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MIT professor shot at his Massachusetts home dies
- yeah879846 10mo ago[dead]
- FloorEgg 10mo ago[flagged]
- lowdownbutter 10mo ago"Don't ask questions, just consume submission and then get excited for next submission"
- ekjhgkejhgk 10mo agohttps://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/419454 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/419454
- rany_ 10mo agoI can't spot anything conspiratorial in that article, though?
- QuercusMax 10mo agoThere are already other articles claiming he was shot because he's Jewish and has supported Israel. Seems like the cops haven't arrested anybody yet, so we don't really know anything. He was working on fusion technology, so you could just as well speculate it was fossil fuel interests involved, but that also seems purely speculative.
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- rany_ 10mo agoFirst thing that came to mind is that he might have been secretly working for Israel's nuclear program but this is all very speculative. It does feel plausible though given that Israel has already assassinated plenty of Iranian nuclear scientists; so there is some precedent for it.
- BurningFrog 10mo agoIt does sound like something Iran might to in retaliation.
- rany_ 10mo agoThere are lots of different scenarios you can conjure up. Another could be that Israel assassinated him after he refused to support their nuclear program OR to silence him.
- BurningFrog 10mo agoThat, OTOH, doesn't sound like something Israel would do at all.
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- garbagecoder 10mo agoYou're right, it's only fair that we let Iranian assassins kill people in the US.
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- lawlessone 10mo ago>He was working on fusion technology BigFission We'll probably find out it was mugging.
- QuercusMax 10mo agoOr something intensely personal completely unrelated to politics. Could be a disgruntled student, lover, business partner, etc. Horses, not zebras.
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
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- dzink 10mo ago“Renowned for his pioneering research on plasma dynamics - the component of blood that carries platelets and cells throughout the body - Loureiro also focused on harnessing clean fusion energy to combat climate change. He was appointed director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center in May”
- dvh 10mo agoHoly shit, they really wrote it there
- gs17 10mo agoThe Hebrew version doesn't seem to have that error, I wonder what they used to translate it, it feels like a rare hallucination for recent LLMs.
- danparsonson 10mo agoI can believe that our dystopian future will be powered by dark fusion reactors that only achieve containment through human sacrifice
- typeofhuman 10mo agoStory as old as time. For the crops!
- m4ck_ 10mo agoI wonder if that's some particularly sloppy AI writing or if he really was working in biology (apparently he pioneered research on blood plasma) while also working on fusion energy. Bro was either a 10x professor or AI is just doing AI things I guess. Either way RIP.
- eichin 10mo agoit's slop. (If you look at the ORCID link posted elsethread there's literally nothing biology related in his 70 publications in the last two decades - and it seems unlikely one would become director of the PSFC with that sort of distraction...)
- simple10 10mo agoThe article might be too hasty to report that he's Jewish, especially implying that was the motive by including it in the article title. Lots of chatter X/Twitter about it. Kinda crazy (scary?) how fast tragic events like this get instantly politicized on social.
- 627467 10mo agoGiven his background somehow doubt he is jewish, could be pro-israel. But all this could well be totally unrelated to the event itself. Isnt it more likely that's due to him living in the US or the Terminator hypothesis?
- simple10 10mo agoIt's possibly related to mistaken identity. There's apparently some guy with a similar name that has some tie to Israel. Articles and social just seem to be running with it without any fact checking.
- 627467 10mo agohttps://www.cmjornal.pt/portugal/detalhe/saiba-quem-era-nuno-loureiro-o-fisico-portugues-morto-a-tiro-em-boston https://www.cmjornal.pt/portugal/detalhe/saiba-quem-era-nuno...
- andrepd 10mo agoPlease don't link to such a rag. There's absolutely nothing of substance in this article and even several glaring factual mistakes.
- ekjhgkejhgk 10mo agoAnd you're saying that based on what? You should hide your antisemitism better.
