Volume 52 – Number 2 Wednesday, September 19, 2007 TechTalk S e r v i n g Th e MIT Co mm u n i t y

Brain’s messengers Fulbright scholar in new adventure could be regulated Anne Trafton News Office MIT researchers find potential for better understanding of schizophrenia

In the 26 years since he first arrived at Deborah Halber MIT as a freshman, V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai News Office Correspondent has earned four MIT degrees and started two multimillion-dollar companies. This fall, he will use his most recent Researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute degree, a Ph.D. in computational systems for Learning and Memory have found that biology, and a Fulbright Scholarship to tiny, spontaneous releases of the brain’s explore one of his lifelong interests: the primary chemical messengers can be intersection of Eastern and Western medi- regulated, potentially giving scientists cine. unprecedented control over how the brain Ayyadurai’s upcoming project is the lat- is wired. est in a series of personal ventures that The work, reported in the Sept. 16 early have spanned fields as diverse as electron- online edition of Nature Neuroscience, ic communications, animation and molecu- could lead to a better understanding of lar biology. His experience shows what is neurological diseases like schizophrenia. possible with an MIT education, he says. Sputtering electrical activity—like a “I don’t think I could have done this firecracker’s leftover sparks after a big anywhere else,” said Ayyadurai, 43. “MIT bang—was long considered inconsequen- is a great place to follow your dreams.” tial background noise compared with the Ayyadurai started dreaming as a child main cell-to-cell interactions underlying PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY in India, where his grandfather was a thought and memory. farmer and his grandmother a shaman, or Shiva Ayyadurai, Ph.D., won a Fulbright scholarship to travel to India and study Eastern But lead author J. Troy Littleton, Fred traditional healer. He became interested medicine. and Carole Middleton Associate Profes- in medicine watching his grandmother sor of Biology at MIT, and colleagues diagnose and treat patients based on a found that the miniscule events that fol- system of “elements”—earth, water, fire, ern and Western medical traditions can if it really works,” he said. low a burst of electrical and chemical activ- metal and wood. That approach may seem learn from each other. Ayyadurai sees the Ayyadurai departs for India this month ity among neurons are far more important strange to Westerners, but “you’d see peo- exchange as a two-way street: He plans to to begin his studies, and he also plans to that previously thought. A breakdown in ple actually getting healed,” he said. apply Western scientific rigor to testing start raising funds to launch an MIT-affili- this molecular mechanism could be the When Ayyadurai started as a fresh- the long-established traditions of the East, ated center to study Eastern medicine. culprit in schizophrenia and other neuro- man at MIT in 1981, he planned to go and to study how the Eastern “elements” Road to success logical diseases, the authors reported. to medical school but later changed his can inform Western medicine. Neurons communicate with one anoth- plans. He found Western medicine, with He points out that the market for alter- Ayyadurai’s path to the Fulbright Schol- er through chemical junctions called syn- its dependence on looking up symptoms native therapies based on Eastern medi- arship has been marked by early and fre- apses. Key to the system are complexins. in reference books, very different from cine is growing every year, even without quent successes in a variety of fields. These small proteins play a role in the his grandmother’s practice. “There was scientific evidence to support their use- He moved to with his par- release of the brain’s chemical messen- always something sterile about Western fulness. medicine,” he said. “I got turned off by it.” “Let’s look at glucosamine and see if it See FULBRIGHT See BRAIN Now, he wants to explore what East- really works. Let’s look at ginkgo and see Page 3 Page 4 MIT, Legatum to create new center Center to be funded by a structured gift of $50M by Legatum

Legatum, a private firm that invests in and industry leaders on topics relating to the global financial markets and in initia- , leadership and business tives that support sustainable develop- development. ment, announced Sept. 17 a structured gift “MIT has a long and distinguished his- of $50 million to create a new center at tory of technological innovation and entre- MIT. The establishment of the Legatum preneurship and is therefore the natural Center for Development and Entrepre- home for this initiative. We hope that over neurship will support aspiring entrepre- time the Legatum fellows will be consid- neurs from the developing world who ered among the business leaders of the have a strong commitment to development developing world,” added Stoleson. entrepreneurship, helping them to acquire MIT and Legatum share the view that the knowledge and skills required for suc- providing students with these skills will cessful business development and civic give them the knowledge and experience leadership around the world. they need to contribute towards the devel- “The Legatum Center at MIT has been opment required to establish prosperity established to provide a launching pad for among emerging nations. a new generation of entrepreneurs who The Legatum Center for Development want to develop the technologies and skills and Entrepreneurship is now seeking necessary to operate innovative ­businesses applications for Legatum Fellowships for in a developing market context,” said Mark the 2008-2009 academic year from gradu- Stoleson, president of Legatum. ate students at MIT. These fellowships The Legatum Center at MIT will help will provide support to students who are students develop and commercialize new motivated by a desire to apply their tal- technologies, while exploring the appli- ents to grassroots commercial solutions in IMAGE / AURORE SIMONNET/SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY cation of practical, enterprise-based solu- developing nations. The Legatum fellows, tions to address deep-rooted problems in drawn from across the five MIT schools, Cosmic dance of death developing nations. In addition, the cen- will engage in a cross-faculty program MIT astronomers played a key role in discovering what NASA calls one of the most ter will provide a venue for competitions bizarre objects in space. To read what it is, please see page 4. and prizes, seminars, workshops, debates See LEGATUM and forums, engaging visiting scholars Page 6 NEWS RESEARCH ARTS

NIH AWARDS POINTS OF VIEW MILGRAM SHOW Emery Brown, 3 other faculty are winners Researchers identify the gene responsible for Compton Gallery exhibition focuses on retiring Page 8 binocular vision professor’s work Page 4 Page 7 MIDDLE EAST Unique MIT-rooted program bears fruit ‘JIHAD EFFECT’ SHADOW OF THE MOON Page 8 Grad student studies how wars impact terrorist MIT hosts sneak preview of Apollo missions film movements Page 7 Page 5 PAGE 2 September 19, 2007 NEWS MIT Tech Talk

OBITUARIES

Buchanan completed his undergraduate degree in jazz player who liked to and could teach,” said composer Eugene Bell, ‘father of chemistry at DePauw University in 1938 and earned a and Institute Professor John Harbison of MIT’s music master’s in biological chemistry at the University of Michi- section. tissue engineering,’ to gan in 1939. He moved to Harvard Medical School for his A celebration of Pomeroy’s life and music was held Ph.D. work under A. Baird Hastings, where his research Sept. 9, at Emmanuel Church in Boston. The MIT Festival contributed to understanding the gluconeogenic pathway Jazz Ensemble will conduct a memorial concert next May be honored Nov. 19 from lactic acid. This was one of the pioneering studies in . on biosynthetic pathways using isotopically labeled pre- A memorial service for former Professor of Biology cursors, in this case, the extremely short half-life form of Eugene Bell will be held at noon Monday, Nov. 19, in the carbon, 11C. MIT Chapel. After completing his Ph.D. in 1943, he joined the faculty Hollis M. Lilly, 36 Bell, who was renowned for his pioneering work in the in physiological chemistry at the University of Pennsylva- field of regenerative medicine, died June 22. He was 88. nia Medical School, rising to full professor by the time Hollis M. Lilly, staff associate in the Office of Under- Bell recently donated more than $1 million to MIT to he left for MIT in 1953. Buchanan was awarded a Medi- graduate Advising and Academic Programming, died on establish the Eugene Bell Career Development Professor- cal Research Council Fellowship between 1946 and 1948, July 28 due to complications from surgery. He was 36. ship of Tissue Engineering. Darrell J. Irvine, the inaugural which he used to work with Hugo Theorell at the Nobel Lilly came to MIT in