Capitol buildings are almost always an imposing presence. The seat of government, they tend to be elegant and stately and frequently capped by a dome.Visitors to Pennsylvanias Capitol in Harrisburg are drawn to its priceless artwork, polished marble and intricate carvings, but hidden behind the doors of some of its most ornate offices and chambers are another treasure: hundreds of antique clocks that were part of its original design.The 273 working clocks include many that are integrated into fireplace mantels and other building features.They are not low maintenance, requiring regular oiling and occasional mechanical overhauls.And every week, in a throwback to a time before wristwatches and cellphones, clock winders roam the halls ensuring the century-plus-old timekeepers keep ticking.On a recent morning, Bethany Gill demonstrated how its done going room to room with an array of ladders and custom tools. She opens the glass covers, rotates the mechanisms enough to keep them going for about a week and checks their accuracy before moving on to the next one.Gill is a former art student who works for Johnson & Griffiths Studio, a Harrisburg firm that just received a five-year, $526,000 winding and maintenance contract renewal from the Capitol Preservation Committee.Shes also a lifelong clock lover who looks forward to the semiannual transitions between daylight saving time and Eastern Standard Time.Why?My dad was a clock collector growing up, Gill said. And every Sunday we would go around the house and wind the clocks. And that was always just a nice thing that I did with my dad.Pennsylvanias Capitol was crafted by architect Joseph M. Huston, who won its design competition in 1901 with a vision for a temple of democracy a palace of art that would be as fancy as what could then be found in Europe.Among countless other fine touches, Huston designed at least 180 custom clock cases, including smaller so-called keystone clocks that are shaped to remind people of Pennsylvanias early and critical role in the formation of the United States, leaving it with the nickname of the Keystone State.The clocks are just part of why the buildings so unique and so intricate, said Capitol Preservation Committee historian Jason Wilson. The mantels surrounding the clocks are all custom designed.Every so often the clocks, most of them built from mahogany or stained mahogany, are carefully removed from their spots around the Capitol and taken to a facility for cleaning, maintenance and repair. They seem to run better when kept wound.Huston, the architect, achieved his goal. The Capitol is a showpiece that draws thousands of visitors every year to where 253 state lawmakers convene to debate and pass legislation.While the buildings and the clocks are his lasting legacy, Huston was convicted of a conspiracy to defraud the state during the Capitol construction project and spent several months in another Pennsylvania landmark, Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.Mark Scolforo, Associated Press

The United States won a ruling on Friday in a trade dispute with Mexico, which had sought to ban imports of genetically modified corn for human consumption.U.S. growers, who had worried about the potential loss of the single biggest export market for U.S. corn, welcomed the decision, calling it a major win.Mexicos Economy Department said it disagreed with the ruling by a panel of experts convened under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, known as the USMCA, but said it would abide by it.The Mexican government does not agree with the panels finding, given that it considers that the measures in question are aligned with the principles of protecting public health and the rights of Indigenous communities, Mexicos Economy Department said. Nonetheless, the Mexican government will respect the ruling.Mexico has been importing genetically modified corn from the U.S. for years, buying about $3 billion worth annually. The corn is mainly used to feed livestock in Mexico but the country announced plans for a ban on human consumption in 2020, including a possible future ban on GM corn for livestock as well.The U.S. government formally requested the dispute settlement panel over Mexicos limits on genetically modified corn in 2023. Mexico had long claimed the measures under debate had no effect on trade, and did not violate the trade agreement.The U.S. Trade Representatives Office, or USTR, objected to Mexicos ban on GM corn for human consumption and plans to eventually ban it as animal feed.The USTR said Friday that the panel agreed with the U.S. on all legal claims, finding that Mexicos measures are not based on science and undermine the market access that Mexico agreed to provide in the USMCA.The decision was met with praise from the U.S. National Corn Growers Association. This outcome is a direct result of the advocacy efforts of corn grower leaders from across the country, said the associations president, Kenneth Hartman Jr.Mexico is the leading importer of U.S. yellow corn, most of which is genetically modified. Almost all is fed to cattle, pigs and chickens in Mexico, because Mexico doesnt grow enough feed corn.Corn for human consumption in Mexico is almost entirely domestically-grown white corn, though corn-meal chips or other processed products could potentially contain GM corn.Mexico argues biotech corn may have health effects, even when used as fodder, but hasnt yet presented proof. It had previously appeared eager to avoid a major showdown with the U.S. on the issue but not eager enough to completely drop talk of any ban.In early 2023, Mexicos Economy Department issued new rules that dropped the date for substituting imports of GM feed corn. The new rules say Mexican authorities will carry out the gradual substitution of GM feed and milled corn, but sets no date for doing so and says potential health issues will be the subject of study by Mexican experts with health authorities from other countries.Under a previous version of the rules, some U.S. growers worried a GM feed corn ban could happen as soon as 2024 or 2025.While the date was dropped, the language remained in the rules about eventually substituting GM corn, something that could have caused prices for meat to skyrocket in Mexico, where inflation is already high.

