago,” Tehrani said. which they could let the imagination soar knows, maybe in the long term, like urban The MIT team was a finalist along when designing a home, building or other design, it becomes a new discipline. Maybe with teams from Columbia University project. today we’re facing the birth of a new sub and London Metropolitan University. A team led by MIT architects Alexander discipline: territorial art.” Now D’Hooghe and Tehrani are waiting D’Hooghe and Nader Tehrani are working Making trips to South Korea and for the South Korea government to move on what could be the largest blank slate in working with Assistant Design Director forward. the history of construction. Nida Rehman, urban economist Regina The project also faces numerous Alexander D’Hooghe This summer, the MIT team was among Armstrong of Urbanomics, MIT engineers logistical issues as well as environmental the winners of an Urban Design Institute and students, Tehrani and D’Hooghe concerns. A sea wall, already built around of Korea-sponsored contest to design developed a proposal that reflected Korean the peninsula, has been slammed as an a mammoth landfill project on South cultural norms and demographic trends, ecological disaster, but D’Hooghe and Korea’s western coast — a 401-square- such as an aging population as well as a Tehrani believe that their plan, by creating kilometer area that will house farms, cities tech-savvy, urban citizenry. They envi- wetlands and biological diversity, would and developments ranging from a space- sioned “mega parcels” for tourist attrac- mitigate the damage already done. port to an amusement park. tions, such as a racetrack and spaceport. But something will be done in some Intended to fill between the long fingers About 30 percent of the new land, which form — the pressure for new land is that of land that project into South Korea’s would be built significantly higher than sea great. Seventy percent of South Korea Saemangeum Bay, the project could cost level, would be dedicated to agriculture, is mountainous and thus unsuitable for billions of dollars and be eight times but D’Hooghe and Tehrani wanted to see building. “It’s more valuable to create new bigger than the record-breaking Palm a “relationship between production and land because then you can compete on a Deira landfill development under way in consumption” with the farms operating global scale with new economic models,” Dubai. alongside culinary institutes; the result Tehrani said. For about nine months, D’Hooghe, would be a “South Korean Tuscany.” And the two are intrigued with the chal- the Class of 1922 Career Development The area’s 15 urban centers would be lenge of creating new land — “the notion Associate Professor of Architecture and dense and compact to enhance employ- of being able to establish a tabula rasa in Urbanism; Tehrani, associate professor of ment, transportation and sustainability. the way we would not see in the United Nader Tehrani architectural design, and their team crafted Construction would be phased in such a States,” Tehrani said.

Celebrate excellence at MIT MIT releases Nominations for the Institute’s annual • serving the client • unsung hero endowment Excellence Awards due later this month Kande Culver, who administers the Rewards and Recogni- tion Program for Human Resources, said that every nomina- Kathryn O’Neill tion is carefully reviewed by a diverse committee of 14-15 figures for 2008 Human Resources correspondent people, drawn from across the Institute. Last year, 16 winners were chosen from a pool of 110 nominees. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology “It was incredibly inspiring to read about all these people Investment Management Company (MITIM- What does an administrative assistant in the Department of on campus whom I’ve never come in contact with who do Co) has announced that the Institute’s Economics have in common with the varsity volleyball coach, phenomenal jobs,” said Mary Frances Gydus, who served on endowment generated a return of 3.2 percent the head humanities librarian and a project technician in the the MIT Excellence Awards Selection Committee last year, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008. Research Laboratory of Electronics? All are among the most when she was assistant to the director of the MIT Press. As a result of solid investment perfor- outstanding employees at MIT — recipients of MIT Excel- Newton, who also served on the committee, agreed. mance in a turbulent market, and as a result lence Awards. “Reviewing the nominations gave me a wonderful opportu- of gifts, the endowment’s assets totaled $10.1 Nominations are due Oct. 27 for this year’s Excellence nity to learn how the desire to achieve excellence permeates billion as of June 30, 2008, an increase of Awards, which recognize exceptional accomplishments by every department at the Institute. We need to recognize these $88 million from the previous year, net of support, service, sponsored research, administrative and other achievements.” spending. For the past 10 years, the Institute’s academic staff. (The due date is Oct. 20 for Lincoln Lab Committee members say the key to a good nomination is endowment has had an annualized return of employees.) meeting the award category criteria and offering examples 13.2 percent. “The Excellence Awards recognize the great contributions of excellence, not simply praise. “Really pay attention to the Investment gains were broadly spread that individuals make to help maintain the leadership posi- award description and keep that in mind as you’re writing the across MITIMCo’s diversified portfolio, with tion of MIT,” said Vice President for Resource Development nomination,” said Paree Pinkney, an administrative officer private equity, real estate, and fixed income Jeffrey L. Newton. “I encourage everyone to think about an for the Program in Science, Technology, and Society and a securities performing particularly well. outstanding individual who could be nominated.” committee member last year. MITIMCo is a division of the Massa- This year’s seven award categories are: “It doesn’t matter what you do or who you are. If your chusetts Institute of Technology, created to • fostering diversity and inclusion colleagues think you really go above and beyond, then you manage and oversee the investment of the • innovative solutions should be nominated,” Gydus said. Institute’s endowment, retirement plans • fostering community Awardees receive $2,000 each and will be honored at a and operating funds. As of June 30, 2008, • bringing out the best ceremony on March 4, 2009, at Kresge Auditorium. For more MITIMCo had $14 billion of total assets • creating connections details, visit hrweb.mit.edu/rewards/excellence. under management. PAGE 8 October 1, 2008 u RESEARCH MIT Tech Talk Hover craft New underwater robot Odyssey IV could be a boon for oil explorers, archaeologists and others

By David Chandler News Office

IT researchers have designed a new robotic underwater vehicle that can species; Odyssey IV will be her eyes on the seafloor. hover in place like a helicopter — an invaluable tool for deepwater oil And the new craft’s unique capabilities go beyond just looking at objects. “Like Mexplorers, marine archaeologists, oceanographers and others. a giant helicopter, this can pick up cargo underwater,” Chryssostomidis says. The new craft, called Odyssey IV, is the latest in a series of small, inexpensive “Now, we can visit an oil well, pick up a sample and bring it back to shore.” With artificially intelligent submarines developed over the last two decades by the MIT the addition of a mechanical arm, the vessel will be able to do manipulations such Sea Grant College Program’s Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Laboratory. The as twisting a valve open or closed. Odyssey series revolutionized underwater research in Not only can the craft hover, it can move quickly, up to two meters per second the 1990s by introducing the thrifty and highly capable going straight ahead. Both its speed and its ability to stop in place are achieved underwater robots. But the previous Odyssey vehicles through the combined action of fins and thrusters on each side, and at the bow ON THE WEB still had one significant limitation: Like sharks, they and stern of the two-meter-long craft. While Odyssey IV could only operate while continuously moving forward. The new vehicle may be able to stop in successfully passed its No more. The new Odyssey IV, which has just place, but Chryssostomidis and his colleague first sea trials over the completed sea trials off Woods Hole, Mass., can move Franz Hover, an assistant professor in the summer, its progress through the deep ocean, up to 6,000 meters down, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and over the last few years stopping anywhere in the water column and constantly their team, research engineers Jim Morash, has been detailed in a correcting for currents and obstacles. Navigating to its Victor Polidoro, Justin Eskesen and gradu- series of MIT Sea Grant preprogrammed destination, it can hover in place, ate student Dylan Owens, certainly are not. technical papers, journal making detailed inspections of the footings of With the initial sea trials of Odyssey IV just articles and conference an offshore oil platform or photograph- completed, they are focused squarely on presentations. A listing ing the flora and fauna around an moving ahead to their goals. They need to is available at http:// undersea vent. develop vastly improved power-storage and seagrant.mit.edu/ “Our old subs needed to communications capabilities, to enable these media/browse_pubs. php?cat=26. swim, to go forward, vehicles to stay underwater longer, cover in order to main- more terrain, and send back more data to tain maneuvering scientists on shore. Ultimately, Chryssosto- capability,” says midis says, he hopes his team will produce Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis, director an AUV that can spend a full year under- of the MIT Sea Grant Program. “People water, collecting data and transmitting it to wanted to be able to work in the ocean its home base, without any need to surface and stop and hover to do a specific task. In at all. the past, you could only fly over a scene, “Once we prove the hovering capability take a picture, then fly over again and take foolproof, as we think it is now, the next another picture. Now, I can stop over a challenge for me to worry about is the scene that’s of interest, and stay and make issue of recharging, so that I can be free of measurements. We’ll be able to observe the surface vessel,” he says. He also hopes underwater scenes in much more detail.” to develop better manipulator arms that will Last summer, this latest-generation craft A schematic of the be able to interact more flexibly with the demonstrated its new abilities on its first scien- Odyssey IV robot. undersea environment, to pick up objects or tific mission, a study of the George’s Bank area carry out repairs. of the Gulf of Maine, which is hugely important to But for now, Chryssostomidis is reveling in the the region’s commercial fisheries. Odyssey is being fact that Odyssey IV, after years of development, has deployed in a series of dives to map and observe passed its initial tests in the ocean with flying colors. an invasive species of sea squirt called Didemnum No matter how good the design, that’s not some- that has been infesting New England waters. MIT thing you can take for granted, he explains. “The sea Sea Grant’s Judy Pederson has been tracking the is very unforgiving. If there’s anything that can go Didemnum invasion for several years, hoping wrong, the sea will find it.” to prevent it from smothering important native

PHOTO / JUSTIN G. ESKESEN Crews work to test the Odyssey IV robotic craft.