October 2003. In his capacity as holder of the professorship, said Bell came to be known as Institute in Stockholm. This was a singularly successful staff to the faculty Committee on Academic Performance the “father of tissue engineering” as a result of a seminal period in Buchanan’s career, in which he gained expertise (CAP) and as the coordinator of AP transfer credit and study he published in the journal Science in 1981. in protein and enzyme chemistry. He also met Elsa Nils- UAAP sponsored study sessions, he worked with both That study, which has been cited more than 400 son, who would in due time become Elsa Buchanan, his faculty and students. times, demonstrated a way to repair skin wounds with wife and inseparable companion of 58 years. A resident of Somerville who grew up in Lowell, Lilly artificial skin made from a person’s or an animal’s own Buchanan was honored in 1966 as the first John and previously worked at Harvard University. He is survived cells. Dorothy Wilson Professor at MIT, a chair now held by by his mother, Roberta Lilly of Lowell; his brother, Jeremi- “This basic demonstration became the basis for an Dianne Newman of the biology department. In recogni- ah, and his sisters, Melody Barlay of Haverhill and Hope entire generation of studies aimed at regenerating every tion of his career and service, MIT has endowed an annual Lilly of Albany, N.Y., among many others. He was buried type of tissue—skin, cartilage, bone, nerve, liver, etc.,” John M. Buchanan Lectureship and a John M. Buchanan Aug. 4 in Tewksbury Cemetery. Irvine said. “It turns out that many tissues require differ- Medal with the inscription, “Discovery, Education, Inspira- ent approaches and provide unique challenges, but the tion, Friendship and Modesty.” basic work done by Bell paved the way for what is now Buchanan is survived by his wife, Elsa, sons Steve and referred to as ‘regenerative medicine.’” Eleanor J. Miller, 84 Peter, daughters Claire and Lisa as well as many grand- Irvine noted that some of these attempts—based on children. strategies similar to Bell’s—became commercial products. Eleanor J. Miller, a former staff member and supervi- For example, certain commercial synthetic skin grafts sor in the Registrar’s Office, died Aug. 20, 2007, at the Bay are based on concepts similar to Bell’s original design, he Path Nursing Home in Duxbury. She was 84. said. Howard R. Alker, alum and A native of Kingston, Mass., Miller worked at MIT for Bell was born in New York and enlisted in the Army 23 years until she retired in 1985. during World War Two. He saw combat action in the Phil- former professor Miller is survived by six sisters, one brother and many ippines and in New Guinea and was wounded by a piece of nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and nephews. shrapnel that stayed in his hand for the rest of his life. Hayward R. Alker, an MIT alumnus and political scien- Miller was buried Aug. 23 in Mayflower Cemetery in He began his academic career at MIT in 1956 and tist specializing in international relations, died Aug. 24 at Duxbury. Donations can be made to the Muscular Dystro- became a professor of biology in 1967. While at MIT he his home in Block Island, R.I., following a cerebral hemor- phy Assoc., 1400 I Street NW, Suite 1220, Washington, DC laid the groundwork for the field of tissue engineering. rhage. He was 69. 20005-2208. Bell held more than 40 U.S. and foreign patents and was A New York City native, Alker was a leading scholar the chief author of more than 200 scientific papers. on international conflict resolution, widely respected for Bell retired from MIT in 1986, but went on to found two his integration of mathematical and humanistic research Frank Imbornone, 71 companies that made the technology he helped develop methods. His books include “Journeys Through Conflict” commercially available. (2001) and “Mathematics and Politics” (1965). Frank Imbornone, a former employee in building ser- His wife, Millicent, said Bell never lost sight of his Alker taught at MIT from 1968 to 1995, when he left vices, died Aug. 26. A U.S. Army veteran, he was 71. youthful ambition to make a positive contribution to the to teach at the University of Southern California, where A native of Quincy and a resident of South Weymouth, world. he held the John A. McCone Chair in International Imbornone retired from MIT in 1996. “As a youth he was always someone wanting the world ­Relations. He is survived by his wife, Carol; daughters Christine to be a good place. As one grows older, sometimes one He earned an S.B. in mathematics from MIT in 1959 Imbornone of Woburn, Stephanie Imbornone of South puts such thoughts aside—but he never did,” she said in and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University in Weymouth, Carolann Deluca-Killinger of Rockland, Patti an interview. 1960 and 1963, respectively. He taught at Yale before he Spanks of Lynn; son Richard DeLuca of Northbridge; and In addition to his wife, Bell left a son, a daughter, and came to MIT. a sister, Rose M. Burke of Andover. four grandchildren. Alker is survived by his wife, J. Ann Tickner, of Santa Interment was at Mt. Hope Cemetery, South Wey- The Nov. 19 memorial service will be followed by a lun- Monica, Calif.; his brother, Henry; his sister, Charity; mouth, on Aug 30. cheon at the Religious Activities Center (W11). For more three daughters, Joan, Heather and Gwendolyn; and six Donations may be made in his memory to Hospice of information, contact Susan Fugliese at x3-6930. grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be the South Shore, P.O. Box 9060, Braintree, MA 02184 or made to the Middle East Peace Education Program of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place West, American Friends Service Committee in Los Angeles or to Floor 6, Brookline, MA 02445-9924. John M. Buchanan, 89 the Block Island Conservancy. John M. “Jack” Buchanan, Wilson Professor emeritus of Biology, died June 25 in Lexington, Mass. He was 89. Herb Pomeroy, founder of MIT Buchanan devoted his life and dedicated service to NEWS YOU CAN USE MIT and to his profession. He joined the MIT faculty in Festival Jazz Ensemble 1953 as professor of biology and as director of the newly estab- Jazz icon Herb Pomeroy, who founded the MIT Festival Helicopters on Briggs Field lished Division of Biochemistry. Jazz Ensemble in 1963, died Aug. 11 at his home in Glouc- The MIT Army ROTC program, in conjunction with He soon recruited a core group ester. He was 77. the MIT Flying Club, will sponsor a training event of young and senior faculty to Pomeroy, a trumpeter inspired by Louis Armstrong, Wednesday, Sept. 19, from noon to 4 p.m. at Briggs Field the department, including Gene played with such jazz greats as Charlie Parker, Stan Ken- that will include the take off and landing of two Rhode Brown, Vernon Ingram, Salva- ton and Lionel Hampton. When he first came to MIT, he Island Army National Guard helicopters during several dor Luria, Paul Schimmel, Phil found a jazz ensemble so bad that he called their perfor- orientation flights. Interested students and other MIT Robbins and Lisa Steiner. Grow- mance “horrible.” He considered telling them he couldn’t community members will also have the opportunity to ing from this nucleus, the Biol- continue, but instead told the musicians, “Let’s roll up our view the aircraft up close and to speak with the flight ogy Department and the Bio- sleeves and get to work.” crews. MIT Dean of Undergraduate Education Daniel chemistry Division soon gained That work continued for 22 years, until 1985. Under Hastings is among the special guests scheduled to fly a reputation for being among Pomeroy’s guidance, the Festival Jazz Ensemble (FJE) with the students. For more information, contact Dave the outstanding programs in was transformed into a top-notch, award-winning group Gowel at [email protected]. John M. Buchanan the country. that gained wide recognition through their concerts and Buchanan helped attract festival appearances. The FJE has performed throughout other leading scientists to MIT, including Cyrus Levinthal, the United States; it was also the first college ensemble Travel vendor fair Maurice Fox and Alexander Rich—key appointments that to appear at Switzerland’s prestigious Montreux Jazz The Ninth Annual Travel Vendor Fair will be held Tues- helped boost the biology department’s international repu- Festival. day, Sept. 25, in Lobby 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Invitations tation. “Herb was the real architect of the jazz program will go out to all faculty, staff and support staff during the In his autobiography, the late MIT President James Kil- at MIT. In the early going of our music program, jazz week of Sept. 17. Individuals who travel on MIT business lian observed that bringing Buchanan to MIT was among was one of our flagship activities, even before classical or are responsible for making travel arrangements will the most important recruitments of his tenure. music. Herb was unusual in that he was a wonderful find this event informative.

