Donald “Bruce” Montgomery, influential electromagnet engineer, dies at 89

Donald “Bruce” Montgomery SM ’57, a highly influential engineer and longtime MIT researcher whose career was focused on the development of large-scale electromagnets, died on July 1. He was 89. Montgomery’s contributions have been pivotal for numerous major facilities in fusion energy, in the design of magnets for particle accelerators for physics and medical applications, […]

Costis Daskalakis appointed inaugural Avanessians Professor in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

The MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing has named Costis Daskalakis as the inaugural holder of the Avanessians Professorship. His chair began on July 1. Daskalakis is the first person appointed to this position generously endowed by Armen Avanessians ’81. Established in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, the new chair provides Daskalakis with […]

Explained: Why perovskites could take solar cells to new heights

Perovskites hold promise for creating solar panels that could be easily deposited onto most surfaces, including flexible and textured ones. These materials would also be lightweight, cheap to produce, and as efficient as today’s leading photovoltaic materials, which are mainly silicon. They’re the subject of increasing research and investment, but companies looking to harness their […]

Celsius’ Chapter 11 filing shows that its biggest creditor, to which it owes $81M, is little known fund Pharos, which has staff with links to Sam Bankman-Fried (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg: Celsius’ Chapter 11 filing shows that its biggest creditor, to which it owes $81M, is little known fund Pharos, which has staff with links to Sam Bankman-Fried  —  Among the more than 100,000 creditors of Celsius Network Ltd., the crypto lender that filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, one entity stands out: Pharos USD Fund […]

Amazon plans to create 4K+ jobs in the UK in 2022, including in software development and engineering, bringing its permanent workforce in the UK to 75K+ (Ryan Browne/CNBC)

Ryan Browne / CNBC: Amazon plans to create 4K+ jobs in the UK in 2022, including in software development and engineering, bringing its permanent workforce in the UK to 75K+  —  – Amazon says it will create more than 4,000 permanent jobs in the U.K. in 2022.  — The latest hiring push will bring …

Nothing phone (1) review: good midrange phone with snappy performance but the glyph notification system is mostly gimmicky and battery performance is not great (Allison Johnson/The Verge)

Allison Johnson / The Verge: Nothing phone (1) review: good midrange phone with snappy performance but the glyph notification system is mostly gimmicky and battery performance is not great  —  Nothing claims its new Phone 1 can “Bring us back.  To us” with “deeper interactions” and “brave simplicity.”

The alumni of Colombian last-mile delivery unicorn Rappi have founded 100+ startups in under seven years, outpacing even the PayPal Mafia in startup creation (Rest of World)

Rest of World: The alumni of Colombian last-mile delivery unicorn Rappi have founded 100+ startups in under seven years, outpacing even the PayPal Mafia in startup creation  —  The Colombian unicorn’s alumni are outpacing the PayPal mafia in startup creation.  —  • BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA

CoinFlex will let users withdraw up to 10% of their balances, excluding its flexUSD stablecoin, on July 15, after pausing withdrawals last month (Immanual John Milton/Bloomberg)

Immanual John Milton / Bloomberg: CoinFlex will let users withdraw up to 10% of their balances, excluding its flexUSD stablecoin, on July 15, after pausing withdrawals last month  —  CoinFlex will allow users to take out a limited portion of their balances after pausing withdrawals last month due to a counterparty failing to make a […]

Regulators should crack down on crypto, after it gained an illusion of respectability through association with high-status institutions and individuals (Paul Krugman/New York Times)

Paul Krugman / New York Times: Regulators should crack down on crypto, after it gained an illusion of respectability through association with high-status institutions and individuals  —  When the Federal Reserve speaks, it speaks in Fedspeak.  A pithy turn of phrase or a striking metaphor can all too easily turn into a headline …

Former staff and internal documents detail Celsius’ implosion; its own compliance unit warned of poor oversight and misrepresentation of financial information (Financial Times)

Financial Times: Former staff and internal documents detail Celsius’ implosion; its own compliance unit warned of poor oversight and misrepresentation of financial information  —  When Daniel Leon, one of the founders of Celsius Network, posted a Twitter video addressed to Warren Buffett in January 2021, he was in high spirits.

