Dear Physics Community,

I’m delighted to pass on the news that Deepto will take over as Department Head on Sept. 1.  In my time, Deepto has served as Astrophysics Division Head and Associate Head, and I have always valued his wisdom and forthrightness.

Deepto attended MIT as an undergraduate in the Class of 1988 and brings the important perspective as an alumnus of our Department.  I can say he remains deeply committed to our educational program   He has done a lot in our freshman subjects and has been a tireless advocate for them.

Deepto uses X-rays to study neutron stars as microsecond pulasr and serves as a major figure in the field.  More than that, he carries a deep love and interest in Physics and Astrophysics and will be a great advocate for our Department.

I wish Deepto the very best in the time ahead.  We’ve all learned that life can throw some curveballs and he’ll certainly get some, but I know he will listen to and advocate for us.  I wish him every success and satisfaction as Physics Department Head.

Peter

Announcements

• 51 Pegasi b Fellowship in Planetary Astronomy: Now Accepting Applications here
• Announcing the 2022 Quantum Creators Prize Symposium here

Dear Physics Community,

As July ends, Fall remains a month away but still seems soon.  I’ve been noticing odd things more, a return to normal.  For example, I was looking out the window of Terminal C at Logan last week and noticed across the water in Winthrop (?) an odd building I had seen before that looked like a control tower.

Close up:

A control center for shipping (weird place, away from the harbor), a secondary tower for Logan?

Having some time before the flight, I connected to Google Earth and had a look.  It took me a long time to find:

Still not super informative, so I went around in back (via Google Earth):

Boy, I did not get that right: the “control tower” holds a shrine to Madonna, the Queen of the Universe, a famous place in Orient Heights.  Everyone probably knows about this except me. Definitely worth a visit.

Ain interesting incident: I thought the building held a control center looking out over the harbor because I was across the harbor and have an interest in control centers, leading to my assumptions.  Instead, the building faces the other way and holds a deeply spiritual statue.

Thoughts for deep summer.

I believe we will hear of the next Department Head soon, and my next and last message to the community will welcome them.  My new Office of Research Computing and Data, ORCD (pronounced “orchid,” like the flower), may have a similar weekly message, but about computing and data, not physics (well, maybe some).

Enjoy summer,

Peter

Above the Fold

• Misha Ivanov currently at the Institue for Advanced Study will join the faculty in July 2023 as an Assistant Professor.  Misha’s has broad interests in applying field theory to astrophysics and cosmology.
• Eluned Smith, currently at University of Zurich, will join the faculty in January 2023, as an Assistant Professor.  Eluned (pronounced “Ellened”) works at the LHCb experiment at CERN, where she has studied rare particle decays.

We undertook two very strong searches this year, and I send my compliments and gratitude to all involved.

Physics

• Fast Radio Burst detected in a distant galaxy by Kiyo Masui and collaborators here
• “Living Crystal” of starfish embryos observed by Nikta Fakhri and her group MIT News here, Nature paper here, News&Views here

• “Computer Science Proof Unveils Unexpected Form of Entanglement” – interesting article from Quanta

• Earlier posts have mentioned our alum David Wargo’s biopic about Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan.  Principle photography has finished, and editing has begun.  Update here.

Announcements

• Professional Development courses and seminars offered by MIT here
• Congratulations to MathWorks Fellows Yuchao Chen, Jixang Yang and Ykun Lu.
• Open-Rank Tenure-Line Professor of Physics at Lewis and Clark here
• Deadline is Aug 1st: 2022 FUTURE of Physics – call for nominations here
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowships here
• NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships (AAPF) Program solicitaiton here
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for for Launching EarlyCareer Academic Pathways in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (LEAPS-MPS) here