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Science Journalism fellows—a group Esther Nakkazi, science and medical of 10 writers and editors from six coun- reporter for The East African, which cir- tries—has begun taking classes at MIT. culates in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and During their year on campus, the jour- Rwanda. nalists will also be visiting labs, inter- Julie Robotham, medical editor of The viewing researchers and attending twice- Sydney Morning Herald in Australia. weekly Knight seminars, most taught by Keith Seinfeld, science and medical MIT faculty members. reporter at KPLU, the PBS affiliate in The new Knights are: Seattle. Pam Belluck, New England bureau Ivan Semeniuk, New Scientist’s U.S. chief of , who is pre- bureau chief, based in Cambridge. paring to specialize in medical coverage. The MIT community is invited to Cathy Clabby, science reporter of the meet the new Knights at a reception Raleigh, N.C., News & Observer. Thursday, Sept. 20, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Pere Estupinyà, editor of “Redes,” a the Faculty Club. It’s sponsored by Tech- popular science television program in nology Review magazine, the MIT News Spain. Office and the Knight Fellowships. Jonathan Fahey, associate editor at The Knight Fellowships, part of the Forbes magazine. Science, Technology and Society pro- PHOTO / GRAHAM RAMSAY Zarina Khan, who covers science, gram in the School of Humanities, Arts, Left to right: Molly Seamans, administrative assistant; Esther Nakkazi; John Mangels; Julie medicine and the environment for Emir- and Social Sciences, is funded chiefly Robotham; Pam Belluck; Boyce Rensberger, director; Ivan Semeniuk; Pere Estupinyà; ates Today, published in Dubai. by an endowment from the John S. and Keith Seinfeld; Zarina Khan; Catherine Clabby; Jonathan Fahey; Kathy Boisvert, assistant John Mangels, science reporter for James L. Knight Foundation. director. ‘Wiki City Rome’ draws FULBRIGHT Continued from Page 1 In 2004, Ayyadurai returned to MIT, this time to work on a Ph.D. in systems ents, a chemist and a mathematician, at biology, a relatively new field that inte- map like no other the age of 7. When he was 13, he started to grates biology, engineering and computer work at Rutgers to develop one of the first science. The goal of systems biology is to Greg Frost City Rome gave Romans a new aware- e-mail systems ever built, which eventually figure out how the layers of a biological News Office ness of how they move within their city in won him a Westinghouse Science Award. system, from genes to cells to organs to response to this exceptional pulse of activi- At MIT, Ayyadurai was founder and edi- the whole body, are linked. ties,” said researcher Kristian Kloeckl, a tor of a newspaper called The Student and Systems biologists start by figuring out Residents of Italy’s capital glimpsed the SENSEable City Lab member who is also an activist who worked to raise awareness how individual cellular pathways work, future of urban mapmaking this month working on the project. of global and campus issues such as apart- but deciphering just one pathway can take with the launch of “Wiki City Rome,” a “How do people react towards this heid, U.S. policies overseas, cuts in student years. To speed up that process, Ayyadu- project developed at MIT that uses data new perspective on their own city while aid and sexual harassment on campus. rai developed a computer model that can from cellphones and other wireless tech- they are determining the city’s very own “My intention was always to make the integrate the activities of all the different nology to illustrate the city’s pulse in real dynamic? How does having access to MIT community aware of our being part pathways in a cell—work that formed the time. real-time data in the context of possible of a larger global society, and we as lead- basis of his doctoral . The project debuted Sept. 8 during action alter the process of decision-making ers had a duty to fight for those who had Professor Dewey Forbes, Ayyadurai’s Rome’s “Notte Bianca,” or white night, in how to go about different activities?” less,” he said. thesis advisor, said the project was con- an all-night festival of events across the Kloeckl asked. “These are among the After graduating from MIT in 1986 with ceived as a tool that would help the bio- capital city. During that night, anyone questions we may be able to answer.” a degree in and logical community address the large-scale with an Internet connection could see a By looking at a city using a “real-time computer science, he was one of the early problem of modeling the complexity of a unique map of the Italian capital showing control system” as a working analogy, the developers of a graphic program complete cell. the movements of crowds, event locations, Wiki City project studies tools that enable that was eventually sold to Lotus. He had “In the end, Shiva not only provided and the real-time position of city buses and people to become prime actors themselves always been interested in art and design, the basic system called Cytosolve, but he trains. in improving the efficiency of urban sys- so after selling his company he went to the used it to create a new composite model The map was also broadcast on a big- tems. In coming years, the Wiki City proj- MIT Media Lab and got a master’s degree of the upregulation of interferon following screen display in the heart of Rome, giving ect will develop as an open platform where in animation, focusing on how to present viral infection,” said Forbes. “There is a Romans real-time feedback on the human anybody can download and upload data scientific data visually. He also holds a lot of excitement about the several aspects dynamics in their immediate surround- that are location and time sensitive. master’s degree in mechanical - of the thesis, and much of it should be in ings. “By deploying developments of the ing from MIT. public journals in the near future.” Wiki City Rome stemmed from MIT’s ‘Web 2.0’ and the ‘Semantic Web,’ Wiki His next venture was a software pro- To Ayyadurai, who defended his thesis SENSEable City Laboratory, an initiative City can be a significant leap forward gram called EchoMail, which companies last month, the appeal of systems biology directed by Carlo Ratti that studies the towards a pervasive ‘Internet of things’ to can use to automatically sort and respond is its combination of a range of fields, espe- impact of new technologies on cities. The support human action and interaction,” to customer e-mails. EchoMail has been cially computing and medicine. project built on the work of “Real Time said Carlo Ratti. used by major companies including Nike, “For me, this goes back to everything I Rome,” presented during the 2006 Venice Ratti’s team obtains its data anony- Citibank, IBM and Proctor & Gamble. wanted to do,” he said. Architecture Biennale, the prestigious mously from cell phones, GPS devices on biannual exhibition of contemporary art. buses and taxis, and other wireless mobile Organizers said Wiki City Rome raises devices. Data are made anonymous and AWARDS AND HONORS the intriguing prospect of a map drawn on aggregated from the beginning, so there the basis of dynamic elements of which are no implications for individual privacy. Partnering with the SENSEable City Lorlene Hoyt, assistant professor of in Denver. Bosak, new to MIT this fall, the map itself is an active part. Accord- urban studies and planning, is the winner uses laboratory models to examine micro- ing to researcher Francesco Calabrese Lab on Wiki City Rome are SEAT Pag- ine Gialle, Telecom Italia, Telespazio, of this year’s Ernest A. Lynton Award for bial biosignatures in carbonate rocks. Her of SENSEable City Lab, a person could the Scholarship of Engagement given by approach to interpreting signs of life in consult the map to find the most crowded the Rome public transportation authority ATAC, La Repubblica, and Trenitalia. the New Eng- ancient rocks includes developing a labo- place to drink an aperitivo—and then iden- land Resource ratory system that mimics the chemistry tify the least congested route by which to In addition to Kloeckl, Calabrese and Ratti, members of the Wiki City Rome Center for High- of the Precambrian ocean. reach it. er Education. MIT economist Daron Acemoglu and “Rome’s Notte Bianca is all about the team include Assaf Biderman, Bernd Resch and Fabien Girardin. Hoyt studies graduate student Vanda Felbab-Brown city, the people and the events, and Wiki and teaches on recently received awards from the Ameri- urban revital- can Political Science Association. Acemo­ ization strate- glu was honored for his co-authorship of gies, business the book “Economic Origins of Democracy improvement and Dictatorship” and as co-author of the districts, and article “Economic Backwardness in Politi- planning educa- cal Perspective.” Felbab-Brown’s “Shoot- tion. She is the ing Up: The Impact of Illicit Economies on project direc- Military Conflict” won best doctoral dis- Lorlene Hoyt tor of MIT@ sertation in the field of policy studies. Lawrence, a The Multimedia Educational Resource university-community partnership focused for Learning and Online Teaching has on affordable housing, community asset- presented its 2007 Editors’ Choice award building and youth pathways to education in physics to Professor John Belcher for and careers. Physics 8.02: Faraday’s Law. The fresh- The single Lynton Award recipient from man course subject is taught collaborative- a pool of 72 nominations from across the ly and interactively, including use of 3-D country, Hoyt has been invited to present animations and visualizations, employing her work at the annual conference of the MIT’s Technology Enabled Active Learn- Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Uni- ing (TEAL) teaching format. TEAL per- versities to be held Oct. 21 in Baltimore. sonnel involved include Andrew McKin- Assistant Professor Tanja Bosak is the ney, Philip Bailey, Pierre Poignant, Ying IMAGE COURTESY / KRISTIAN KLOECKL recipient of the 2007 Geological Society of Cao, Ralph Rabat, Michael Danziger, Mark In the ‘Wiki City Rome’ project, an MIT team obtained data anonymously from cell phones America Subaru Outstanding Woman in Bessette, Andreas Sundquist and Mesrob and other devices to map Rome in real time. Science Award, to be presented Oct. 27 Ohannessian. PAGE 4 September 19, 2007 RESEARCH MIT Tech Talk Stars locked in bizarre death-dance Elizabeth Thomson the sun but is only about 10 miles across. News Office “This means that the surface of the star is moving at about 7,000 miles per second, or roughly 4 percent the speed of light,” MIT astronomers played a key role in Chakrabarty said. discovering what NASA calls one of the The companion object was found to most bizarre objects in space: a star “skel- orbit the pulsar every 54.7 minutes at an eton” of very low mass that is orbiting and average distance of about 230,000 miles being slowly consumed by a second mas- (slightly less than the distance from Earth sive star known as a pulsar, that is itself to the moon). It has what astronomers con- spinning faster than a kitchen blender. sider a very low mass: about seven times A NASA team, led by Hans Krimm and that of Jupiter. For comparison, the sun is Craig Markwardt at Goddard Space Flight more than 1,000 times more massive than Center and an MIT team led by Deepto Jupiter. Chakrabarty, an associate professor of “This object is merely the skeleton of physics in MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astro- a star,” says Markwardt. “The pulsar has physics and Space Research, described eaten away the star’s outer envelope, and the overall system (known by its abbrevia- all that remains is its helium-rich core.” tion SWIFT J1756.9) in an article accepted The system is only the eighth millisecond for publication in the Astrophysical Jour- pulsar observed to be pulling mass from a nal Letters. companion, and only one other such system “While we already know of several has a companion with such a low mass. The cases of pulsars that have consumed or companion in that system also has a mini- IMAGE / AURORE SIMONNET/SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY vaporized most of the mass in their com- mum mass of about seven Jupiters. In this artist depiction of the SWIFT J1756.9 system, the massive gravitational pull of a panion star, SWIFT J1756.9 is possibly the The system probably formed several pulsar, shown at upper right, distorts its companion star, left, into a teardrop-shaped object, most extreme example,” said Chakrabarty. billion years ago, when it consisted of a ripping gas from it. This material flows in a stream toward the pulsar and forms a disk Systems like SWIFT J1756.9 provide a very massive star and a smaller star. The around it. Eventually, enough gas builds up in the disk to produce an outburst bright enough rare opportunity for astronomers to exam- more massive star evolved quickly and to make the system visible from Earth. ine how “millisecond pulsars” are spun up exploded as a supernova, leaving behind a to incredibly rapid speeds, and to deter- pulsar. The smaller star eventually started mine their eventual fate, he added. to puff up as it aged, and the two objects the pulsar. The flow eventually becomes J1756.9 had never been seen to erupt until SWIFT J1756.9 was discovered ear- became embedded in the extended stel- unstable and dumps large quantities of gas this June, so as Markwardt points out, “We lier this year using NASA’s Swift and Rossi lar envelope. This drained orbital energy, onto the pulsar, causing an outburst like don’t know how long it will slumber before X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellites. causing the two stars to draw ever nearer. the one observed in June. it wakes up again.” The RXTE observations indicate that the Today, the two objects are so close to With an estimated distance of roughly In addition to Chakrabarty, the MIT pulsar, a type of neutron star, is spinning each other that the pulsar’s powerful gravi- 25,000 light-years from Earth, the system team includes Jacob Hartman, a graduate 182.07 times per second, even though ty produces a tidal bulge on its companion, is normally too faint to be detected and student in physics who defended his Ph.D. it contains at least 1.4 times the mass of siphoning gas into a disk that surrounds is only visible during an outburst. SWIFT thesis on Aug. 2. BRAIN MIT IDs binocular vision gene Continued from Page 1 sends out a flood of neurotransmitters, a few vesicles still produce some neurotrans- Research could lead to treatments gers, or neurotransmitters, during synap- mitter. The MIT work explains the molecu- tic cell-to-cell signaling. lar machinery behind these “minis,” which To figure out exactly how complexins can occur for a few minutes after the big for some visual disorders work, Littleton created the first genetically event. Without complexin as a gatekeeper, Deborah Halber engineered mutant—in this case, a fruit minis occur unchecked, leading to mas- News Office Correspondent fly—that produces no complexins at all. sive rewiring and synaptic growth. There are two sides to synaptic trans- “This spontaneous release in the brain mission: presynaptic and postsynaptic. is not only important for signaling, it can In work that could lead to new treat- When an electrical nerve impulse zaps trigger synaptic growth,” Littleton said. ments for sensory disorders in which the presynaptic side, it triggers lightning- “What’s really exciting is that complexin’s people experience the strange phenom- fast events that release neurotransmitters. activity may be regulated. If we can regu- ena of seeing better with one eye covered, This activates the postsynaptic cell. Mis- late this machinery, we may be able to pro- MIT researchers have identified the gene sion accomplished: The foundation of a mote synaptic growth and potentially allow responsible for binocular vision. memory is formed. targeted rewiring in areas of the brain Unlike horses and eagles, whose eyes The neurotransmitters are like race- affected in various neurological diseases.” on the sides of their heads provide two horses. They champ at the bit until they Littleton also holds an appointment in different scenes, humans see a single, get the signal to dash toward the finish MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive in-depth view. Now researchers from the line. On the presynaptic side, small com- Sciences. Picower Institute for Learning and Mem- partments, or vesicles, containing neu- Biology graduate student Sarah N. ory have identified the gene responsible rotransmitters are the starting block and Huntwork co-authored the Nature Neuro- for melding images from two eyes into one complexins are the gatekeepers that pre- science paper. useful picture in the brain. vent the neurotransmitters from releasing This work was supported by - The work, which appeared in the Sept. prematurely. al Institutes of Health and the Packard 4 issue of the Public Library of Science After a big burst of electrical activity Foundation for Science and Engineering. (PLoS) Biology and in the journal Cere- bral Cortex, shows that a novel gene is necessary for binocular vision. “There are other instances in the brain where two different inputs have to be properly aligned and matched--such as auditory and visual projections to the mid- brain that enable us to orient to sound,” said lead author Mriganka Sur, Sherman PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Fairchild Professor of Neuroscience at the Mriganka Sur Picower Institute and head of the Depart- ment of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at “This is an amazing instance of ‘gain of MIT. “This is the first study to pinpoint a function’ that proves immediately that the gene with this kind of job.” gene is directly responsible for creating matched projections from the two eyes,” Two points of view Sur said. Binocular vision allows us to perceive Human disorders in which the Ten_m depth and carry out detailed visual process- family of genes is affected are often ing. The images projected by each eye are accompanied by visual deficits. “There aligned and matched up in brain regions are reports of human visual conditions called the visual thalamus and cortex. in which simply closing one eye allows a The MIT researchers discovered that person to see much better,” Sur said. “We the genes Ten_m3 and Bcl6 have a key believe that genes such as Ten_m3 are at role in the early development of brain path- the heart of these disorders.” ways for vision and touch. Ten_m3 appears Co-authors include Catherine A. to be critical for the brain to make sense of Leamey, former MIT postdoctoral asso- the two disparate images from each eye. ciate now at the University of Sydney; In mice that had the Ten_m3 gene Atomu Sawatari, Kelly A. Glendining, Sam knocked out, projections from their two Merlin, Paul Lattouf and Natasha Demel eyes were mismatched in their brains. of the University of Sydney; MIT affiliates Because each eye’s projection suppress- Gabriel Kreiman, Kuan H. Wang and Ning- es the other, the mice were blind, even Dong Kang; Reinhard Fassler and Xiao- though their eyes worked normally. hong Zhou of the Max Planck Institute for PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Remarkably, the researchers found Biochemistry in Germany; and Susumu that when the output of one eye was Tonegawa, Picower Professor of Biology J. Troy Littleton, a professor in the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT, joins blocked at a