UK-based stock trading app Lightyear has raised a $25M Series A led by Lightspeed and is launching in 19 European countries including Germany and France (Ryan Browne/CNBC)

Ryan Browne / CNBC: UK-based stock trading app Lightyear has raised a $25M Series A led by Lightspeed and is launching in 19 European countries including Germany and France  —  – Lightyear, a stock trading app based in the U.K., has raised $25 million in fresh funding to expand its presence across Europe.

Kakao says it will remove an external payment link from its KakaoTalk messaging app on Play Store, after Google blocked it from issuing updates on July 6 (Kate Park/TechCrunch)

Kate Park / TechCrunch: Kakao says it will remove an external payment link from its KakaoTalk messaging app on Play Store, after Google blocked it from issuing updates on July 6  —  South Korean messaging giant Kakao confirmed today it will remove an external payment option after Google blocked the South Korean company behind KakaoTalk […]

China’s crackdown and economic downturn have led to massive layoffs in its tech sector, but some workers are relieved to quit the industry’s “996” work culture (Viola Zhou/Rest of World)

Viola Zhou / Rest of World: China’s crackdown and economic downturn have led to massive layoffs in its tech sector, but some workers are relieved to quit the industry’s “996” work culture  —  A government crackdown and economic downturn have led to massive layoffs, but some are relieved to exit the grueling ‘996’ work life.

SEC filing: Twitter isn’t planning big layoffs but will continue to restructure; it sought Musk’s consent for two employee retention programs in June (Chavi Mehta/Reuters)

Chavi Mehta / Reuters: SEC filing: Twitter isn’t planning big layoffs but will continue to restructure; it sought Musk’s consent for two employee retention programs in June  —  Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) is not looking at company-wide layoffs but could likely continue to restructure the business, the social media company said in a filing on Wednesday.

Source: Celsius is in the process of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; Celsius’ lawyers notified US state regulators and plans to file paperwork “imminently” (CNBC)

CNBC: Source: Celsius is in the process of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; Celsius’ lawyers notified US state regulators and plans to file paperwork “imminently”  —  – Crypto company Celsius is in the process of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  — The company’s lawyers …

Unity to merge with app monetization service Ironsource, valued at $4.4B in the all-stock deal; Silver Lake, Sequoia will invest $1B in Unity after the merger (Ingrid Lunden/TechCrunch)

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch: Unity to merge with app monetization service Ironsource, valued at $4.4B in the all-stock deal; Silver Lake, Sequoia will invest $1B in Unity after the merger  —  Update: the companies have confirmed the news here.  IronSource is being valued at $4.4 billion in the all-stock deal.

Sources: Foxconn Industrial Internet took a minority stake in Chinese state-backed chipmaker Tsinghua Unigroup for $788M during Unigroup’s $9B bailout by China (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg: Sources: Foxconn Industrial Internet took a minority stake in Chinese state-backed chipmaker Tsinghua Unigroup for $788M during Unigroup’s $9B bailout by China  —  A Shanghai-listed arm of Foxconn Technology Group acquired a stake in China’s top chipmaker during its $9 billion bailout …

Truecaller launches Open Doors, a Clubhouse-like app which lets users register with their phone numbers and audio chat with their contacts who have the app (Ivan Mehta/TechCrunch)

Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch: Truecaller launches Open Doors, a Clubhouse-like app which lets users register with their phone numbers and audio chat with their contacts who have the app  —  If you thought of the age of companies launching real-time audio chat apps, you’re wrong.  Swedish caller identification service Truecaller …

Your friendly neighborhood architect

Justin Brazier didn’t always know that his path in life would take him right back home. Brazier grew up with two brothers in a tight-knit family in Randolph, Massachusetts, two cities south of Boston. His parents, who are Haitian immigrants, had also grown up in the Boston area and met each other there. From a […]