U.S. investors are preparing for a swathe of changes in 2025, from tariffs and deregulation to tax policy, that will ripple through markets as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, putting the focus on whether the U.S. economy can continue to outperform.The changing of the guard in Washington has big implications for how stocks, bonds and currencies fare in the new year and may require investors to rejig portfolios.Forecasts call for another buoyant year for stocks, the dollar to maintain its recent strength over the coming months and Treasury yields to march higher.Here is a chart-based overview of key market themes and segments that investors are closely monitoring:U.S. exceptionalismInvestors largely expect U.S. economic exceptionalism to persist in the new year, as robust consumer spending and a resilient labor market put U.S. growth on a firmer footing than that of many of its developed market peers.The U.S. economy is expected to find further support from any potential tax reform, including a reduction in the corporate tax rate. Such tax cuts which would need to pass Congress could support company earnings and sentiment on stocks.In contrast, although the euro-zone economy grew faster than anticipated in the third quarter, its outlook remains weak due to potential large tariffs from the Trump administration, escalating trade tensions with China and low consumer confidence.We do expect U.S. growth to outperform the rest of the world in 2025, on the back of potentially favorable monetary and fiscal policy, said Sonu Varghese, global macro strategist at Carson Group.The FedFront and center for investors in 2025 is how rapidly or deeply the U.S. Federal Reserve can cut rates. The Fed cut rates in December, continuing reductions after a period of aggressive rate hikes, but indicated it would slow the pace of further cuts.Stocks have been buoyed by expectations of easier monetary policy. But with benchmark Treasury yields rising sharply after the Fed meeting, the rate outlook threatens to undermine the momentum for stocks.King dollarDollar bears have taken a battering this year and most FX market strategists forecast continued strength for the greenback.Many of the factors that powered a 7% gain for the currency against a basket of peers this year, including relatively robust U.S. economic growth and rising Treasury yields, are expected to continue supporting the dollar.Trumps tariffs and protectionist trade policies are also likely to bolster the buck.Prospects of heightened inflation could also hinder the Fed from keeping up with interest-rate cuts, even as other central banks proceed with cuts, further lifting the dollar.Getting the dollars trajectory right is crucial for investors, given the currencys central role in global finance.A strong dollar could weigh on the outlook for U.S. multinationals as well as complicate other central banks efforts to fight inflation as it makes their currencies cheaper.Another year of spectacular gains in the dollar might break something in the global economy but with major uncertainties clouding the horizon and another round of American exceptionalism largely priced in, further outperformance could be difficult to achieve, said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at payments company Corpay.Volatility watchInvestors got a taste on Wednesday of how quickly market stability can shift to turmoil. U.S. stocks fell sharply after the Federal Reserve projected fewer interest-rate cuts than expected and as concerns grew about a potential partial government shutdown.Global financial markets may extend generally tranquil trading conditions into the new year but analysts warn that a volatility shock is overdue.Analysts at BofA Global Research said they do not expect a repeat of the record-low stock-market volatility levels set in 2017, the beginning of Trumps first term.FX markets could be in for higher volatility next year as the twin forces of tariffs and central-bank actions come to bear.The shock absorber in financial markets is going to be foreign exchange next year, said Fredrik Repton, senior portfolio manager with the global fixed income and currency management teams at Neuberger Berman.Crypto feverThe speculative fever that gripped bitcoin and crypto-related stocks in 2024 is unlikely to abate in the new year, strategists said.2024 was a banner year for speculation, which had morphed into a self-fulfilling frenzy in recent weeks, Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.While these trades have sometimes run into trouble, most recently after the Feds December meeting, investors have been willing to buy the dip.When something has been working for so many people for so long, they are loath to give it up, Sosnick said.And work the trades have. Bitcoin hit a record high above $100,000 in December on expectations that Trumps election will usher in a friendly regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies.Crypto-related stocks have also been on a tear, with software company and bitcoin stockpiler MicroStrategy leading the charge with a more than 400% rise for the year.Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Reuters

