April 25, 2007
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Volume 51 – Number 24 Wednesday – April 25, 2007 TechTalk S ERVING T HE M I T C OMMUNITY Three-neutrino model still rules particle physics Anne Trafton results about half an hour into Monroe said last week, after Pappalardo Fellow who arrived at MIT last News Office her talk. The outcome? The her lecture. September and worked on the MinibooNE standard model is still safe: Experiments done in the project as a graduate student at Columbia The experiment confirms the 1990s at the Liquid Scintillator University. Physicists can rest easy—the Standard model’s prediction that there Neutrino Detector (LSND) at Neutrinos are generated by nuclear Model of Particle Physics is still in effect. are only three types of neu- the Los Alamos National Labo- reactions, such as those that occur in the More than 100 MIT students and pro- trinos (tiny elementary par- ratory offered strong indirect sun or in nuclear reactors. Most come fessors jammed into Room 35-225 on ticles that are components of evidence for the existence from the sun: More than 50 trillion solar Wednesday, April 11, to hear the long- atoms). of a fourth neutrino, but the neutrinos pass through the human body anticipated results of a particle detection Some of the assembled results were controversial. every second, but they are extremely diffi- experiment designed to produce evidence crowd seemed disappointed So another experiment, the cult to detect because they have no charge that would confirm or reject the model, that the foundation of par- Booster Neutrino Experiment and a mass so tiny it has never been mea- which outlines the elements of particle ticle physics had not been (MinibooNE) was launched in sured. physics. upended. Jocelyn Monroe late 2002 to try to replicate the Currently scientists know that there are MIT postdoctoral associate Jocelyn “This was such a big ques- results. Monroe, who worked on the experiment, tion. It would have changed everything” if “It was very important to confirm or See NEUTRINO prolonged the suspense, revealing the they found evidence for a fourth neutrino, refute the LSND result,” said Monroe, a Page 4 Faculty honor Virginia Tech victims, applaud Edgerton winner, in meeting Deborah Halber and other ways to get messages out to the News Office Correspondent community. Some faculty members request- ed a system for following up on students who they had referred to student services, The faculty observed a moment of while maintaining the students’ privacy. silence at the April 18 faculty meeting for the victims of the tragedy at Virginia Edgerton Award announced Tech, and Theresa M. Stone, Nergis Mavalvala, associ- MIT’s executive vice president ate professor of physics and and treasurer, and representa- Alfred P. Sloan Research Fel- tives from Campus Police and low, received the Edgerton Environmental Health and Award from the award selec- Safety (EHS) presented an tion committee. The annual overview of how news of the award goes to a junior non- shootings has impacted emer- tenured member of the MIT gency response discussions on faculty. “It means a lot to me, campus. and almost everything I do is Stone emphasized that because of the fantastic men- police and EHS personnel rou- toring I get at this wonderful tinely use drills and exercises place,” Mavalvala said. to anticipate every kind of Philip S. Khoury, associate emergency. Theresa M. Stone provost and Ford Internation- William Van Schalk- al Professor of History, gave wyk, managing director of Envi- an update on MIT’s international engage- ronmental Health and Safety Pro- ments, which include 75 projects in more grams, said an extensive communica- tions system is in place that includes See MEETING e-mail, emergency channels on cable TV Page 6 Deborah Loeb Bohren is appointed vice president for external affairs Deborah Loeb Bohren, currently as the standard of excellence in our cho- executive vice president at sen fields.” the Washington, D.C., public Bohren herself said, “I am affairs firm of Powell Tate, will thrilled and honored to have join MIT as vice president for the opportunity to join the external affairs on May 21. MIT community in this new President Susan Hockfield role. MIT is a world-renowned announced Bohren’s appoint- educational institution with ment in an e-mail letter to the an unwavering dedication Institute’s faculty and staff on to knowledge, education, April 18. research and innovation, as In her letter, Hockfield well as a commitment to mak- PHOTO / L. BARRY HETHERINGTON noted that Bohren brings to ing a positive difference in the her new role extensive experi- world in which we live. I can- Engine of science ence in public