Professor Emerita Evelyn Fox Keller, a MacArthur genius grant recipient, “theoretical physicist, philosopher and writer who viewed science through a feminist lens,” has died at 87, reports Georgina Ferry for The Guardian. Keller’s work explored “how the practice of science had come to be perceived as intrinsically masculine, and to think about what a gender-neutral science might look like,” writes Ferry.
Nature reporter Neil Savage speaks with former members of Prof. Moungi Bawendi’s research group about their work with Bawendi on synthesizing quantum dots. Manoj Nirmal PhD '96 recalls how, “what I was really intrigued and fascinated by was, it was very different than anything else that was happening in the [chemistry] department.” Christopher Murray PhD '95 rejoiced in the Nobel Prize announcement, saying, “It’s extremely exciting to see that what [Moungi] built is recognized as part of the Nobel prize.”
Prof. Emeritus Frank Levy and Louisiana State Prof. Scott Abrahams have published a working paper titled “The Revival of U.S. Populism: How 39 Years of Manufacturing Losses and Educational Gains Reshaped the Electoral Map,” reports Thomas B. Edsall for The New York Times. The paper makes “the case that polarization and institutional gridlock have roots dating back more than four decades,” explains Edsall.
Prof. Charles Stewart III speaks with Matter of Fact host Soledad O’Brien to explain the role and history of the Speaker of the House. “In a nation of people who are naysayers and distrusting of authority, distrusting of institutions and political parties, the American Congress remains the most capable parliamentary institution on this planet,” says Stewart.
Prof. Moungi Bawendi, recipient of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, speaks with CBC Quirks & Quacks host Bob McDonald about his work in quantum dots and nanotechnology. “I really want to stress that the beginning of this field, we were interested in this because it was a brand new material, it was a size region that no one had investigated before,” says Bawendi. “This was before people talked about nanoscience and nanotechnology, we were just very curious how the properties evolved from the molecular properties… to the bulk properties.”
In an article for The Hill, Prof. Arnold Barnett and Arnaud Sarfati MBA ‘21 examine whether Americans can trust the polling system in the U.S. “To put it simply, believe the polls, and pay particular attention to the local polls in toss-up states,” they write. “Pollsters that were broadly successful in the last presidential election are unlikely to fail colossally in the next one.”
In an article that appeared in The Washington Post, Prof. Kenda Mutongi explores how “what has emerged on the streets of Nairobi is a kind of civic pragmatism, a host of improvisatory and creative practices that amount to a supplementary accommodation which grants the poor a meager means of survival.” Mutongi adds: “through an inventive kind of civic pragmatism, the citizens of Nairobi find ways of ‘instrumentalizing disorder’ that allow them to survive. Somehow, in a roundabout way, people keep trying to get by.”
Forbes reporter Howard Gleckman spotlights Prof. Amy Finkelstein’s new book, “We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care.” Finkelstein and her co-author propose a, “highly provocative, radical alternative to our current mess,” by combining, “a global health budget with universal, free, basic care for everybody,” Gleckma explains.
Prof. Emerita Evelyn Fox Keller, a MacArthur genius grant winner who brought attention to gender bias in science has died at 87, writes Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. “She was an icon,” says Prof. Sherry Turkle. Turkle notes that Keller’s “analysis was profound because you realized that the very words that you used to talk about doing an experiment — or learning, or what it meant to understand — was deeply gendered.”
Prof. Iván Werning speaks with New York Times reporter Peter Coy about whether transitioning from pesos to the U.S. dollar could help control inflation in Argentina. Coy writes that Werning prefers “more conventional solutions such as bringing government budgets closer into balance.”
Prof. Moungi Bawendi shares his thoughts at an MIT press conference after being named a recipient of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, reports the AFP. “None of us who started this field could have predicted 30 years later, it would be where we are today,” says Bawendi. “And you know it’s just amazing to me. If you have really great people working on a brand new field with brand new materials, innovation comes out in directions that you can’t predict.”
Prof. Moungi Bawendi has been named a recipient of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work and contributions to the field of quantum dots and nanotechnology, reports Brianna Abbott for The Wall Street Journal. “To understand the physics, which was the motivation, we had to create the material,” says Bawendi. “I would never have thought that you could make them at such a large scale and that they would actually make a difference in the consumer area.”
Prof. Moungi Bawendi, one of the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, speaks with Lisa Mullins of WBUR’s All Things Considered. “It's a lot of hard work, a lot of perseverance, and sometimes, you know, you'll work for a few years without seeing any results at all. And then the results come maybe just in a few weeks, and suddenly it happens,” says Bawendi of his advice to students on dealing with progress and failures in their research. “Believing in the end point and just, you know, when things don't work, learning how to solve problems and go maybe a little slightly different direction."
Prof. Mougni Bawendi is one of three scientists who has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with quantum dots, reports Sam Turken for GBH. “Bawendi said that when he first started working with quantum dots, he wasn’t thinking of the potential uses for them,” writes Turken. “He merely wanted to study them, but in order to do that, he had to create dots that were of high quality. Once he did that, their benefits became more clear.”
Boston Globe reporter Aaron Pressman and John R. Ellement spotlight Prof. Moungi Bawendi, one of the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for his work in the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots, “tiny particles used in an array of technologies.” Bawendi noted that he was “deeply honored and surprised and shocked” to receive a Nobel Prize. He added that MIT is, “just a different place in the world. And I’m so grateful that MIT supported me through my career all these years.”