There’s a little Neanderthal in us all, DNA says
Neanderthals — extinct for 30,000 years — live on today in the DNAof many people because the Ice Age brutes probably mated with prehistoric humans, scientists said yesterday.
Freshmen set to crowd MacGregor
CORRECTION APPENDED The incoming freshman class is so large that eight lounges in the MacGregor high rise will be converted into doubles starting fall of 2010.
Textbook data available sooner
To comply with a national law, MIT will make textbook information available before the pre-registration deadline in coming terms, according to a presentation delivered at April’s faculty meeting by Vice Chancellor Steven R. Lerman ’72.
Squeezing in more freshmen
In this article, Karen Nilsson tells <i>The Tech</i> that the Class of 2014 will have about 1,300 students, <b>which would represent an increase of 222 over the Class of 2013’s size of 1078 freshmen,</b> according to Registrar statistics. That increase is about <b>four times as large </b>as was projected earlier this year.
Cable channel revisits 1992 student murder
On Monday at 8 p.m., New England Cable News (NECN) will run an hour-long documentary about the 1992 murder of Norwegian student Yngve K. Raustein ’94.
Roche will file opposition brief
Biotech company Roche will file an opposition brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in <i>Stanford University v. Roche Molecular Systems, et al.</i>, the intellectual property case that Stanford and MIT have both asked the Court to hear, as have other 40 peer institutions.
Dow’s rapid fall of 1,000 points rattles traders, terrifies investors
A bad day in the stock market turned into one of the most terrifying moments in Wall Street history on Thursday with a brief, 1,000-point plunge that recalled the panic of 2008.
The oil spill: tackling questions of liability, cleanup, & consequences
On the evening of April 20, the oil rig Deepwater Horizon exploded about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers and injuring 17. Two days later it sank in 5,000 feet of water.
Shorts (left)
As its legal troubles mount, Goldman Sachs is losing a big corporate client: the American International Group.
Shorts (right)
In a controversial change to a longstanding policy concerning the practice of female circumcision in some African and Asian cultures, the American Academy of Pediatrics is suggesting that American doctors be given permission to perform a ceremonial pinprick or “nick” on girls from these cultures if it would keep their families from sending them overseas for the full circumcision.
A messy situation
Weather plays a pivotal role in disaster responses. As we witnessed with the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, wind patterns can disperse ash into the upper atmosphere causing severe travel disruptions. Modeling the ash cloud is an incredibly hard job to do with accuracy due to uncertainties in the ash plume itself and the limited predictability of the atmospheric flow. Likewise, winds have played a critical role in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. High winds and waves in the days after the oil spill stymied cleanup efforts. Forecasted winds out of the south will continue to transport the oil slick slowly toward the coast of Louisiana.
In Washington, Toyota’s problems lead to a new appetite for car safety
In the new world of auto regulation, cars could be required to have “black boxes” to record crash data and be able to stop even with the engine at full power. Automakers could be ordered to recall defective vehicles immediately and pay safety fees to cover the costs of federal oversight.
Cancer society criticizes federal panel as overstating risk
A dire government report on cancer risks from chemicals and other hazards in the environment has drawn criticism from the American Cancer Society, which says government experts are overstating their case.
A new problem for a new age
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood made the case to an audience of MIT students and faculty that technological distractions in the car constitute an “epidemic” — each year, 6,000 people die because someone was texting or making a call while on the road. And Secretary LaHood is right. Distracted driving is a problem. But the Department of Transportation’s plan to tackle this challenge in the same way they taught us to wear seat belts and not drive drunk might have some problems of its own.
Three simple steps to group project success
Group. Project. These are possibly two of the most dreaded words to an MIT student, inducing fears of getting stuck with the slacker partner or pulling an all-nighter to throw together a half-effort project. At least, this is how those two words make me feel. So when I heard that I would be working on not one but <i>three</i> group projects in my classes this semester, I was dismayed, to say the least.
Bringing MIT technology to the world
MIT announced this week that it would be assisting neglected disease research by putting its patents into a patent pool sponsored by pharmaceutical company GSK for use by neglected disease researchers around the world.
The goals of Palestine Awareness Week
In very few ways does the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “resemble domestically sticky political conflicts in the United States.” Still, people would have you believe otherwise. People would have you believe that the conflict is merely a squabble over land, with hardheaded opponents on each side, or a poorly managed government soiling an otherwise unanimous peace. Most people know how difficult it can be to get steadfast opponents to agree on anything. So, is this the case here?