relations, gov- not imagine a more exciting or ernment affairs and employee Deborah Loeb Bohren challenging place to work.” The Cambridge Science Festival, which runs through Sunday, April 29, kicked off communications in both the As vice president for exter- April 21 with a special event at Cambridge City Hall. Above, left to right, Harriette private and public sectors, and said that nal affairs Bohren will lead the coordina- Crawford, Venola Bynoe, and Harriette’s son, Malik Crawford, inspect a car powered her work would “enhance MIT’s public See BOHREN by electricity. See story and list of events on page 5. visibility and ensure that we continue to be recognized nationally and internationally Page 6 NEWS RESEARCH AMBITIONS STATESMAN FOR SCIENCE CAPE CLEANUP AIDS WATER STUDIES LINGUA NON FRANCA Sen. Edward Kennedy delivers the Compton A hugely expensive project has advanced hydrology MIT linguists take on challenger to Universal Lecture. research. Grammar. Page 3 Page 4 Page 7 HOUSE OF HADID A NEURON WAY OF KNOWING A LITTLE BEE TOLD ME Pritzker Prize winner Zada Hadid talks flow in Researchers discover neurons may ‘know’ how to Two MIT Sloan students build a free web site that architecture, accessories. tell glossy from grainy surfaces. gives the ‘buzz’ on business school admissions. Page 7 Page 5 Page 7 PAGE 2 April 25, 2007 NEWS MIT Tech Talk Ivan D. Dimitrov, of Sofia and Senior House, dies at 20 DIGITALK: WHERE IT’S AT Sarah H. Wright music and professional soccer team CSKA, said his friend News Office Ivan Z. Dimitrov, a sophomore in electrical engineering IT Energy@MIT table and computer science. The two men (no relation), who One highlight of MIT Earth Week had been friends since high school in Sofia, were both 2007 is the Earth Day Fair on April Ivan D. Dimitrov, an undergraduate from Sofia, Bulgar- members of the CSKA fan club and went to many soccer 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Stata ia, who was known among friends for his positive nature games together. Center. If you come, be sure to stop and passion for life, died on Saturday, April 21, as a result “He was very special. He was always happy. He set by the IT energy table. IS&T staff of injuries from a motorcycle goals for himself and he got them: He wanted to be a will have a demonstration of energy use by comput- crash. croupier last summer, so he did that. He wanted to own ers and monitors. You can also introduce yourself Dimitrov, 20, was fatally a motorcycle, so he did that,” said Dimitrov, adding, “He to MIT’s new IT energy coordinator, Laxmi Rao. As injured at about 3:30 a.m. when read all the safety manuals. He was a careful driver.” head of the IT Energy@MIT initiative—part of the he lost control of his 1998 Both Tsekov and Dimitrov recalled their friend’s capac- campus energy task force—she is eager to share Kawasaki 600 motorcycle on ity to see the potential for humor or high spirits in any ideas on how to reduce the IT energy footprint at the Fenway exit ramp off Stor- situation. It was his idea, they noted, to “claim the suite MIT, including insights gleaned from courses row Drive east in Boston, news for Bulgaria, complete with barricades, flags and plastic and research. You can also send feedback to it- reports said. swords” as a prank on new students. He also gave every- [email protected]. Dimitrov had had plans to one nicknames, they said. If you can’t make it to the IT energy table, go to New York City on Satur- While his successes in math provided him the oppor- visit the initiative’s web page at web.mit.edu/ist/ day night to hear Bulgarian tunity to travel widely—he went to Mexico, Greece, Cuba services/it-energy. folk music star Milko Kalayd- and Russia, they said—his focus remained on returning to Designing interactions Ivan D. Dimitrov zhiev, according to friends in Sofia and buying property in the neighborhood where he Senior House, where Dimitrov grew up. Digital technology has changed the way we inter- lived since coming to MIT last September. He “didn’t want to make a lot of money—just enough to act with everything from the games we play to the When he arrived on campus, Dimitrov quickly live and enjoy life,” said his friends. tools we use at work. In “Designing Interactions,” immersed himself in the close-knit Bulgarian community, Dimitrov is survived by his mother, Neli, a hotel admin- from the MIT Press, author Bill Moggridge intro- inspiring other students with his infectious good humor istrator, his father, Dimiter, owner of a commercial clean- duces us to 40 influential designers who have shaped and ingenuity for pranks, said a friend and housemate, ing business, and his younger brother, Dani, all of Sofia. our interaction with technology.