Local studio 5468796 Architecture has renovated an early 20th-century utilities building in Winnipeg, Canada, showcasing the industrial equipment while updating the structure for contemporary usage.Originally built in 1901 on railway land to help the city's water supply, the James Avenue Pumping Station in Winnipeg forms the centrepiece of the development.5468796 Architecture has added residential buildings to the siteThe station closed in 1986 and was slated for demolition. 5468796 Architecture preserved the structure by converting it into an office and restaurant, while additional residential buildings were added to the site."The project approaches the existing pumping station as a 'found object', integrating an office and restaurant within, while flanking the heritage building with two residential blocks that push the potentials of multi-family housing," said the studio.Inside the brick pumphouse, much of the historical machinery was maintainedFor the brick pumping station building, the studio utilised the capacity of the gantry crane structure to create a "floating floor" in the large central hall, above the original machinery.These elevated floors were framed with steel and glass and accessed via a series of walkways that traverse the floor of the building, where the equipment lies relatively untouched.Offices were suspended inside the pumphouseOffice space and a restaurant fill the steel-and-glass structures, which have polished concrete flooring and open up directly to the original industrial roof and its new skylights, providing the structure with plentiful natural light."The commercial spaces are grounded in the straightforward industrial quality of the place," said the studio."The walls are defined by steel studs and stiffening bars that cut the required glazing thickness in half and eliminated the need for skilled installers, which in turn sped up the construction, made it more affordable, and reduced the building's embodied carbon by half."Elevated walkways connected the three buildings on the siteOutside, two new residential buildings were placed in the narrow conditions of the site. Each of the buildings is suspended with columns similar to those found in the Pumphouses's gantry structure, echoing the industrial language and creating visual consistency throughout the site.The residential buildings were created using dark metals and black-painted wood. The floors and ceilings were made using nail-laminated timber, a homage to the industrial construction in the area.The residential buildings are narrow and lifted off the ground to accommodate foot traffic5468796 Architecture said that it turned the typical Winnipeg apartment building "inside-out"."Open-air egress transforms nondescript interior corridors into vibrant exterior passageways," said the studio.Read: 5468796 Architecture wraps Winnipeg house in weathering steel veil"The walkways weave within and around the new and existing buildings and become an extension of the suites, creating communal space for neighbourly interaction," it continued."Both buildings employ a 'skip-stop' configuration, where access to suites on every second floor is provided within the unit itself, significantly increasing efficiency and embodied energy by essentially halving the corridor footprint, as well as enabling through-suites with ventilation and natural light from two directions."Nail-laminated timber was used for the floors and ceilings in the residential buildingsThe separation of the residential buildings from the pumphouse also created a continuation of the winding roads of the historical area, allowing for pedestrian access and, the studio hopes, a continued social vibrancy to the project.Other renovations of industrial buildings include Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron' restoration and conversion of a power plant on an industrial site along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.The photography is by James Brittain.Project credits:Landscape architect: Scatliff + Miller + MurrayStructural engineer: Lavergne Draward & AssociatesMechanical & electrical Engineer: MCW ConsultantsCivil engineer: MCW ConsultantsSurveyor: Barnes & DuncanBuilding code consultant: GHL ConsultantsEnergy consultant: FootprintThe post 5468796 Architecture adds "floating" office floor within preserved pumphouse appeared first on Dezeen.