molecular level, the knock- and Neuroscience at MIT. biology graduate student Sarah N. Huntwork in the lab where she works with drosophila, out mice could see again. With one eye’s This work was supported by the Nation- or fruit flies. They have created the first genetically engineered mutant that produces no conflicting input shut down, the other eye al Institutes of Health, the Simons Founda- complexins (proteins that play a role in the release of neurotransmitters) during cell-to-cell was able to function, though only with tion and Australia’s National Health and signaling. monocular vision. Medical Research Council. MIT Tech Talk RESEARCH September 19, 2007 PAGE 5 Tracking the ‘jihad effect’ Sarah H. Wright For Kaplan, MIT provides an ideal venue to develop News Office new concepts for understanding terrorism within the field of political science. “When it comes to counterterrorism, all too often the An MIT graduate student has received a fellowship focus remains at the operational level—catching the next from a U.S. Department of Homeland Security-funded operative and foiling the next attack. This is a matter of New tool to study genes’ history research center to study the “jihad effect”—that is, how mindset, but it is also a matter of time—in Washington, wars impact the trajectory of terrorist movements. very few people have the luxury to step back and process The wheels of evolution turn on genetic innovation— Stephanie Kaplan, a Ph.D. candidate in political sci- the information coming at them in a long-term, strategic new genes with new functions appear, allowing organisms ence, plans to use the funds she receives from the Nation- manner. I came to MIT so that I could figure out what that to grow and adapt in new ways. But deciphering the his- al Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses big picture is and do so in a rigorous way. And the political tory of how and when various genes appeared, for any to Terrorism (START) science department organism, has been a difficult and largely intractable task. to support her work and Security Studies Now a team led by scientists at the of on the relationship Program here at MIT MIT and Harvard has broken new ground by developing between armed con- are perfect homes in a method, described in the Sept. 6 advance online edition flicts and terrorism. which to do that,” she of Nature, that can reveal the ancestry of all genes across Kaplan is particu- says. many different genomes. First applied to 17 species of larly interested in the This year, Kaplan fungi, the approach has unearthed some surprising clues way the Iraq War has will work as a teaching about why new genes pop up in the first place and the bio- shaped and will shape assistant in a political logical nips and tucks that bolster their survival. the future of al Qaeda. science course, Amer- “Having the ability to trace the history of genes on a Ultimately, she hopes ican Public Policy for genomic scale opens the doors to a vast array of inter- to contribute to improv- Washington Interns, esting and largely unexplored scientific questions,” said ing the formulation and designed for MIT stu- senior author Aviv Regev, an assistant professor of biol- practice of U.S. coun- dents in the Institute’s ogy at MIT and a core member of the Broad Institute. terterrorism policy. summer Washington Although the principles laid out in the study pertain to “Regardless of internship program. fungi, they could have relevance to a variety of other spe- how the war ends, Before coming to cies as well. whether the United MIT, Kaplan worked Driven by the recent explosion of whole genome States leaves Iraq now in several policy sequence data, the authors of the new study were able or stays in the months capacities in Washing- to assemble a natural history of more than 100,000 genes and years ahead, we PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY ton, D.C., including as belonging to a group of fungi known as the Ascomycota. must understand a staff member on the From this, the researchers gained a detailed view of gene Stephanie Kaplan, a Ph.D. candidate in political science at MIT, ­studies how the conflict has the relationship between armed conflicts and terrorism. National Commission duplication across the genomes of 17 different species mobilized new assets on Terrorist Attacks of fungi, including the laboratory model Saccharomyces on behalf of our ene- upon the United cerevisiae, commonly known as baker’s yeast. mies—skilled people, weapons, money, social bonds and States, known as the 9/11 Commission. –Nicole Davis, the Broad Institute legitimacy—and to what end those assets will be deployed Kaplan, who was managing editor of the commission’s in the future,” Kaplan says. final report, treasures one memory of her experience Pinpointing a genetic link to height “It is far better to begin this conversation now than above all others—a late-night walk around Ground Zero years from now, when the jihad effect will be felt in full after a marathon session with the staff investigating New It became clear nearly a century ago that a person’s force,” she adds. York City’s emergency response. height is determined by a number of genetic factors. Little Based at the University of Maryland, College Park, “The gravity of 9/11 combined with the responsibility of progress, however, has been made in determining the spe- START is a Department of Homeland Security “Center carrying out the investigation really hit home,” she says. cific genes involved. An international research team has of Excellence” charged with researching how terrorist A native of Arlington Heights, Ill., Kaplan received a brought light to this question by pinpointing a genetic groups form and behave and on how societies may best B.S. in foreign service from Georgetown University in variant associated with human height—the first consistent respond to terrorist threats. 2000; she came to MIT in 2004. genetic link to be reported. The findings, published in the Sept. 2 advance online edition of Nature Genetics, stem from a large-scale effort led by scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Har- vard, Children’s Hospital Boston, the University of Oxford Leveraging learning for artificial respiration and Peninsula Medical School, Exeter. In addition to being a textbook example of a complex Research could lead to better, more cost-efficient ventilators; the ability to adapt trait, height is a common reason that children are referred to medical specialists. Although short stature by itself typi- may help improve the use of mechanical ventilators in clinical settings cally does not signal cause for concern, delayed growth can sometimes reflect a serious underlying health condition. Elizabeth Dougherty pressure, filtering it out as background noise. When Poon Using a new “genome-wide association” method, the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology disabled the neural pathways involved in nonassociative research team searched the human genome for single-let- learning, the rats’ ability to adapt was either eliminated or ter differences in the genetic code that appear more often compromised. in tall individuals compared to shorter individuals. By ana- The same kind of learning that allows humans to get Though nonassociative learning is a familiar notion lyzing DNA from nearly 35,000 people, the researchers used to a subtle touch or persistent odor may also help to researchers, commonly applied to smelling roses and zeroed in on a difference in the HMGA2 gene -- a “C” writ- human vital signs adapt to medical interventions such as adjusting to sunlight after emerging from a dark movie ten in the DNA code instead of a “T”. Inheriting the “C”- mechanical ventilation. theater, it is not usually applied in a clinical environment. containing copy of the gene often results in more height: New research from the Harvard-MIT Division of Because of their focus on stabilizing patients, clinicians one copy can add about a half centimeter in height while Health Sciences and Technology, led by research scientist often discount the power of learning. “Many ventilators two copies can add almost a full centimeter. Chi-Sang Poon, Ph.D., suggests that this innate ability to are designed as if the patient were never in the equation,” –Nicole Davis, the Broad Institute adapt, called nonassociative learning, which exists even in says Poon. “But it turns out our vital functions can learn reflexive actions such as breathing, could be leveraged to to adapt in order to survive.” design more-effective and less costly artificial respiration. Poon’s coauthors of the PLoS ONE paper are Shawna Professors disagree with article In work described in the Sept. 12 issue of Pub- M. MacDonald of MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engi- The Sept. 12 Tech Talk article “Not so super-cool after lic Library of Science ONE, Poon examined rats under neering and Gang Song, an HST research scientist. all” did not accurately convey the conclusions reached by mechanical ventilation to see how they applied different This work was supported by the National Heart, Lung the lead researchers, Jacopo Buongiorno, assistant profes- forms of nonassociative learning to adapt to the rhythm and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. sor of nuclear science and engineering, and Lin-Wen Hu, imposed by the respirator. associate director of the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory. The MIT research sug- The article, which was approved by one member of gests, however, that if a doc- the research team, discussed a recent paper published in tor takes the patient’s natural Physics Review Letter (PRL), “Mean-Field Versus Micro- breathing rhythm into account Convection Effects in Nanofluid Thermal Conduction.” and sets the ventilator’s Buongiorno