Volume 48 – Number 28 TechTalk Wednesday – May 19, 2004 S ERVING THE MIT COMMUNITY Work offers hope for treating retardation By blocking a single brain chemical, many of the psy- chiatric and neurological disabilities associated with a pri- mary cause of mental retardation could be treated, accord- ing to MIT neuroscientist Mark Bear in the July issue of Trends in Neuroscience. The findings of Bear, the Picower Professor of Neuro- science at the Picower Center for Learning and Memory at MIT, and his colleagues from the University of Texas and Emory University School of Medicine have given hope to parents Katie Clapp and Mike Tranfaglia of West Newbury, Mass. “This research offers the possibility of what I’ve only dared to dream but have been working toward for 10 years—a specific treatment that will help my son and hun- dreds of thousands of other children and adults with frag- PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY Mark Bear (above, with an image of a neuron on his computer monitor) has done research that implicates a single mutated See FRAGILE X gene and protein in the many symptoms of fragile X syndrome. Page 6 Whales safer with new buoy Andrea Cohen MIT Sea Grant How can trombones help keep whales safe at sea? With a little MIT ingenuity. Lines attached to conventional fishing buoys can snag a whale’s pectoral fin, tail fluke or mouth, leading to injury or death. MIT Sea Grant’s Cliff Goudey was sure there had to be a simple way to prevent such entanglements. “I was trying to come up with something having the right shape so I could test some ideas,” he said. “I played the trumpet when I was in high school and realized that the shape of a brass instrument bell was what I was looking for, and a trombone would provide the ideal size.” He bought two trombone replacement bells—tenor and alto shapes were good candidates—and he used See BUOY Page 6 Tech Talk rescheduled The next issue of Tech Talk originally scheduled for May 26 will instead be published a week later PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY (Wednesday, June 2). That issue will include list- ings of year-end student awards; the June 9 issue Roving on court with coverage of Commencement will be the last Nathan Ball, a junior in mechanical engineering, pats Killian Court on Thursday, May 13. Next fall the course issue published until late August. For MIT news the Mars rover replica he helped build in subject 2.993 will be offered as subject 2.12, taught once again throughout the summer, go to the News Office web (Introduction to Robotics). Students in the experimental by Harry Asada, the Ford Professor of Mechanical site at http://web.mit.edu/news.html. course tested their rovers—Spirit and Opportunity—on Engineering. NEWS RESEARCH ARTS A BRACING WIN OPINION PIECES DEBUT SHAPING HOMES AND BODIES The Active Joint Brace team wins the $50K Tech Talk launches a new feature, Viewpoints, with a List Center exhibitions of two eastern European competition with its business plan for a medical device. discussion of criteria for the next MIT president. artists probe social and housing codes. Page 2 Page 3 Page 7 WINGED MVPs CUTTING-EDGE ARCHITECTURE ARTIST IN THE NEWS Fledgling hawks get webcam focus, courtesy of a Architect Robert Venturi voices his views on Frank Kryzysztof Wodiczko is profiled on WGBH-TV today new media production service, MVP&DT. Gehry’s designs at the annual Max Wasserman Forum. and will show work at MassMoCA next month. Page 2 Page 4 Page 7 PAGE 2 May 19, 2004 NEWS MIT Tech Talk ‘Hawkcam’ is one offering of new service A new service, MIT Video Pro- and wide-screen aerial shots of the ductions and Digital Technologies, nearly completed building. has launched with two high-profile “Our greatest visual assets in projects: a multimedia presenta- creating pieces are often provided tion at the Stata Center dedication by the researchers,” said MVP&DT and MIT Hawkcam. multimedia specialist Doug Bolin. MIT Video Productions and “Professor Seth Teller and student Digital Technologies (MVP&DT), Matt Wilkerson provided us with part of Academic Media Produc- unlimited access to the millions of tion Services, is the result of a images that they captured since the recent merger between MIT Video demolition of Building 20 in 1998.” Productions and the Streaming MVP&DT’s most popular pro- Media Operations Group. gram of late is the MIT Hawkcam, “This consolidation allows us to a sort of “reality TV” offering. control and streamline the capture Since mid-April, the group has and delivery process from the cam- been broadcasting the maturation era lens to the desktop,” said Larry process of two baby red tail hawks Gallagher, director of MVP&DT. “In in a nest on campus on MIT cable the past we would acquire [images] channel 11; since