W&L
WINNERS
LOSERS
HARVARD CHEMISTS Harvard University chemists might be making advances to cure cancer, with a little help from sea sponges. After three decades of research, they achieved “total synthesis” of halichondrin, a “potent anti-cancer agent in mouse studies” and a substance found in small amounts in sea sponges, according to The Harvard Gazette. Chemistry Professor Yoshito Kishi and his team will begin studying the drug with researchers from Eisai, a Japanese pharmaceutical company, and hope to eventually begin a second trial in the United States.
THE S IN SHELL The iconic Shell sign in the city now greets passersby with a more confusing message—the lights on the illuminated “S” went out at the end of June for the first time since the sign was refurbished in 2011, according to The Boston Globe, making the historic neon sign read “HELL.” The “S” has gone missing once before when the original Shell sign still illuminated the sky near Memorial Drive. Tibor Hangyal, who runs the Shell service station, told the Globe he plans on reaching out to Shell officials to resolve the most recent mishap. “I get a kick out of it, kind of, but it’s almost embarrassing,” Hangyal said in the article. Until then, Hangyal told the Globe he may have to keep the Shell sign-gone-wrong turned off. “It’s a good landmark; it just needs some love once in a while,” he said in the article.
NICK DIGIOVANNI Nick DiGiovanni, a 2019 Harvard graduate, has impressed “MasterChef” judges during its 10th season, according to Boston Magazine, and is now vying to become “MasterChef ’s” youngest champion at 23. As a student, DiGiovanni developed his own concentration, called “Food & Climate,” to study the intersection of both fields. “In part, it really made me want to step in and play a role in figuring out how to align the global food system with our climate,” DiGiovanni told Boston Magazine. “I don’t know exactly what I’d be doing, but if I ever had the opportunity at some point in my career to try to step in and address that in any way, then I definitely want to.” Now he is working with a Harvard Medical School professor to create vegetable-based pasta for kids through a startup called Voodles. CELESTE NG Local best-selling author Celeste Ng kicked off a community-wide philanthropic endeavor in June. In response to inhumane conditions for immigrant families being separated at the U.S. border with Mexico, Ng announced on Twitter that she would match up to $2,000 from friends and fans to RAICES Texas, a nonprofit organization providing free legal services to immigrants and refugees. Just five hours later, Ng posted again to thank the 182 people who donated over $12,500 and upped her own donation to $3,000. Ng has remained outspoken about issues of immigration and family. “Ask yourself: If you’d been walking down Mass Ave. and seen a crying, lost child, what would you do?” she tweeted. “Then extend that to the separations of children at the border, to the refugees searching for safety worldwide, to the people everywhere just trying to keep their kids safe & alive.”
ELECTRICITY IN MOUNT AUBURN HOSPITAL Mount Auburn Hospital lost power in early July after not one but two electrical cables failed in the same day, according to Cambridge Day. The double cable system was designed to “serve customers with heavy demand,” Eversource spokesman Reid Lamberty told the Day, with each cable capable of fully powering the hospital on its own. The blackout lasted roughly seven hours, and though an emergency backup generator eventually kicked in, it couldn’t keep the “cooling equipment” cool enough. No patients were evacuated from the hospital, but police, fire, ambulance, and hospital workers did relocate some patients from higher floors to lower floors to avoid discomfort from rising temperatures. WEST NILE-CARRYING MOSQUITOS After finding two mosquito samples in the city that tested positive for West Nile virus this August, city and state health officials are recommending locals stay vigilant, according to the Cambridge Chronicle. “Residents should take added precautions to avoid mosquito bites, such as wearing repellent or protective clothing in the evening, fixing screens, and eliminating standing water on their property,” Claude Jacob, the city’s chief public health officer and director of the Cambridge Public Health Department, told the Chronicle. The city has posted signs in parks and playgrounds warning of dangerous mosquitoes, and the East Middlesex Mosquito Control Project used larvicide, which kills mosquito larvae before they reach adulthood, in nearly 6,000 storm drains in Cambridge in June and August.
NEWS FROM THE NORTH Here’s just some of what you’ll find in the Scout’s Honored Issue of our sibling publication, Scout Somerville.
SUPERVISED DRUG CONSUMPTION SPACES Somerville’s mayor offers a plan to let addicts have a safe place to use, and be exposed to treatment and counseling. The state’s U.S. attorney isn’t a fan.
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL SCUL What does it take to be a superhero? A bike, some welding equipment, outrageous free expression ... and a little help from a guy named Skunk.
ASIAN WOMEN AND BREAST CANCER Often among women from Asian cultures, there’s a stigma attached to a breast cancer diagnosis that can get in the way of seeking treatment. ChienChi Huang is working to change that.
Someone rustle your jimmies or tickle your fancy?
Let us know at scoutcambridge.com/contact-us, and we just might crown them a winner or loser.
—BY ABBIE GRUSKIN scoutcambridge.com | Scout’s Honored 2019
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