If youve ever tried charging your phone on a wireless charging mat only to realize after an hour that it never charged because it was just mildly misaligned, youll understand the frustration of car-makers whove been wanting to wirelessly charge EVs. You see, its sure easy to plug an EV into a charging port, but nobody really likes the effort of stepping out, finding a cable, plugging it in, and waiting for your car to charge. Its a lot easier to just drive onto a wireless charging mat and have your car charged while its parked (and while youre sitting comfortably inside).The problem, however, is that alignment. Wireless charging is only efficient when the coils on the charger and the receiver align perfectly. Lose the alignment and the energy gets lost too, resulting in a battery that isnt charged. The problem may be minor, but its implications are massive when you consider how large a car battery is (especially compared to your phone). The solution according to South Korean designer Lee Dong Ju is fairly simple a robot that drives to your car and autonomously aligns the coils beneath your EV for efficient charging.Designer: Lee Dong JuA winner of the Red Dot Award: Design Concept for the year 2024, EV.BUDDY is a sleek little autonomous robot that can drive around, sliding right under an EV with a low battery. The platform-shaped robot is slim enough to easily slip underneath any EV (no matter how little the ground tolerance), using a series of sensors to detect the wireless charging zone on the EVs underside. Once it does so, the EV.BUDDY raises its coils upwards to ensure they come in contact with the car, and the charging process begins.The EV.BUDDY houses its own battery, although given how slim it is, one wonders what the battery capacity would be. Instead of you stepping out and configuring anything, the EV.BUDDY drives up to your car on-demand and begins the charging process, no muss no fuss. Sure, its just a concept for now, but Id imagine it would work rather well in the future, where you could just park your car at a Target or an IKEA or even at work and have the EV.BUDDY autonomously drive up to your car, initiate the charging protocol, and juice your cars battery without you doing anything at all!Once its done, the EV.BUDDY slides out and drives back to its own station, where its battery gets replenished so it can charge the next car.The post This Robot Wirelessly Charges Your EV By Driving Under It And Aligning The Charging Coils first appeared on Yanko Design.

As much as I love the fidget-aspect of bubble-wrap, theres this overwhelming sense of guilt every time I pop an individual bubble, knowing that Im slowly making the wrap useless. In fact, only a small percentage of bubble-wrap actually gets reused, which means the worlds left with a lot of plastic film (which cant get recycled) just lying out there, waiting to either be popped or turned into waste. The solution, however, is a bubble-wrap WITHOUT bubbles. Made from folded paper, this origami-inspired bubble-wrap alternative offers a classier, more sustainable approach relying on gorgeously geometric pleated paper.The brilliance of this idea lies in its roots: the Miura fold. Think of it as the origami equivalent of a Swiss Army knifesleek, efficient, and endlessly versatile. By applying this precise folding pattern to traditional cardboard, researchers have found a way to create lightweight, strong, and flexible three-dimensional structures. Its the kind of innovation that feels both wildly creative and beautifully logical. Cardboard, the unsung hero of shipping and storage, gets a striking upgrade without altering its core material.Designers: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland & Aalto UniversityThe Miuras design allows for enhanced durability and flexibility, all while maintaining a lightweight profile. Picture food containers, electronics packaging, or even luxury goods boxes that are sturdy enough to do their job but also light enough to reduce shipping emissions. Thats the beauty of itbetter function with less environmental impact. The material itself is still familiar paperboard, meaning the shift doesnt require a seismic change in production methods. Plus you dont need virgin paper either, opening up doors for using recycled paper.The material relies on fibers, often recycled, making it a serious contender against plastics and foams. And while were on the topic of alternatives, the team behind this isnt stopping at cardboard. Theyre experimenting with folding other materials, like aluminum foil and felt, hinting at a future where this technology might influence everything from packaging to interior design.The project, aptly named FOLD and its successor FOLD2, has brought together 13 organizations to push this concept forward. The first phase laid the groundwork for refining the technology, while FOLD2 is taking things up a notch, exploring compatibility with a broader range of materials, and readying it for large-scale commercial use. Early tests show that the folding process works on materials as diverse as aluminum foil, plastic films, and felt, hinting at future applications far beyond packaging.And thats the exciting partit doesnt stop at boxes or cartons. The technologys flexibility has caught the eye of designers in other fields. Decorative interior panels? Check. Functional architectural elements? Why not? Theres even potential for food packaging thats as sustainable as it is innovative. When something this versatile comes along, its not hard to imagine the ripple effects across industries, from consumer goods to luxury interiors.This kind of multidisciplinary magic doesnt happen in a vacuum. Its the result of engineers, materials scientists, and designers collaborating to solve real-world problems with solutions that are both creative and practical. The Miura fold, chosen for its efficiency, is just one example of how ancient techniques can meet modern needs. Its geometry brought to lifenot in textbooks, but in products that well encounter in stores, homes, and maybe even our kitchens.Looking ahead, the next three to five years will determine how this technology scales. Industry giants like Walki Group and Stora Enso are already testing the waters, exploring how these folded materials might replace less sustainable options. But this isnt just about the companies; its about all of us as consumers. With demand for greener options growing louder, innovations like origami-inspired packaging might just become the new normal.For now, the folding revolution is still taking shape, but if this is the future of packaging, were ready to unbox it. Literally.The post Origami-inspired Bubble Wrap ditches Plastics for Pleated Paper first appeared on Yanko Design.