and Hu submitted the following statement rhythm in that same range, to Tech Talk: “As co-authors of the PRL paper and principal the patient will adapt and investigators of the nanofluid research program at MIT, synchronize with the ventila- we would like to clarify that we were not consulted during tor. This new approach could the preparation of this article and disagree with its conclu- minimize the need for induced sion. The objective of our PRL paper was to test the valid- sedation or paralysis. ity of a physical mechanism (micro-convection) that has “We have intrinsic nonas- been proposed as an explanation for thermal conductivity sociative learning capabilities, enhancement. Our objective was not to deduce a general called habituation and desen- conclusion about nanofluids; in fact experimental data from sitization, that [can] make up other laboratories [that] exist in the literature have shown for changes in the spontane- abnormal enhancement, which require further study. ous rhythm due to artificial Therefore, the statement ‘the early promise of nanofluids lung inflation,” says Poon. as an advanced nanoengineered coolant remains largely In tests of rats under unfulfilled’ is unwarranted and inconsistent with the PRL artificial respiration, Poon paper contents. Finally, regardless of the controversy about found that, if using a suitable thermal conductivity, the experiments on boiling of nano- rhythm, rats adapted to the fluids at MIT are yielding positive results. The addition of mechanical ventilation. He small amounts of nanoparticles has significantly increased also found that this learning the critical heat flux, a limiting measure of heat a material capability enabled mice to can withstand with a boiling coolant. Many systems based adapt to an artificial rhythm PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY on boiling (for example, nuclear reactors, coal-fired boilers, even when the mechanical heat exchangers) could greatly benefit from such critical respirators applied constant Principal research scientist Chi-Sang Poon, left, co-authored the PLoS ONE paper with heat flux increase. This aspect was omitted from the arti- air pressure. The rats effec- Shawna MacDonald of MIT’s department of mechanical engineering and Gang Song, an cle, further contributing to its negative tone.” tively “tuned out” this extra HST research scientist. PAGE 6 September 19, 2007 NEWS MIT Tech Talk MIT team cooks up simple fuel recipe DIGITALK: Where IT’s at Update on Vista at MIT Anne Trafton News Office IS&T now offers full support for Business- class editions (Business, MIT senior Jules Walter has seen Enterprise and Ultimate) firsthand the impact of deforestation in of Windows Vista on new his native Haiti: Nearly 98 percent of the systems purchased with the Vista operat- island’s forests are gone, and more trees ing system. If you decide to buy a Win- are being cut down every year. dows Vista machine, IS&T recommends Deforestation is not only an environ- that you select a system bundled with the mental problem in that country, but it also Vista Business edition. This version pro- makes life difficult for Haitians who rely vides more functionality than the Home on wood to cook their food. edition, and it is easy to upgrade from A team of MIT students including Wal- the Business to the Enterprise edition. ter is working to bring affordable, environ- Note that you can’t upgrade from the mentally friendly cooking fuel to develop- Home edition to Enterprise, and that the ing countries like Haiti. The technique, Home edition can’t be a member of the which grew out of an MIT class, offers a Windows domain. simple way to produce charcoal briquettes IS&T will continue to support Win- from organic material such as sugarcane dows XP and does not recommend that waste. you upgrade your existing system to The students have formed a company to Windows Vista at this time. Migrating produce and distribute the charcoal to Hai- to Vista is a very involved process that tian villagers. Their firm, which includes requires a lot of preparation and preplan- Walter, MIT graduate students Amy Ban- ning. Detailed migration guidelines for zaert and Kendra Leith, and Haitian com- DLCs and individual users will be pro- munity organizer Gerthy Lahens, recently vided by the Vista Release Team, vista- won $30,000 in seed money from the MIT [email protected], later this fall. $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. For full details on Vista support Walter, a computer science major, trav- at MIT, go to itinfo.mit.edu/article. eled to Haiti in August to conduct a mar- php?id=8544. ket study and meet with potential inves- tors. He hopes the business idea appeals ACCORD: Teaching with technology to those who want to invest in something that is both profitable and socially respon- ACCORD is MIT’s new Academic sible. Computing Coordination group. It brings “Traditionally people think you can together the many educational tech- either make money or help people,” said nology service providers that support Walter. “But this is a project where we teaching and learning on campus. Par- really think we can do both, and do both ticipants include ACCORD’s core group– well.” the Libraries, the Office of Educational Students in MIT lecturer Amy Smith’s Innovation and Technology (OEIT), and course, D-Lab: Introduction to Develop- PHOTO / AMY SMITH, MIT Information Services and Technology— as well as OpenCourseWare and academ- ment, first started working to develop low- MIT senior Jules Walter, in Ghana, is holding a sample of charcoal made from corncobs. cost cooking fuels after a trip to Haiti in ic departments. 2003. The D-Lab course gives students the ACCORD recently revamped the chance to explore technological solutions wood charcoal, Walter said. The briquettes wants to speed up and automate the pro- Teaching with Technology web site at to real-life problems. are good for cooking because they burn cess. Their plan is to develop a small- to web.mit.edu/teachtech for easier discov- “The charcoal project was one of the longer than wood and are easier to light. medium-scale manufacturing business to ery of services and additional resourc- very first D-Lab projects, and over the They also create less smoke than wood distribute the fuel to people. es for faculty and instructors. Services years, dozens of students have worked to and dung fires. Although the team is focusing on Haiti, range from class management tools, to help create the solution,” said Smith, who “Both of those emit a lot of smoke, the briquettes could be beneficial in other multimedia and digital documents, to received a master’s in engineering from especially when people cook inside their places where trees are scarce, such as learning spaces. To find out more, visit MIT in 1995 and won a MacArthur Fel- homes, and it gives them problems with Africa and India. Students in Smith’s class the Teaching with Technology web site lowship, nicknamed the “genius grant,” in their lungs,” Walter said. have visited Ghana and Pakistan to see if or request a brochure by sending e-mail 2004. The production process has three the briquettes could be successful there, to [email protected]. Walter and his teammates named their steps. First, organic waste is carbonized and interested parties in Namibia have company Bagazo after the energy source in a drum in a low-oxygen environment, also contacted Walter. Network upgrades for the charcoal: bagasse, or sugarcane which prevents it from turning to ash. The For more information about the project, waste. Sugarcane is widely available in resulting powder is mixed with a binder please contact Walter at [email protected]. Through two recent upgrades, the Haiti, and corncobs and possibly other to help hold it together. Then it is pressed capacity of MIT’s connection to Inter- plant wastes, including banana leaves, can into briquettes with a simple machine net2 has increased by a factor of four. also be used to make the charcoal. press and allowed to dry. IS&T boosted MIT’s connection to the Several families in Haiti have tested The entire process takes two and a CLASSIFIED ADS Northern Crossroads regional network the briquettes and liked them better than half to three hours, but the Bagazo team from one gigabyte per second to 10. In Members of the MIT community may submit turn, Northern Crossroads upgraded one ad each issue. Ads should be 30 words New England’s aggregate connection to maximum; they will be edited. Submit by the Internet2 network from 2.5 GB/s to e-mail to [email protected] or mail to Classifieds, 10 GB/s. These network upgrades help Rm 11-400. Deadline is noon Wednesday the facilitate MIT’s global leadership in LEGATUM week before ­publication. advancing knowledge and education in Continued from Page 1 and we believe this new center continues science and technology. to help us fulfill that mission,” said Phillip VEHICLES Collaboration has been key to these drawing upon the expertise of all of MIT’s L. Clay, chancellor of MIT. network improvements. MIT is an active 1992 Chryster LeBaron convertible. White w/ programs and laboratories. “We are excited at the opportunity member of both Northern Crossroads to work with such a successful emerg- new black roof, navy blue interior. New CD play- “MIT believes that an innovative entre- er, speakers, 10” subwoofer. 