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Suborbital space tourism finally arrives | FCC prepares to run public C-band auction | The big four in the U.S. launch industry — United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman — hope to be one of two providers that will receive five-year contracts later this year to launch national security payloads starting in 2022. | China’s launch rate stays high | The International Space Station is the largest ever crewed object in space.

MIT community in 2020: A year in...

We’ve reached a reflective time in an especially reflective year for the MIT community. The challenges of 2020 have been unique, shaped in countless ways by the Covid-19 pandemic, renewed calls for social justice, an unprecedented election cycle, and more. Here are some of the top stories in the MIT community this year. Adapting to Covid-19 Like everyone else, the Institute was forced to reckon with the Covid-19 pandemic — though it accomplished this with a distinctive MIT flair……

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Top MIT research stories of 2020

Although 2020 has been a year most of us would prefer to forget, it still featured a number of research breakthroughs worth celebrating. Despite the new challenges brought on by Covid-19 — and sometimes because of them — MIT’s community achieved important milestones on the frontiers of science and engineering. The following 10 research-related stories published in the previous 12 months received top views on MIT News. (We’ve also rounded up the year’s top MIT community-related stories.) 10. How quarantines……

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'Ajdovska Deklica' ('Heathen Maiden') in Slovenia

In Slovenian, ajd literally means “heathen.” The rock formation of “Ajdovska Deklica” is usually known as the “Heathen Maiden” in English. Traditionally, it also denotes a supernatural quality. According to folklore, the maiden was a good-hearted villager who often guided travelers through snowstorms. In some renditions, she is described as a nymph or forest spirit. The maiden also had prophetic abilities and could foretell the fates of unborn babies. One day, she prophesized about a boy who would grow to become a……

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Dava Newman named director of MIT Media...

Dava Newman SM ’89, SM ’89, PhD ’92, an MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics whose groundbreaking work has advanced human performance in space with the goal of interplanetary reach, has been named the new director of the MIT Media Lab, effective July 1, 2021. “Leading the legendary Media Lab is a dream for me, and I can’t wait to help write the next chapter of this uniquely creative, impactful, compassionate community,” Newman says. Currently she is the Apollo……

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Review: Carey Mulligan mesmerizes in ‘Promising Young...

Is it a #MeToo-era revenge thriller? A 21st-century “Fatal Attraction”? A candy-colored feminist polemic, to strains of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears? A black comedy? A comic tragedy? None of the above — and all of the above. Which is to say: a film as bracingly original as Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman” defies labels. Here’s a couple good adjectives, though: Startling — the only way to describe Fennell’s vision and execution in this, her directorial debut. And, sensational…

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Istanbul Airport Museum in Arnavutköy, Turkey

With approximately 11,000 square feet of exhibit space, the new Istanbul Airport Museum offers an alternative to shopping and airport lounges for travelers with a long layover. First opened in July, 2020, the museum brings together hundreds of objects from museums across Turkey. It’s designed to help globetrotters experience a comprehensive cross-section of history, art, and culture in a single visit. Passengers should keep a keen lookout for signs directing them to the museum, which is on the second floor……

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The Old Country Store and Museum in...

This store is more than a shopping experience as it also showcases the history of country stores. The Old Country Store and Museum in Moultonboro, New Hampshire is the epitome of a classic country store. Inside is filled with penny candy, locally made jams, maple syrup, and pickles in a giant barrel. However, it’s what’s housed upstairs that is truly a surprise. The attic is home to a little museum dedicated to these small, rural stores from a bygone……

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Ponte dei Trepponti (Trepponti Bridge) in Comacchio,...

The city of Comacchio is located on a branch of the Po river. Inhabited since ancient times, this town has always been one of the major cultural centers in the region. Contested by many local powers for centuries, Comacchio was governed by the Papal States in the 16th-century. During this time, an urban renovation project managed by architect Luca Danese took place in Comacchio. The town was raided multiple times during the previous decades, which forced Comacchio to construct……

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Liberis, the embedded finance provider for SMEs,...

Liberis, the U.K.-based fintech that provides finance for small businesses as an alternative to a traditional bank loan or extended overdraft, has replenished its own coffers with £70 million in funding. The round is a mixture of debt and venture debt, although the company is declining to disclose the percentage split, so we can likely chalk this up as mostly debt to fund the loans Liberis issues. Providing the financing are previous backers British Business Investments, Paragon Bank and……

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Task Force 2021 and Beyond shares its...

MIT’s Task Force 2021 and Beyond has released an initial menu of more than 50 ideas to reimagine and reposition the Institute for the post-Covid world. Now, members of the MIT community are urged to review the proposals and weigh in — helping the task force and Institute leadership to focus, in the coming months, on beginning work to implement viable ideas that have broad support and impact. The ideas are wide-ranging, touching upon reshaping the physical campus to……

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This Christmas Punch Requires a Formerly Forbidden...

This month, Gastro Obscura is sharing the recipes and stories behind amazing holiday dishes and drinks from around the world in the ongoing series “Home-Cooked Holidays.” In Mexico, ponche Navideño—or Christmas punch—is a holiday classic, served up at parties and posadas, neighborhood-wide re-enactments of Mary and Joseph seeking shelter for the birth of Jesus. “Christmas in particular has so many foods and rituals attached to it. So you would have your ponche and your tamales,” says Lesley Téllez, a……

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Daily Crunch: Stimulus bill includes money for...

We look at the tech implications of the new stimulus bill, Lockheed Martin makes a big rocket engine acquisition and Google Cloud expands. This is your Daily Crunch for December 21, 2020. The big story: Stimulus bill includes money for broadband and energy The $900 billion pandemic relief bill that lawmakers agreed on over the weekend includes a number of provisions that could have a significant impact on the tech industry. For one thing, it commits $7 billion to……

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Why Winemakers Are Adding Seawater to Their...

For more than two decades, Hervé Durand has been offering visitors the opportunity to travel back in time some 2,000 years. Not by operating a time machine. Instead, he hands out glasses of wine. Each year, on the second Sunday in September, Durand leads an “experimental archaeological adventure” at his Mas des Tourelles vineyard in the lower Rhône valley. In partnership with the French National Center for Scientific Research, he turns his harvest into wines that taste like Roman……

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Mas des Tourelles in Beaucaire, France

Located in a partially excavated and reconstructed Gallo-Roman villa, Mas des Tourelles offers the chance to sip a glass of wine that recreates the taste of ancient Greece or Rome. Although the winery also produces Syrah and other modern wines, its most interesting offerings are made by following the detailed notes and records of Pliny the Elder, Lucius Moderatus Columella, and other notable writers of the Roman world. In partnership with archaeologists, owner Hervé Durand reconstructed the Roman vineyard and……

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Fintech startups are increasingly focusing on profitability

Fintech startups have been massively successful over the past few years. The biggest consumer startups managed to attract millions — sometimes even tens of millions — of users and have raised some of the biggest funding rounds in late-stage venture capital. That’s why they’ve also reached incredible valuations. After a few wild years of growth, fintech startups are starting to act more like traditional finance companies. And yet, this year’s economic downturn has been a challenge for the current……

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