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Volume 39 Spring 2020 MURJMassachusetts Institute of Technology Undergraduate Research Journal Features p. 11 Interview: Whitehead Director Ruth Lehmann News p. 4 A New Twist on Graphene Research p. 24 Cleaning with Vibration BE in charge of your next career move Search for your new role quickly by discipline, country, salary and more on naturecareers.com A85088 Contents Introductory Letter 2 From the Editors News 4 A look at the latest MIT Science News Features 11 MURJ Spotlight: Ruth Lehmann Rachel Rock Drosophila ovary [Credit: Hogan Tang and Denise Montell, Johns Hopkins University and University of California, Santa Barbara] UROP Summaries 19 13C-2H REDOR Magic-Angle-Spinning Solid-State NMR for Characterizing Biomacromolecular Conformational Dynamics Kelly Chen, Martin Gelenter, Mei Hong Reports 23 Vibration-induced Anti-biofouling of Reverse Osmosis Membranes Maisha M. Prome, Grace Goon, Xuanhe Zhao 28 Characterizing Aperture Masking Interferometry in the Near- Infrared as an Effective Technique for Astronomical Imaging Kyle Morgenstein, Michael J. Person, Kerri Cahoy 34 Adapting TextRank for Medical Text Summarization Gloria (Yu Liang) Fang Volume 39, Spring 2020 MURJ Introductory Letter MURJ Staff Massachusetts MIT Undergraduate Research Journal Institute of Technology UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL May 2020 Volume 39, Spring 2020 Dear MIT Community, Editors-in-Chief Allison Huske We are delighted to present the 39th issue of the MIT Natasha Joglekar Undergraduate Research Journal. Over the past few months, the Vaibhavi Shah COVID-19 pandemic has scattered the MIT community, but our Content Editor undergraduates continue their research. In this time of crisis, the Aman Patel ongoing efforts of scientists and the open sharing of research are absolutely necessary. We are proud to showcase the hard work Layout Editor and creativity of MIT students to the world. Gabrielle Kaili-May Liu In this issue, we feature original student work on the application Research Editor of automated text summarization methods to medical literature, Katie Collins the characterization of small-scale interferometry for astronomi- cal imaging, the use of vibration to clean the reverse osmosis Copy Editors membranes needed for desalinating water, and the deployment Xi (Chelsea) Chen of nuclear magnetic resonance techniques to study the structure Jade Daher and motion of biomacromolecules. Allison Huske Gabrielle Kaili-May Liu In addition, this issue highlights current MIT research on the Laura Schmidt-Hong special properties of twisted graphene sheets, a computer vision model inspired by the way the human brain processes images, and a deep-learning approach to autonomous vehicles. Also featured is an interview with newly elected Whitehead Institute Director Ruth Lehmann about her career, research, and vision for the Whitehead. Biannual publication of this journal is always a collaborative undertaking, but this semester especially we would like to thank our editorial board and contributors for their hard work and commitment in a time of great uncertainty. In addition, we would No material appearing in this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the contributors and are not necessarily shared by the editors. All editorial rights are reserved. 2 Introductory Letter MURJ Volume 39, Spring 2020 Massachusetts MURJ Staff Institute of Technology MIT Undergraduate Research Journal UNDERGRADUATE like to thank all the undergraduates who shared their research with RESEARCH JOURNAL us and the greater MIT community. Volume 38, Fall 2019 For previous issues of the MIT Undergraduate Research Journal, Treasurer Lauren Li please visit our website at murj.mit.edu. If you are interested in contributing to future issues of the MIT Undergraduate Research Research Staff Journal, we invite you to join our team of authors and editors or Roopsha Bandopadhyay submit your research for our Fall 2020 issue. Please contact murj- Chelsea Chen [email protected] if you have any questions or comments. Maggie Chen Mathew Ganatra Best, Lauren Li Laura Schmidt-Hong Allison Huske Kat Yang Co-Editor-in-Chief Writing Staff Natasha Joglekar Hillary Diane Andales Co-Editor-in-Chief Ryan Conti Shinjini Ghosh Vaibhavi Shah Rachel Rock Co-Editor-in-Chief Layout Staff Allison Huske No material appearing in this publication may be reproduced without written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the contributors and are not necessarily shared by the editors. All editorial rights are reserved. 