94,500 miles. New (www.nox.org) and Internet 2 (www. preneurial approach, practically imple- ing markets investor as Legatum, which muffler, windshield & tires. $2,000/BO. Call internet2.edu). Northern Crossroads is mented from the bottom up, provides shares a similar dedication to excellence Christina at x3-6967. an informal affiliation of about two dozen an effective route to the creation of busi- and a belief in the practical application of New England institutions with a shared nesses and jobs and to meeting essential knowledge as a means of creating opportu- FOR SALE interest in advanced networking. Inter- human needs. MIT has always been com- nity and prosperity in developing nations,” net2 provides high-speed connectiv- mitted to making a difference in the world continued Clay. Lowrey Spinet Piano (Approx 10yrs old). Blond ity to research and education institutions Professor Alex “Sandy” Pentland, direc- mahogany wood, good condition $500. Call Ken throughout the U.S. tor of the Human Dynamics Group at the at 978-250-1387. MIT Media Lab and a pioneer in mobile SixFlags Tickets: two tickets to SixFlags New information systems, health systems, England, good for any day 2007, sale at half New Java User Group price, $20 each . Call x8-8314. smart environments and technology for MIT’s Java User Group promotes the developing countries, will act as the faculty sharing of ideas and mutual support for director of the center. HOUSING Java developers and others who are inter- Iqbal Quadir will serve as the execu- ested in Java and related technologies. tive director of the center. He founded Arlington: Lge 3BR apt. for rent. Off-street parking (1 vehicle), front & back porches, yard, The group has monthly meetings featur- GrameenPhone, a profitable venture that laundry, storage. Easy access to T (Alewife), ing practical demonstrations of Java and provides universal telecommunications bus, restaurants, shops. Avail. Oct. 1. $1650/ Java-related tools. All members of the access in Bangladesh. Before joining MIT, month + util. Contact 617-750-0106 or ells. MIT community are welcome. Quadir taught at Harvard University. [email protected]. Upcoming meetings focus on the “We seek a balance in the debate on popular integrated development envi- what constitutes effective development, VACATION ronments, Eclipse and NetBeans, and which has traditionally been overwhelm- checking code with compiler plug-ins ingly out of balance in favor of top-down Aruba: Oct. 20-27: Occidental Allegro Grand (Palm Beachfront), large 1-BR suite w/ LR; 2 from CSAIL. To find out more or to join thinking. By focusing on emerging entre- the Java User Group mailing list, go to preneurs and leveraging technological balconies; 2 TVs; 2 full baths; full kitchen w/ PHOTO / L. BARRY HETHERINGTON dining area; inc. daily maid service. $1,200/ web.mit.edu/jslate/www/javausers. For innovation, the Legatum Center at MIT will week. Call Maria at x3-8012 or 781-248-3662. a list of all user groups at MIT, visit web. Iqbal Quadir, left, and Alex “Sandy” spawn a plethora of new business ventures For sale: Deeded early May time-share week, mit.edu/ist/usergroups. Pentland will serve as executive direc- in the developing world,” said Quadir. “Our 5-star Westgate Resort, Kissimmee, Fla. All ame- tor and faculty director, respectively, of ambition is to advance the principle that it nities, ground floor, screened porch, sleeps 6. the Legatum Center for Development and is entrepreneurs who most effectively drive Adjacent to large pool, hot tub, health club. All Digitalk is compiled by Information Entrepreneurship at MIT. organic economic growth.” offers considered. Call 617-436-5663. Services and Technology. MIT Tech Talk ARTS September 19, 2007 PAGE 7 MIT Museum show celebrates ocean engineer Jerry Milgram

Deborah Halber preneur and educator of more than a gen- News Office Correspondent eration of naval officers and ocean engi- neers. Among the first to apply advanced scientific technology to yacht design, he MIT ocean engineer Jerry Milgram, is probably best known for his work on William I. Koch Professor of Marine Tech- sail and hull design for every America’s nology, designed the last U.S. winner of Cup boat since 1968. the America’s Cup, pioneered oil spill As an ocean accident expert, Milgram cleanup and investigated dozens of noto- investigated, among other disasters, the rious marine disasters. Now, as the leg- 1982 sinking off Newfoundland of the endary professor and “sea-going Sherlock mobile offshore drilling rig Ocean Rang- Holmes” prepares to retire after more than er, which killed its entire crew. He testi- four decades on the MIT faculty, his career fied before Congress on how to reduce is the focus of a new exhibition in the MIT the impact of oil spills such as that of the Museum’s Compton Gallery. Exxon Valdez. The multimedia show, “Jerry Milgram: Milgram’s life work is closely entwined an exceptional ocean engineer,” is a cel- with that of fellow MIT 1962 alumnus Bill ebration of the long and storied career Koch. Koch, a contributor to the Milgram of the MIT alumnus. It includes models museum exhibition, was skipper and syn- of world-famous raching yachts, a replica dicate manager for America3, the last of the America’s Cup trophy, hundreds of winning U.S. entry in the America’s Cup stunning images and interviews with Mil- competition. gram and colleagues presented in inter- The America’s Cup, the oldest sport- active video displays. ing trophy in the world, represents the For more than a century, MIT has pinnacle of yacht design. When Koch, been a key player in ocean engineering. a businessman and scientist, became MIT research has advanced U.S. naval involved with yacht racing in the early technology, created submersible vehi- 1980s, he teamed up with Milgram to cles capable of withstanding the harsh build the world’s fastest boat. deep-ocean environment and innovated “When I was introduced to Jerry offshore energy production. MIT gradu- ­Milgram, I knew I had finally found ates’ impact spans ship design and build- someone who understood how to apply ing, ocean transport, security, energy, the scientific method to sailing,” Koch safety, salvage, marine science and said. archaeology. The Milgram exhibition opened Aug. “The hydrodyanamics of what happens 31 and will run in MIT’s Compton Gal- lery, Building 10-150, 77 Massachusetts at or near the surface of the sea is one PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY of my main categories of expertise,” Mil- Ave., Cambridge, Mass., through Feb. 3, gram said. This applies to many aspects 2008. For information, see http://web. MIT retiring professor Jerry Milgram (left) with MIT alum Bill Koch at the opening of an of his wide-ranging career as naval archi- mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/compton. exhibit that honors Milgram’s many contributions to Ocean Engineering, at the Compton tect, computer-aided sail designer, entre- html. Gallery at MIT. In the shadow of the moon University of Cambridge John Tylko the landing solution and the abort rendezvous solution led students stage News Office Correspondent to an overload condition. “That combination wasn’t antici- pated by the guys at MIT,” said Buzz Aldrin (Sc.D. 1963), Shakespeare at MIT who was the lunar module pilot of the Apollo 11 mission Many of the who developed the Apollo that accomplished the first lunar landing in July 1969. The Cambridge American Stage Tour brings its Alice- guidance system at MIT in the 1960s and 1970s were The Apollo guidance computer experienced no hard- in-Wonderland version of “The Winter’s Tale,” one of among the standing-room-only crowd that gathered Sept. ware errors during 15 flights of the Apollo spacecraft with Shakespeare’s most enchanting and moving plays, to MIT 10 on campus for a special sneak preview of the documen- astronauts on board, including nine flights to the moon this week. tary film, “In the Shadow of the Moon.” and six successful lunar landings. The play, directed and produced by students from the The film brings together for the first time the sur- Following the Sept. 10 screening University of Cambridge, features eight undergraduates viving crew members from every sin- at MIT, Professor David Mindell playing 20 characters, aided and abetted by a selection of gle Apollo mission that flew moderated a panel discussion on rag dolls. to the moon, and allows the film. Panelists included Profes- Illuminated with subtle reference to Lewis Carroll’s them to tell their story in sor Emeritus Robert C. Seamans “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” Shakespeare’s text their own words. Jr. (S.M. 1942, Sc.D.), who led the is configured to Four of the 12 astronauts Apollo program while he served stress the fan- who walked on the moon as NASA’s deputy administra- tastical world during the Apollo program tor from 1960 to 1968, and Pro- of Bohemia by received degrees from MIT’s fessor Jeffrey A. Hoffman, who using familiar Department of Aeronautics flew five space shuttle missions childhood motifs. and Astronautics. Each was as a NASA astronaut. The film’s For example, interviewed in the making of director, David Sington, and co- the old shep- the film, which intersperses producer, Christopher Riley, herd becomes high-resolution footage from also participated in the discus- the Mad Hatter the Apollo missions with inter- sion. with his son, the views of 10 of the original Apollo “It was a great film,” said March Hare. astronauts. Seamans. “It not only por- CAST, which “The biggest joy was on the trayed an epic period, but it is sponsored way home…an overwhelming put heart and soul into it.” by MIT’s Dra- sense of connectedness to the uni- Seamans, who briefed mashop, has verse accompanied by a moment President John F. Kennedy toured America of ecstasy…an epiphany,” said on NASA’s early planning since 1999. Its Edgar D. Mitchell (Sc.D. 1964), for a lunar landing in 1961 roots are in the who walked on the moon during the and helped shape the goal ADC (Amateur Apollo 14 mission in 1971. of landing a man on the Dramatic Club) David R. Scott (S.M. and E.A.A. moon before the end of Theatre, the 1962) reflected on viewing the Earth the decade, said the eight oldest student from the moon. “It truly is an oasis, years he spent at the theater