[Editors] MIT Research Digest - June 2004

[MIT News Office]

MIT RESEARCH DIGEST - June 2004

A monthly tip-sheet for journalists of recent research
advances at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
For the latest MIT research news, go to
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/research.html

For more information contact:
Elizabeth Thomson, MIT News Office
Phone: (617) 258-5402 * mailto:thomson at mit.edu

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IN THIS ISSUE: Stem Cell Advance  *  The Skinny on Fat
Storing Memories  *  Cutting Airplane Noise
Whale-Free Buoys  *  'Chance' Encounters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

STEM CELL ADVANCE
An MIT team has developed new technology that could jump-start 
scientists' ability to create specific cell types from human 
embryonic stem cells, a feat with implications for developing 
replacement organs and a variety of other tissue engineering 
applications. Human embryonic stem cells have the potential to 
differentiate into a variety of specialized cells, but coaxing them 
to do so is difficult. One factor known to influence their behavior 
is the material the cells grow upon outside the body, which is the 
focus of the current work. "Until now there has been no quick, easy 
way to assess how a given material will affect cell behavior," said 
Robert Langer, the Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical 
Engineering.
MORE: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2004/celltest.html

THE SKINNY ON FAT
Forget the drastic reduction in carbs and calories called for by diet 
dictators. The day when people can eat their favorite foods, stay 
thin and live to be 120 without getting age-induced diabetes or 
cancer may be nearer than we think. Researchers at MIT believe 
they've found the key to a long, lean, healthy life in a single 
protein that controls whether a mammal stores fat or sheds it. "For 
the first time, this study gives us a glimpse of how calorie 
restriction works at the molecular level. And it will ultimately lead 
to health benefits in people," said MIT Professor of Biology Leonard 
Guarente, who has been studying the aging process in yeast, 
roundworms and mice for more than a decade.
MORE: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2004/aging.html

STORING MEMORIES
Neuroscientists at the Picower Center for Learning and Memory at MIT 
show for the first time that storage of long-term memories depends on 
the size and shape of synapses among neurons in the outer part of the 
brain, the cerebral cortex. This confirms what scientists have long 
suspected--that there are physical places in the brain that are 
repositories for all our knowledge, experience and memory. MIT 
researchers led by Biology Professor and Nobel laureate Susumu 
Tonegawa studied how structural and functional alterations of 
synapses -- physical and chemical connections among neurons -- in the 
cortex affect the animal's ability to store long-term memory.
MORE: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2004/neuron.html

CUTTING AIRPLANE NOISE
Most attempts to reduce the noise associated with landing aircraft 
are expensive -- modifying aircraft, soundproofing buildings, buying 
and demolishing homes. But now, an innovative MIT-developed landing 
procedure is reducing the noise that planes make when landing, while 
also cutting aircraft operating costs. Professor John-Paul Clarke of 
MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and colleagues found 
their technique can cut noise by almost 50 percent and reduce fuel 
consumption during landing by about 500 pounds. Currently the team is 
developing a certified procedure that the United Parcel Service (UPS) 
intends to use on its planes in Louisville and Sacramento.
MORE: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2004/planenoise.html

WHALE-FREE BUOYS
How can trombones help keep whales safe at sea? With a little MIT 
ingenuity. Lines attached to conventional fishing buoys can snag a 
whale's pectoral fin, tail fluke or mouth, leading to injury or 
death. MIT Sea Grant's Cliff Goudey was sure there had to be a simple 
way to prevent such entanglements. "I played the trumpet when I was 
in high school and realized that the shape of a brass instrument bell 
was what I was looking for, and a trombone would provide the ideal 
size." He bought two trombone replacement bells and used them as 
molds, creating tapered, flexible stems that attach to the bottom of 
conventional foam buoys. By providing the long gradual transition 
from the thin, flexible buoy line to the wider, rigid buoy, the new 
buoys have a remarkable ability to be shed by objects that would snag 
an ordinary one.
MORE: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2004/whalebuoy-0519.html

'CHANCE' ENCOUNTERS
Imagine your kindergarten sweetheart is standing next to you on the 
train platform, or the person sitting next to you in the theater 
happens to share your avid interest in antique trains. How would you 
ever know? Until now, we've relied on chance. But this may not be so 
in the future, thanks to Serendipity, a mobile phone application that 
can instigate interactions between you and people you don't know -- 
or think you don't know -- but probably should. Serendipity, a form 
of next-generation networking, was developed by Nathan Eagle, a 
graduate student and Media Lab Europe Fellow working with MIT 
Professor Alex (Sandy) Pentland in the Media Lab's Human Dynamics 
group.
MORE: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2004/serendipity-0609.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Published by the News Office * Massachusetts Institute of Technology