We meet in the name of Osiris.With these words, solemnly intoned, members of the MIT Osiris Society began their clandestine meetings for nearly 70 years.Created in 1903 as a senior society and modeled on both the fraternities of Cornell and the mythology of ancient Egypt, Osiris gave MITs senior leadership an opportunity to speak frankly and off the record with a group of handpicked student leaders. Its existence was acknowledged, and names of its members appeared in MIT yearbooks, but the deliberative purpose of the society remained secret for decades.Rather than being based on inductees wealth or their familys political powercommon criteria for senior societies at other schoolsmembership was designated for those undergraduates who have shown in their daily life an especial love and devotion to the Institute, reads the once-secret history of Osiris that now resides in MITs archives.This history was written by Edward Pennell Brooks, Class of 1917, as a speech he gave at several Osiris initiations in the early 1950s, but its factual content is attributed to Alfred Edgar Burton, MITs first dean of students. If the organizations purpose were not kept secret, Burton warned, MITs leaders wouldnt be able to have such frank and open discussions with the students.It was a very interesting organizationthe word I would use is private rather than secret, says William J. Hecht 61, SM 76, who was inducted into Osiris in 1961 and went on to serve as executive vice president and chief executive of the MIT Alumni Association for 25 years. If something controversial were to come upa faculty gripe about somethingit was a way that the administration or the faculty could air it in front of a small group (we were around a dozen) of student leaders and be candid about whats what.Osiris was started by Arthur Jeremiah Sweet, Class of 1904, who transferred to MIT after having a run-in with the fraternities at Cornell. Sweet wanted to create a society without the baggage of the Greek system, so he settled on Egyptian mythology, choosing the god credited with teaching the ancient technology of agriculture to humans. Sweet then assembled an impressive group of student leaders. When once launched, however, there became a need of finding out what it was to do, Brooks wrote.Osiris members met over dinner to discuss issues pertaining to the welfare and betterment of MIT, but the group claimed no official power.MIT ARCHIVESIn stepped Dean Burton, who suggested that Osiris could help President Henry Smith Pritchett better understand MITs student body. Pritchett certainly needed help: Shortly after he was inaugurated in 1900, the annual cane rush competition between freshmen and sophomores had resulted in a student death. Pritchett then angered many students with his near-successful attempt to merge MIT with Harvard.Pritchett grasped this as a chance, so I have been told, to reestablish good relations with leaders of undergraduate life, the history reads.Pritchett and Burton thus became the first honorary members of Osiris.In years that followed, names of inductees appeared occasionally in The Tech, which referred to Osiris as one of many senior societies. Given the growing number of MIT honorary societies, it was a good cover story.Ten MIT presidents and numerous deans and vice presidents would become honorary members of Osiris; full members included student government leaders and many editors of The Tech, most notably James Rhyne Killian 26, who became MITs 10th president (see Editor of The Tech becomes president of MIT, MIT Alumni News, July/August 2024).Secrecy was so paramount that even using the name Osiris was discouraged.Burton warned in 1907 that Osiris faced three big dangers. First, the natural tendency for the meetings to lapse into merely social gathering of congenial spirits. Second, the possibility that the society would become well known among undergraduates, who would seek to gain membership as a student honor. Third, the way proximity to power might limit the frankness of the discussions. The solution, Burton wrote, was careful guidance of alumni and honorary members to keep Osiris focused on its missionand to keep its purpose a secret.Secrecy was so paramount that even using the name Osiris was discouraged. In several letters that Paul E. Gray 54, SM 55, ScD 60, then dean of the School of Engineering, wrote to Osiris member Gregory Jackson 70 in March 1971, Gray refers to Osiris by the number 270. (Gray had been inducted as an honorary member in 1965 and would become MITs 14th president in 1980.) The number referred to 270 Beacon Street, the address of the University Club, where many Osiris members were inducted until the club moved to 40 Trinity Place in 1926. Later, Osiris initiations moved to the Club of Odd Volumes at 77 Mt. Vernon Street, a private club for bibliophiles of which Killian was a member.I joined Osiris in my junior year at a meeting of the entire group at a formal dinner at the Club of Odd Volumes in Boston, recalls Tom Burns 62, SM 63. At the time, we were asked to be somewhere in Boston in a tuxedo [and] were blindfolded and driven around for a while by a senior