in Brit- and we don’t take good care of it,” said U.S. space agency repre- ain, which has PHOTO COURTESY / CAST Scott in the film. Scott commanded the sent “the most important nurtured talents Members of the the Cambridge Apollo 15 lunar landing mission in 1971 part” of his life. such as Sam American Stage Tour perform William and also flew on Apollo 9 in 1969 with “The rocks Apollo brought back from the moon Mendes, John Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” at MIT alum Russell L. Schweickart (B.S. have been like a Rosetta stone in understanding the evolu- Cleese and Sir MIT this week. and M.S. 1963). tion of the universe,” said Hoffman. “The value that we got Ian McKellen. MIT’s Instrumentation Lab (now Draper Laboratory) scientifically from Apollo should not be underestimated.” Performances of “The Winter’s Tale” will take place developed the onboard guidance, navigation and control “I think the film is an optimistic film because it repre- Sept. 19 and 20 at 8 p.m. in Kresge Little Theater. Tickets systems for the Apollo command and lunar modules. Dur- sents what we can do, what we can achieve,” said Sington. cost $8, $6 for students. For reservations, see web.mit. ing the first lunar landing, the guidance computer dis- “If this film ends up sending a few more people to MIT, edu/dramashop. For more information, contact Hayden played program alarms when simultaneous procession of then it will have been a success.” Taylor at [email protected] or call (857) 928-6316. PAGE 8 September 19, 2007 NEWS MIT Tech Talk Brown, 3 other MIT faculty win NIH awards Elizabeth Thomson News Office

Four MIT faculty have been honored by the National Institutes of Health for their “exceptionally innovative” research. Professor Emery Brown is among 12 scientists nation- wide to receive 2007 Pioneer Awards, while three other faculty are among 29 winners of New Innovator Awards. Pioneer Awards support scientists at any career stage, while New Innovator Awards are reserved for new inves- tigators. Brown will receive $2.5 million over five years. Profes- Ed Boyden Alan Jasanoff Mehmet Fatih Yanik sors Ed Boyden, Alan Jasanoff, and Mehmet Fatih Yanik will each receive $1.5 million over five years for winning New Innovator Awards. “MIT is extremely proud to have Professors Brown, Boyden, the Benesse Career Development Professor Boyden, Jasanoff, and Yanik honored in this way by the in the Department of Biological Engineering and in the NIH. These awards reflect their strong records of innova- Media Lab, will “invent and study new methods of control- tion and creativity and confirm, once again, that our faculty ling the neural circuits that malfunction in neurological are truly among the best,” said Provost Rafael Reif. and psychiatric disorders.” Boyden also has an appoint- “Novel ideas and new investigators are essential ingre- ment in the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. dients for scientific progress, and the creative scientists Jasanoff, N.C. Rasmussen Assistant Professor of Nucle- we recognize with NIH Director’s Pioneer Awards and ar Science and Engineering, will “devise genetically con- NIH Director’s New Innovator Awards are well positioned trolled, noninvasive methods for measuring brain activity to make significant—and potentially transformative—dis- in animals.” Jasanoff also has appointments in the Depart- coveries in a variety of areas,” said NIH Director Elias A. ment of Biological Engineering, the Department of Brain Zerhouni. and Cognitive Sciences, and the McGovern Institute for “The conceptual and technological breakthroughs Brain Research. that are likely to emerge from their highly innovative Yanik, assistant professor in the Department of Elec- ­approaches to major research challenges could speed trical Engineering and Computer Science, will “develop progress toward important medical advances,” he added. microchip technologies to perform extremely fast studies Brown, a professor in the Harvard-MIT Division of of gene function in small animals to rapidly identify genet- Health Sciences and Technology and in the Department of ic targets for new drugs.” Yanik also has an appointment Brain and Cognitive Sciences, is the third member of the in the Research Laboratory of Electronics. MIT faculty to win a Pioneer Award. This is the first group of New Innovator Awards and According to the NIH, Brown “will develop a systems the fourth group of Pioneer Awards. Both programs are PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY neuroscience approach to study how anesthetic drugs act part of an NIH Roadmap for Medical Research initiative Emery Brown in the brain to create the state of general anesthesia.” that tests new approaches to supporting research. Unique Middle East program rooted at MIT bears fruit Palestinian becomes first MEET student to enroll at MIT Greg Frost and sit together and find a common lan- engineering and an MIT instructor at “All I can say about this is that ­Wissam has News Office guage,” she says. “In order to connect or MEET, got to know Jarjoui last summer told me that it would have been unlikely communicate, initially it doesn’t matter and says the program opened the Palestin- for him to make any Israeli friends were it what language you speak or where you ian youth’s eyes to the world at large and not for MEET. I think that’s a pretty pow- Three years ago, Wissam Jarjoui faced are from; what matters is how well you can taught him to dream big. erful statement, politically, culturally or an uncertain future in an unstable place. program.” “Of course, most people who know otherwise.” The Palestinian student from East Jeru- Jarjoui, who prior to starting MEET about MEET’s mission are more interested –Additional reporting by salem had never met an Israeli, and he had never met someone from the other in its political aspects,” ­Golfinopoulos says. Karla Mansur in CSAIL hadn’t even heard of the Massachusetts side of the Middle East conflict, says the Institute of Technology. first few days were “a little tense” but that Today, 17-year-old Jarjoui finds himself the Palestinian and Israeli students soon part of MIT’s Class of 2011. He radiates found common ground. confidence as he speaks about the virtues “After those first few days we under- of teamwork. And he considers several stood that we shared interests, and that Israelis among his best friends. made us think about one another in a dif- Jarjoui has come a long way in those ferent way,” he says. three years, thanks in part to a unique pro- The MEET curriculum is based on gram born at MIT that was designed to methodology developed by faculty from bring Israeli and Palestinian youths togeth- the MIT Computer Science and Artificial er in an educational environment. The Intelligence Laboratory and MIT Sloan program, Middle East Education through School of Management. MEET is further Technology (MEET), was founded by supported by business and academic Anat Binur, a graduate student in political leaders from the Middle East, the United science at MIT, her brother, Yaron Binur States and Europe. (S.B. 2006), and a friend, Assaf Harlap. Jar- MEET’s ranks have grown from that joui was one of MEET’s original partici- first summer, when only 15 Israeli and 15 pants; today he is the first MEET student Palestinian students participated. This to have enrolled at MIT. past summer, more than 80 students were “MEET literally changed my life,” he enrolled. says. Jarjoui, who hopes to study computer Jarjoui chuckles as he recalls the MEET science, electrical engineering and man- recruiters who came to his high school in agement at MIT, says it is because the early 2004 looking for participants in what language of MEET is technology and not would be the program’s first class. politics that it has been a success. “They told us that MIT was supporting “From one individual’s point of view, MEET and that MIT was the top technol- it is possible to reach a solution [to the ogy school in the world,” he says. “At first conflict in the Middle East], but it’s hard I didn’t believe it.” to reconcile two nations to the same solu- It was only later when he asked his tions when they have fundamental differ- brother that he realized the recruiters ences,” Jarjoui says. weren’t kidding; moreover, he could see “I believe the way to do it is to make that MEET was an opportunity not to be those two groups of people interact with missed. each other and realize that the only differ- The program certainly had its attrac- ence they have is what they choose. That’s tions, not least of which was the fact that what MEET showed me. It gave us all a it was free. But there were other entice- chance to explore one another without ments: the chance to learn computer sci- looking at the political side,” he says. ence, teamwork and leadership skills— And that may well be the most power- and, through it all, the prospect of tran- ful lesson of MEET. Jarjoui notes that the scending political and cultural boundaries. program provided a platform for him and Co-founder Anat Binur explains the other students to cross the political divide program was not designed to create a plat- and forge what he hopes will be lifelong form for direct dialogue about the conflict friendships. in the Middle East but, rather, to empower “The people I met through MEET are each side through education, and to use my best friends,” he says. “MEET is a fam- ily—not just for me, but for all the MEET technology as a way for students to con- PHOTO / JASON DORFMAN nect though joint interests and to learn students.” about each other. Theodore Golfinopoulos, a second- Wissam Jarjoui, 17, has become the first participant in MEET, a program that brings togeth- “They come from diverse backgrounds year MIT graduate student in electrical er Israeli and Palestinian youths, to enroll at MIT.