Message to the Physics Community – Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Dear Physics Community,

I recently learned from Deepto that torpedo initially referred to an electric eel through the word torpor.  A few things have raised me from my torpor to send out this week.

Mainly, I’d like to welcome Prof. Julien Tailleur to the Department.  Julien was a senior researcher and Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris and started at MIT on July 1.  He will begin faculty duties on Sept. 1 and join our Biophysics and Condensed Matter Theory groups, soon co-located in Building 6/6C.  Julien works on non-equilibrium thermodynamics and frequently collaborates with Mehran Kardar.  I’m very excited to have Julien with us – his email is jgt@mit.edu.

Peter

Above the Fold

  • First images from COSPAR 2021-130A (JWST) here (from Globe, here from NASA).  That JWST will start carrying out science constitutes a technical, bureaucratic, and organizational miracle.
  • Congratulations to Tracy Slatyer and Jesse Thaler, new Simons Investigators

Physics

  • From Quanta, “Controversy Continues Over Whether Hot Water Freezes Faster Than Cold,” here.
  • Airbus Zephyr breaks the record of the longest unpersoned flight – 26 days!

Announcements

  • Interesting Notre Dame program for senior graduate students here
  • Faculty engagement for MIT President search here