member of the Society, ending up at the Club to be confronted by a large group of faculty and student members. (A written description of initiations in the 1960s says that tuxedo-clad initiates typically were told to perform a stuntsuch as flying paper airplanes in front of a ticket counter at Loganwhile waiting to get picked up.) While two annual meetings were held at the club, Burns says faculty members typically hosted the regular dinner meetings, many in Killians penthouse apartment at 100 Memorial Drive. Student members were responsible for selecting the topics and leading the discussions, he says, and picked the next years inductees.Of course, inviting many successive editors of the MIT student newspaper to join a society with such a secret purpose was inherently risky. Sure enough, on February 18, 1955, The Tech ran a front-page article with the headline Student Leaders Meet With Administration and Faculty In Secret Society, Osiris. The article was unsigned, as were all news articles at the time, but Stephen N. Cohen 56, then editor of The Tech, appears on the Osiris membership rolls. (Tellingly, the next three editorsJohn A. Friedman 57, Leland E. Holloway Jr. 58, and Stewart Wade Wilson 59do not.) A week later, Eldon H. Reiley 55, president of MITs Undergraduate Association, president of the Institute Committee, and a member of Osiris, published an 11-paragraph statement in The Tech saying, among other things, that Osiris is an informal group of faculty and students who meet from time to time over dinner and discuss issues pertaining to the welfare and betterment of MIT. The group has no power in itself.Reiley wrote the truth: Nowhere in the archives or in interviews with surviving members is there a hint that the student members of Osiris decided anything other than the names of the next years recruits.Howard Wesley Johnson was inducted as an honorary member in 1965, shortly before becoming MITs 12th president in 1966. Johnson clearly took his Osiris duties seriously: Its meetings were entered into his appointment book, and when he missed the initiation in 1968, he wrote to the men of OSIRIS, apologizing that business in defense of M.I.T. demands that I be absent.Johnsons letter hints at the forces that ultimately put an end to the organization: Osiris was a relic of the pastfor example, it had no female members until 1969and MIT was under attack in the present.I was added in 1969 when I was vice president of the Graduate Student Council, recalls Marvin Sirbu Jr. 66, 67, SM 68, EE 70, ScD 73. I remember how remarkable it was that students and faculty/administrators met and talked informally in the way that they did at Osiris meetings.The names of 11 student members of Osiris appeared in the 1904 Technique beneath a drawing of an iconic statue of the Egyptian god. No explanatory text was included.TECHNIQUE 1904Today Howard Johnsons presidency is remembered for his deft handling of student unrest, including three days in November 1969 when more than a thousand people protested the Institutes relationship with the US Department of Defense. The documentary November Actions includes film from meetings of a joint committee of faculty and students that helped defuse the situation. While many of the students were members of Osiris, they were present because they were elected student leaders, not because they belonged to the secret society. But Sirbu suggests that the Osiris meetings may explain why those in the room felt so comfortable with each other.Handwritten minutes from two meetings in the spring of 1971 reveal that topics discussed included marijuana, civility in Osiris meetings, and the possible reemergence of McCarthyism on campus. An article in The Tech reported that topics such as research policy and housing were also typical. But Osiris was in decline. That March, Gray had observed that 34 people hadRSVPed yes for the March 16 meeting, but only 27 had shown upand that actives (student members) were outnumbered by over thirties by about three to one.A few weeks before Provost Jerome Wiesner became MITs president in July 1971, a letter signed by Killian and Johnson went out to members asking for financial donations, signaling the end of the Institutes financial support for Osiris.At the end of my junior year, I was apprised by Dan Nyhart, then MITs dean for student affairs, that Osiris was in arrears to the Institute and needed to pay its debt, recalls Lee Giguere 73, who joined in 1972 with fellow Tech editor Alex Makowski 72.In those daysthe early 1970sthe atmosphere was pretty radical, he says, and accessing a private channel to the powers that be ran counter to his understanding of his role as a reporter. Although he remembers compiling a list of new initiates, there are no records showing that those students were ever invited to join.But the exact date of Osiriss demise remains unclear. Burns recalls a conversation with Frederick Fassett, former dean of residence, about the subject in the early 1970s. He merely said that it had outlived its value, partly as a result of changes experienced in the 1960s, he says. I never received any formal notice of its end.