3 Volume 39, Spring 2020 MURJ MIT Science News in Review physics Graphene sheets twisted at ‘magic angle’ electrify physics The Jarillo-Herrero Group explores superconductivity and other exotic properties of twisted bilayer graphene Overlapping sheets of graphene [Credit: National Intitute of Standards and Technology] Graphene, touted as the wonder the device transformed again into a su- idea was largely dismissed until Jarillo- material of condensed matter physics, perconductor–an even more shocking Herrero pursued it experimentally in has generated much excitement since discovery. MIT’s Building 13. its discovery in 2004. Now, the Jaril- Their crucial insight was that a When the team finally published lo-Herrero Group at MIT launches a single graphene-based device can be in Nature in spring of 2018, their re- new wave of graphene enthusiasm by tuned to become an insulator, a su- sults electrified the physics commu- bringing a literal ‘twist’ into the mate- perconductor, or anything in between. nity. “I haven’t seen this much excite- rial. They found that when two sheets “We can explore all those physics in ment in the graphene field since its of graphene are misaligned at a ‘magic one device electrically, rather than initial discovery,” says physicist Chun- angle,’ superconductivity and other having to make hundreds of devices. Ning Jeanie Lau in an interview with strange behaviors emerge. It couldn’t get any simpler,” says Pablo Nature. Graphene is the world’s thinnest Jarillo-Herrero, the team’s leader. This work birthed a new field material, a single-atom thick lattice These properties cannot be ob- dubbed “twistronics.” Now, physicists of carbon atoms arranged in a hon- served in perfectly aligned graphene around the world are exploring other eycomb pattern. Although the ex- layers. But when they are rotated rela- twist angles and other 2D materials ceptional strength, thermal besides graphene. Earlier this conductivity, and electrical year, Jarillo-Herrero, MacDon- conductivity of graphene are "A single graphene-based device can ald, and Bistritzer received the long established, its intrin- prestigious 2020 Wolf Prize in sic superconductivity came be tuned to become an insulator, Physics “for their pioneering as a surprise. This discovery a superconductor, or anything in theoretical and experimental could revolutionize the de- between" work on twisted bilayer gra- velopment of high-tempera- phene.” ture superconductors, quan- When asked about his rec- tum computers, and low-cost energy tive to each other, the graphene su- ognition, Jarillo-Herrero says "I see it solutions. perlattice displays different moiré pat- as an acknowledgement…by the glob- Jarillo-Herrero’s team stacked two terns. Precisely at the magic angle, the al physics community for the work of graphene sheets, twisted them at small electrons in the sheets interact more my fantastic group of graduate stu- angles between 0 and 3 degrees, and strongly with each other, giving rise to dents and postdocs, as well as my col- then cooled the device to a fraction of curious physical effects. laborators here at MIT and around the a degree above absolute zero. At the In 2011, Allan MacDonald (UT world.” He also hopes that more young magic angle of 1.1 degrees, the mate- Austin) and Rafi Bistritzer (Applied physicists will explore the beautiful rial acted like an insulator, an unex- Materials-Israel) already predicted the field of 2D materials. pected behavior from the world’s best connection between moiré patterns conductor. When they applied voltage, and electronic properties. But their — Hillary Diane Andales 4 ? You’re not following us yet? lifehubboston.bayer.com ;) Scan me! Join our Mailing List! Our community gatherings are open to everyone! Interested in Monthly newsletters Agriculture? Check out AgConnect! Maybe Pharma? Patient Voice is Event updates for you! Can’t decide? We can’t wait to see you at both! Latest news from the Hub Network with us! We want to plug into the brightest minds in the Boston ecosystem, and we can’t wait to meet you next. Will we see you at our next event? Check out our current events! Check out our global network! With locations in: Berlin, U.K., Osaka, Lyon, California, and Singapore innovate.bayer.com! Bayer scientists discover DNA sequence that will BLOW your mind... Our Co-Creation Sprints are an important event for both Bayer professionals, and our LifeHub network! Being able to design solutions to big questions together is one of our favorite parts of working with the Boston ecosystem! Check out our video Volume 39, Spring 2020 MURJ MIT Science News in Review computer science A more human model of computer vision Efficient inverse graphics computer vision uses artificial intelligence to approximate the way the human mind processes images In the face of creative drought, ognize faces and objects by taking in process in reverse to identify three-di- when innovation calls and we seem to image data that classifies the contents mensional objects. lack any good answers, humanity turns of the image. The model that Yildirim This AI system has already seen to a special, impunitive kind of plagia- and his team designed uses a different impressive results. The research team rism. We plagiarize from nature. Early approach. The AI is taught how to take compared the results of humans, typi- airplane designs emulated avian wings; a two-dimensional image and, from cal high-end computer vision pro- the noses of Japanese bullet trains were there, generate a three-dimensional grams, and the new computer vision reshaped to mimic kingfisher beaks; representation.
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