Say WOW

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.

Pablo Jarillo-Herrero receives the Lise Meitner Distinguished...

Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics, was awarded the Lise Meitner Distinguished Lecture and Medal, for his groundbreaking work on “twistronics,” a technique that adjusts the electronic properties of graphene by rotating adjacent layers of the material. His breakthrough research in twisted bilayer graphene research discovered unique electrical properties with the potential to create innovative superconducting materials and novel quantum devices for advanced quantum sensing, photonics, and computing applications.  The medal, sponsored by the Royal Swedish……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

MIT Center for Real Estate announces new...

The MIT Center for Real Estate (CRE) has announced a new leadership team. Siqi Zheng, the Samuel Tak Lee Professor of Real Estate Development and Entrepreneurship, has assumed the role of faculty director. Kairos Shen, associate professor of the practice, is serving as the center’s executive director. Zheng and Shen assumed their new positions last summer. Zheng will lead the intellectual and research mission of CRE. This includes expanding the center’s interdisciplinary connections within the School of Architecture and……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

Sky’s The Limit Observatory in Twentynine Palms,...

The Morongo Basin is one of the best places in California to truly see the night sky. But until relatively recently, it lacked an observatory. Visitors to Jerri Hagman’s Homestead Inn in Twentynine Palms would often marvel at the clusters of stars that illuminated the sky, and she dreamed of opening an observatory in the area. That dream started turning into reality when Hagman and Jerry Mattos secured financial support from the Basin Wide Foundation. With the help of an astronomer from……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

Homunculus Loxodontus in Leiden, Netherlands

When entering the Leiden University Medical Center, one may not expect to come across a sculpture of a strange creature.  “Homunculus Loxodontus” was the name given to a humanoid, elephant seal sculpture crafted by Margriet van Breevoort in 2016. It was designed for a yearly statue exhibition in the city. The sculpture was voted most popular by the people and was purchased by the hospital shortly after. It was the second sculpture Van Breevoort created and her most popular work……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

MinNature Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

MinNature Malaysia is a lovely museum home to miniature figures and buildings representing the cultural heritage of Malaysia. The displays were crafted by miniature enthusiasts who wanted to showcase Malaysia’s rich and diverse history. The museum opened in 2016.    Across the various displays, visitors will find miniatures that showcase Malaysian food, snacks, fruits, and vegetables. Glass walls highlight the lifestyles of Malaysian people in villages and in bustling cities. Beautiful limestone caves display bats, Buddhist temples, and human evolution……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

World’s Smallest Dala Horse in Elsborg,...

The Dalecarlian horse is well known across the globe. Most visitors to Sweden purchase one of the small wooden horses as a souvenir, even though it’s traditionally a very regional object for the province of Dalarna. The province is full of Dala horses and is home to the world’s largest and smallest versions of the wooden figure.  The smallest Dala horse was crafted by Tomas Holst in 2001 and spans less than an inch (2.2 millimeters). He decided to create the……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

Moine House in Highland Council, Scotland

The Moine House name derives from the Gaelic word mòine which means “moss” or “peat.” The house sits on the edge of a vast bog that covers much of Sutherland and Caithness, known as Flow Country. The long stretch of bog between the Kyle of Tongue and Loch Hope was often referred to as A’ Mòine, simply meaning “The Moss.” This area was difficult and dangerous for travelers to traverse until the 1830s when the Duke of Sutherland had……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

Spain’s All Iron Ventures closes €66.5M first...

Spain’s All Iron Ventures (AIV), an investor in b2c marketplaces and ecommerce plays, has closed its first fund with commitments totalling €66.5 million (~$79M) — which it touts as one of the largest first fund raises in the country.  Capital committed to the fund by its parent Group’s founding partners and other investors brings its total investment capacity to around €110M.  Backing for the fund has come from private investors, with no public support sought. AIV aligns itself with……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

Challenger bank Starling is out raising a...

Starling founder Anne Boden recently told TechCrunch that the U.K. challenger bank is on track to be profitable by Christmas, but this doesn’t mean it isn’t out raising additional capital already. According to well-placed sources, Starling has hired Rothschild with the aim of raising a new £200 million round. The draw is its expected profitability, which one source says is already creating private equity investor interest. Starling declined to comment. Having raised £363 million to date, including a £100……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

A storyteller dedicated to environmental justice

“What’s an important part of your identity?” It was a simple question. Yet Mimi Wahid watched as the high school students in her workshop fell silent, their eyebrows furrowed in thought. It was clear that for many, this was the first time they had been directly asked this question before. To Wahid, an MIT senior, questions about identity define her story. Growing up as a young woman in rural North Carolina to a white mother and a black father,……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

Daily Crunch: DOJ files suit to stop...

The DOJ challenges Visa’s acquisition of a fintech startup, Apple releases the latest version of iOS and goPuff acquires an iconic alcohol retailer. This is your Daily Crunch for November 5, 2020. The big story: DOJ files suit to stop Plaid acquisition The Department of Justice is challenging Visa’s $5.3 billion acquisition of financial services startup Plaid. There were reports last month that the DOJ was investigating the acquisition, but now the department has actually filed suit. “By acquiring……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

Julian Beinart: A life of carefully chosen...

Professor Emeritus Julian Beinart, an internationally celebrated architect and longtime MIT professor known for his highly influential course on urbanism, died on Oct. 2 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 88. “Julian Beinart’s best ideals were the best ideals of this department,” says Nicholas de Monchaux, head of the MIT Department of Architecture. “A tireless student of form, he believed architecture’s role in the city also made it inextricable from politics. His legacy — in South Africa,……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

MIT celebrates Women's Entrepreneurship Month

The women’s entrepreneurial experience at MIT started in 1870, when Ellen Henrietta Swallow first set foot on campus as an “experimental student.” Some 30 years later, she became the second president of the MIT Women’s Association, organized with her help “to promote greater fellowship among Institute women.” In the years since, the immeasurable contribution of MIT’s women to innovation and entrepreneurship has spanned the globe. This month, MIT commemorates the 150th anniversary of the first female student at MIT with……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

For Thomas Searles, a passion for people...

When Thomas Searles was assigned a book report in the first grade, he initially had trouble choosing a topic. He really didn’t like fiction books. After a bit of indecision, he chose to write his report on a book about Black astronauts. Though he didn’t realize it at the time, his journey to becoming a physicist at MIT had just begun. “I looked in the book, and there was Ronald E. McNair, who happens to be an MIT alum,……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More

Inside fintech startup Upstart’s IPO filing

While the world awaits the Airbnb IPO filing that could come as early as next week, Upstart dropped its own S-1 filing. The fintech startup facilitates loans between consumers and partner banks, an operation that attracted around $144 million in capital prior to its IPO. First Round Capital, Khosla Ventures, Third Point Ventures, Rakuten and The Progressive Corporation led rounds in the startup, according to Crunchbase data. There’s quite a lot to like in Upstart’s IPO filing, including rapidly……

This content is for Member members only.
Log In Register

Read More