What if construction materials could be put together, taken apart, and reused as easily as Lego bricks? Thats the vision a team of MIT engineers hopes to realize with a new kind of masonry its developing from recycled glass. Using a custom 3D-printing technology provided by the MIT spinoff Evenline, the team has made strong, multilayered glass bricks, each in the shape of a figure eight, that are designed to interlock and stack. The bricks can easily be taken apart for reuse in new structures.Glass as a structural material kind of breaks peoples brains a little bit, says Evenline founder Michael Stern 09, SM 15, coauthor of a paper on the work. Were showing this is an opportunity to push the limits of whats been done in architecture.A tube of glass is extruded in a hot 3D printer.ETHAN TOWNSENDStern and Kaitlyn Becker 09, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and another coauthor, got the inspiration for the bricks partly from their experience as undergraduates in MITs Glass Lab.I found the material fascinating, says Stern, who went on to design a 3D printer capable of depositing molten recycled glass. I started thinking of how glass printing can find its place.I get excited about expanding design and manufacturing spaces for challenging materials with interesting characteristics, like glass and its optical properties and recyclability, says Becker, who began exploring those ideas as a faculty member. As long as its not contaminated, you can recycle glass almost infinitely.For their new study, Becker, Stern, and coauthors Daniel Massimino, SM 24, and Charlotte Folinus 20, SM 22, of MIT and Ethan Townsend at Evenline used a glass printer that pairs with a furnace to melt crushed glass bottles into a material that can be deposited in layered patterns. They printed prototype bricks using soda-lime glass that is typically used in a glassblowing studio. Two round pegs made of a different material, similar to the studs on a Lego brick, are incorporated into each one so they can interlock. Another material placed between the bricks prevents scratches or cracks but can be removed if a structure is to be dismantled and recycled. The prototypes figure-eight shape allows assembly into curved walls, though recycled bricks could also be remelted in the printer and formed into new shapes. The group is looking into whether more of the interlocking feature could be made from printed glass too.MIT engineers demonstrate how they make strong, reconfigurable bricks out of recycled glass. The team uses custom 3D glass printing technology from MIT spinoff Evenline to create the figure-eight shaped bricks, which are designed to interlock.The bricks mechanical strength was tested in a hydraulic press that squeezed them until they began to fracture. The strongest held up to pressures comparable to what concrete blocks can withstand. The researchers have used the bricks to construct a curved wall and aim to build progressively bigger, self-supporting structures.Were thinking of stepping stones to buildings, Stern says, and want to start with something like a paviliona temporary structure that humans can interact with, and that you could then reconfigure into a second design. And you could imagine that these blocks could go through a lot of lives.

Im moving to Boston in three weeks! At my high school graduation, I had just learned Id been accepted into the Interphase EDGE program, an incredible opportunity to acclimate to life at MIT before the 2022 school year began.I was glad to have that chance, since I faced a big change from life at home in Claremore, on the Cherokee Nation reservation in northeastern Oklahoma. Id been away on my own only once, on a fifth-grade trip to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, where I first fell in love with aerospace engineering.It didnt take long to find community on campus. To my surprise, out of the dozen students at a welcome event for the Indigenous community, three grad students and an undergrad were in the aero-astro department. As a prospective Course 16 major and a FIRST Robotics alum, I was excited to discover that they planned to start a new team for the First Nations Launch (FNL) rocketry competition, a NASA Artemis Student Challenge. It was the perfect opportunity to merge my technical passion with my cultural roots.That first year, many people questioned the need for our team. MIT already has a Rocket Team, theyd say. But while most build teams are defined by the specific projects they work on, the product is just one aspect of the experience.Yes, Ive learned to design, build, launch, and safely recover a model rocket. But doing that alongside other Indigenous engineers on the team we call MIT Doya (, Cherokee for beaver) has taught me more than engineering skills. Beyond learning how to work with composites or design fins, Ive learned how to navigate classes and connect with professors. Ive learned about grad school. And Ive learned how to celebrate my Indigenous identity and honor my ancestors with my work. For instance, we often hold smudging ceremoniesburning sage to purify ourselves or our rocketsat our team meetings and competitions.Our team emphasizes universal consensus and buy-in on the technical side and pays attention to the success of each team member on a personal level. We call this gadugi () in Cherokee, or everyone helping each other.Ive also learned that embracing my culture can offer a better approach to engineering challenges. While many engineering settings foster top-down decision-making, our team tests and incorporates as many ideas as possible to engage everyone, emphasizing universal consensus and buy-in on the technical side while paying attention to the success of each team member on a personal