Chemists have found a way to make certain rubber-like polymers — used in car parts and ink for 3D printing — much more resistant to tearing. Perhaps surprisingly, the method involves introducing weaker bonds into the material.

In a recent visit to MIT, Mario Draghi PhD ’77 said war and inflation “didn’t come out of nowhere.” The former prime minister of Italy and former president of the European Central Bank detailed three forces dampening global economic growth.

“For a long time, we thought the brain is a tyrant that sends output into the organs and controls everything. But now we know there’s a lot of feedback back into the brain,” Polina Anikeeva says. Her team has uncovered significant crosstalk between the brain and GI tract.

Via @mitmeche on Instagram: “PhD Candidates Charlotte Folinus and Georgia Van de Zande baked a ‘spinning’ cake inspired by the 2.00b Rubik’s cube logo for the 2.00b @mittoydesign staff to celebrate another successful semester!”

C16 Biosciences, co-founded by MIT alumni, has developed a microbe-based alternative to palm oil, whose production destroys tropical forests and increases CO2 emissions. “We need to find a way to reduce our reliance on deforestation products,” David Heller ’18 says.

Via @mitathletics on Instagram: “For the eighth straight season and ninth overall, @MIT has claimed the @newmacsports Women's Presidents Cup! Well done by all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff and congratulations to you all!”