DOUBLE SOY LATTE, PLEASE! You say good pie, I say hello Petsi Pies serves up classic American baked goods in a funky-fresh atmosphere
Businesses that alliterate their names make me nervous. As in, “Lovely Loyal Landscapers,” “Cool Carpet Cleaners,” or perhaps worst of all, “Julie’s Jubilant Jewelry Shop”. That last one conjures up images of a fourteen year-old girl with braces and pigtails making lanyards in her room, selling them from her front porch, getting the change wrong and definitely not filing her taxes. But thanks to the recent announcement by the mighty mindful MWRA to boil Boston’s broken pipe water, I found myself café-hopping on the safe side of the river and quite spontaneously stumbled into Petsi Pie. With a name like that, located in a neighborhood full of quaint front porches near Harvard Square, I couldn’t help but be highly skeptical.
INTERVIEW On pop, technology, and the 90s
<i>Cobra Starship, the dance/synth/pop group will be coming to Boston on May 9 at the House of Blues. I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to speak with the articulate and thoughtful Ryland Blackinton, the guitarist, about the band, Boston, and music. Thanks to Kelly McWilliam from Atlantic Records for making it happen.</i>
CONCERT REVIEW A misty-eyed ‘Sing Delivery’ wraps up the year The heartfelt performances at the Chorallaries spring concert got even the audience teary
Last Friday, April 30th, the Chorallaries of MIT sang in their annual spring concert, aptly titled “Sing Delivery” by virtue of the fact that the sophomores’ Ring Delivery fell on the same night. The Chorallaries are MIT’s oldest coed a cappella group, known for their ambitious arrangements and solid vocals. This last concert served as an enthusiastic showcase of both their never-before-heard singles and classics from years before.
INTERVIEW No such thing as too much rhythm
<i>The White Rabbits put on a show last Saturday night I can only describe as a whirlwind of rhythm someone lobbed a grenade into. Their songs are constructed from the shambles and wreckage. A descending piano line here, a trebled vibrato of guitars, and the strain of vocals, all scattered and re-assembled in the deafening echo chamber of that neverending percussion.</i>
A ‘neck-to-neck’ battle for 1st
The Sport Taekwondo Club traveled to the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday, April 3 to compete in the final Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (ECTC) tournament of the season. After several nail-biting forms performances and neck-to-neck sparring matches, MIT took second place at the tournament, and ended the season in second place behind Cornell University.
Men’s lacrosse is fourth seed in Pilgrim League
The men’s lacrosse team secured the fourth and final seed in the Pilgrim League postseason tournament on Saturday with a solid 10-7 victory over visiting Clark University. With the win, the Engineers closed out the regular season with a record of eight wins and six losses, and they secured a playoff spot for the second consecutive year.
Scoreboard
Baseball Wednesday, May 5 vs. Rhode Island CollegeW 8-6 Thursday, May 6 at St. Joseph’s CollegeW 7-6 at St. Joseph’s CollegeL 3-1
Upcoming Home Events
Saturday, May 8 Track and field: NEIAAA championships 12 p.m., Northeastern University Sunday, May 9 Baseball vs. Suffolk University 1 p.m., Briggs Field
Sports program on the rise
The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup is an annual award given out by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, or NACDA. This year, Tech ranked 9th on the list — a significant rise from a position of 60th just four years ago.
Dear Institute, I will miss you
This is my third to last week at MIT...<i>ever</i>. I am excited to be graduating, but I definitely will be missing a lot of the people here and many things about this place. In particular some of the things I will miss include: Dancing in Kresge Auditorium, food at MIT, and sketchy activities in the Student Center.
BROUHAHA RHYTHM Mapping out the Friend Zone
I was watching a movie with some friends the other night when the topic of a woman’s “friend zone” came up. Presumably, the Friend Zone is a Bermuda Triangle-like region from which there is no exit, inside which a male is considered a non-romantic entity, like a brother or a pet rock. I’ve never believed in the Friend Zone, although I suppose it’s only fair to disclaim that my experiences may differ from others’. Maybe it does exist, and I’ve simply never been placed in it, but I haven’t been quite vain enough to assume something like that since I was 15 — it seems much more likely that it simply hasn’t come into my mind as important.