level. We call this gadugi () in Cherokee, or everyone helping each other. And we find its led to better technical resultsand a better experience for everyone on the team.I feel incredibly fortunate to work closely with other Indigenous students on an engineering project we all deeply care about. Ive looked up to the senior members of the team, seeing in them proof of what an Indigenous student at MIT can be and accomplish. And Ive loved mentoring newer members, passing along what Ive learned to help them excel.Our launch weekends expand our community further, allowing us to work alongside inspiring Indigenous engineers from NASAs Jet Propulsion Lab and Blue Origin. Ive gotten to meet my heroes and seen that its possible to succeed as a Native American in aerospace engineering. In fact, my FNL experiences have already helped me secure an amazing internship. Last summerexactly a decade after setting my heart on aerospace engineering at Space CampI returned to Huntsville as a lunar payloads intern on the Mark I Lunar Lander at Blue Origin.Through the FNL team, Ive significantly advanced my technical skills. As our systems and simulations lead the first year, I integrated all the components of the physical design into a cohesive computer model with accuracy in both geometry and mass distribution. From that model, I can run simulated flights while adjusting for various launch conditions and trying out different motors. A small change on the ground can yield a big change in our final altitude, which must be within a specific rangeso this analysis drives the overall design.In our first year, our challenge was to re-create the design of a kit rocket while making it lighter by fabricating all the parts ourselves, primarily using hand-laid carbon fiber and fiberglass. We finished in second place and were named Rookie Team of the Year.For 202324, our challenge was to build a rocket large enough to carry a deployable drone, leading us to build an airframe 7.5 inches in diameter. We also had to design and fabricate the drones chassis to meet strict specifications: It had to fit inside the rocket on the launchpad, deploy at apogee (ours was 2,136 feet), unfold from a compact stowed configuration to 16 by 16 inches, descend by parachute to 500 feet, and then release the parachute for piloted navigation to a landing pad. To meet FAA requirements, two of our team members studied for and earned Part 107 remote pilot certificates so they could operate the drone.Since this new challenge required us to fabricate a rocket while also designing and building the drone, we broke up into two subteams to work on both in parallel. This approach required precise coordination between the subteams to ensure that everything would integrate well for the final launch. As team captain, I managed this coordination while staying involved on the technical side as systems and simulations lead and airframe lead. And as we worked our way through the project milestones from proposal through flight readiness review, we kept in mind that we needed both an operational drone and a safe flight to the right altitude to meet the challenge.In April our team traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to put our rocket to the test. We loaded the parachutes and payload, blessing it with some medicine before sending our hard work into the sky. But when I went to load our motor, the motor mount fell off in my hand. We quickly proceeded to the range safety officer, who was able to salvage our rocket and our launch with the last-minute addition of an external motor retention device. After that minor (but almost catastrophic) delay, we had a safe launch and successful recoveryand earned the Next Step Award, a $15,000 grant to represent FNL in the University Student Launch Initiative, a NASA-hosted competition open to everyone, for the 202425 season.Six weeks later, when the overall competition winners were announced, we were thrilled to learn we had won the grand prize! Along with bragging rights, we won a VIP trip to Kennedy Space Center in August and got to walk through the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building, explore the shuttle landing strip, see Polaris Dawn on the launchpad, and watch a Starlink launch from the beach in the early morning hours.This year, Im honored to serve as team captain again, leading an expanded team as we tackle the challenges of the new Student Launch Initiative. Im already looking forward to May, when well launch the rocket well be perfecting between now and then. And to honor our Indigenous heritage and send it into the sky with good intentions, Ill make sure we smudge before flight.Hailey Polson 26, an aero-astro major and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, is captain of MITs First Nations Launch team.

As part of an ongoing antitrust case related to its search engine, Google has submitted proposed remedies responding to the court decision, including how Apple may be affected.Google has issued its remedies proposal in an ongoing antitrust lawsuit.Google has been the subject of multiple antitrust lawsuits since 2023, when it was accused of knowingly breaking antitrust laws. The DOJ said that the company was an illegal monopoly in the search market, and courts eventually agreed with this assessment in August of 2024. Now, Google has taken the next step, after which it plans to submit an appeal.Before Google can file an appeal, it's required to file a remedies proposal. The proposal outlines the steps Google could take in order to rectify the issues highlighted in the court's initial decision. The company has made it clear, however, that it's only submitting a remedies proposal as it's required by law. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums