Migration out of Central America is largely driven by economics, at great financial expense to migrants themselves, a new study shows. “At the heart of what’s causing migration is that people don’t have enough money to provide for their basic needs,” says Sarah Williams.

Provost Martin Schmidt will become president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute next July. Schmidt, who earned his undergraduate degree at RPI in 1981, has been at MIT for more than 40 years as a graduate student, faculty member, and campus leader.

Via @mit_hobbyshop on Instagram: “Nadine, Alex, Chen and Gabriela are in full production mode making cookie molds. Their project for @mit_idm is called Bake the World, a series of cookie molds representing different cultures around the globe. Fantastic job so far!”

In an MIT visit, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston ’05 explored the shift to remote work and managing through Covid: “It’s surreal, there’s no playbook for running a global company in a pandemic over Zoom. For a lot of it we were just taking it as we go.”

Using a clever imaging approach, mechanical engineers have captured the intricate choreography of butterfly scale formation during metamorphosis. The findings could inform the design of new materials such as iridescent windows or waterproof textiles.

Senior Adedolapo Adedokun has been named as one of 12 winners nationwide of this year’s George J. Mitchell Scholarship. After graduating from MIT next spring, he will pursue an MSc in intelligent systems in Ireland, at Trinity College Dublin.