late April, the in an analog tape format and con- birds have also been shown on a vert to digital for delivery, but now live webcast 12 hours a day. we can record direct to digital for “We simply capitalized on our subsequent streaming, and we can good fortune regarding the par- originate live webcasts from practi- ents’ choice of nest location. Our cally anywhere at the Institute.” existing infrastructure allows us to At the recent Stata Center dedi- share this without the significant cation, MVP&DT’s multimedia commitment of resources that a production staff collaborated with project like this would normally IMAGE COURTESY / MVP&DT the computer graphics group in require,” said David Mycue, asso- The CSAIL computer graphics group and MVP&DT used time-lapse images and video compositing in a presen- the Computer Science and Arti- ciate director of MVP&DT. tation at the opening celebration of the Stata Center. ficial Intelligence Laboratory to “The webcast has attracted create a presentation to kick off thousands of viewers from MIT we publish a log of when and what build the nest. The fledglings are as the Singapore-MIT Alliance, the ceremony. Time-lapse images and across the country, averaging each of the chicks eat.” expected to take flight sometime the System Design and Manage- that compressed the six-year con- 200 hits per day with a peak of well The parents and chicks have early next week. ment program, OpenCourseWare struction process into a few sec- over 1,000 when the project was been named by some at MIT and MVP&DT provides production and MITWorld. For more infor- onds shared the screen with his- spotlighted on the MIT home page. their lives have been followed support and content delivery to mation, call 253-7603, see http:// toric images of Building 20, first We’ve received e-mail ranging from with great interest since the par- many clients around MIT, including web.mit.edu/amps/services or e- impressions of staff and students, a simple thanks to a request that ent hawks first brought in twigs to distance education initiatives such mail [email protected]. Active Joint Brace team wins MIT $50K competition The Active Joint Brace various colors across a computer includes Vik Sahney, brother of $50K has become a very serious “The MIT $50K’s value is in team was selected as winner at screen, unlocking musical creativ- Active Joint Brace team member generator of ideas and plans.” the learning process. Participants Wednesday’s 15th annual MIT ity without years of training. The Mira Sahney and also an LFM Seven finalists were chosen learn how to take an idea, build $50K Entrepreneurship Competi- software will be targeted for chil- graduate student. from 127 entrants with 425 team a team around it, formulate a tion. Hyperscore and LiquidPiston dren, educators and professional “We found these plans to members participating. Judges, strategic vision, and develop and were selected as runners-up. musicians. be extraordinary—among the including noted venture capital- articulate it in the form of a busi- Active Joint Brace is an electro- LiquidPiston is a combus- best we’ve ever seen,” said Joe ists and entrepreneurs, selected ness plan,” said Marcus Lopez, mechanical orthotic device that tion engine that doubles fuel Hadzima, a lecturer at the Sloan the winning teams based on their lead organizer and a junior in increases functional independence efficiency and reduces nitrogen School of Management, managing potential of becoming “tomorrow’s mechanical engineering. “They by working in tandem with exist- oxide emissions by 90 percent. Its director of Main Street Partners leading firms.” then pitch and secure interest for ing muscles. The portable, low- first market will be the auxiliary LLC and a $50K judge since the The other finalists this year their plan, often turning it into a cost, noninvasive device is aimed power unit market, which sup- contest’s inception. “In judging, were Active Spectrum, Advanced real business. It’s the process of at the 10 million Americans with plies long-haul trucks with power it was difficult to select a winner, Diamond Solutions, LumArray becoming an entrepreneur, which disabilities who have difficulty during rest stops. The team a tribute to the fact that the MIT and MicroLaser. is far more valuable than winning lifting light objects and need help the prize money.” with daily activities. Each finalist team presented As winner of the Robert P. its plan to an audience of venture Goldberg Grand Prize, the Active capitalists and business leaders Joint Brace team receives $30,000; at the final awards in Kresge the runners-up receive $10,000 Auditorium. The event reached each. This is the sixth year in a a global audience through a live row that a medically oriented team Internet broadcast.