- crazygringo 10mo agoWhy would there be? I feel like I'm missing the context behind your question.
- thelastgallon 10mo ago> His research addressed "complex problems lurking at the center of fusion vacuum chambers and at the edges of the universe", according to the university's obituary. >He also studied how to harness clean "fusion power" to combat climate change, CBS said. Clean energy is pretty controversial in US. Most people are against it.
- jelder 10mo ago“Most people” is not even remotely accurate.
- barbazoo 10mo ago> In an open-ended question, 69% of respondents identified the primary advantage of clean energy as some form of environmental protection, like mitigating climate change or improving air and water quality. Only 13% offered lower energy costs as a central benefit, and 22% said clean energy offers no clear advantage. https://www.thirdway.org/memo/poll-shows-americans-want-affordable-all-of-the-above-energy-not-the-green-new-deal-or-trumps-coal-plants https://www.thirdway.org/memo/poll-shows-americans-want-affo...
- dralley 10mo agoI would more easily believe that this is some fuckery with Iran.
- bilbo0s 10mo agoAnd to be frank, both are pretty far fetched. His thing was plasma and fusion. If people want a conspiracy theory, tell them to go with alien civilizations wanted to prevent humans from achieving fusion.
- dylan604 10mo ago
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- 1970-01-01 10mo agoYes. It was aliens trying to keep us from inventing warp tech until we are mature enough to stop creating conspiracy theories the minute something like this happens.
- ricksunny 10mo agoIf it was the aliens then they are about to learn what the Streisand effect is.
- wizardforhire 10mo agoIt was covered extensively in canon[1]… [1] https://youtube.com/watch?v=1UZeHJyiMG8&pp=ygUhU2FyYWggY29ubm9yIHBsYW5pbmcgY3ViZXJkeW5lIHQy https://youtube.com/watch?v=1UZeHJyiMG8&pp=ygUhU2FyYWggY29ub...
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- observationist 10mo agoThe going story over at X right now is basically that a far-leftist stereotypically shaped reddit mod is killing conservatives and jews, with at least two prominent names being floated without evidence. I'd hold back any judgment until evidence hits the feeds. I'd assume bsky is blaming Trump death squads being sent after scientists, exclusive reporting on MSNOW at 11. The only thing that seems true right now, if it's related to the Brown murders, is that the suspect shown on crappy security footage is overweight and walks like they're out of shape. These murders are being reported, but feel a bit strategically different than murders from even a few months ago, maybe there's a turn for the better. It seems like the whole social media frenzy and fallout is being taken seriously, and they're letting professionals do the investigating instead of conscripting the public and seizing the news cycles.
- simple10 10mo agoHere's the local Boston news reporting on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmbmBNre5SQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmbmBNre5SQ
- javiramos 10mo agoCould this be related to the Brown shooting?
- ortusdux 10mo agoFrom ABC - "Authorities have investigated whether his death could be connected to this weekend's Brown University shooting and, at this point, a senior law enforcement official briefed on both cases told ABC News there is nothing to suggest they’re connected." https://abcnews.go.com/US/mit-professor-shot-killed-home-boston-suburbs-officials/story?id=128460718 https://abcnews.go.com/US/mit-professor-shot-killed-home-bos...
- willis936 10mo agoAbsolutely useless without a name and reputation on the line. It's an absurd to publish that multiple academics killed within an hour drive within one week have "nothing to suggest they're connected".
- refulgentis 10mo agoAre you from Boston / have you lived there? I do, and thank you for your concern. But this is confusing to say the least. 1. No one should be stupid enough to put their name and rep on the line, in a fluid situation, where there’s 0 idea who did the first anyways, for days now. 2. Dunno what you mean by academics, students and professors? Usually academics refers to professors / grad students / has a job at university related to teaching, but Brown victims weren’t professors. Hard to see how that indicates a connection. 3. It’s a real stretch to put Providence to Brookline at a 1 hour drive. In general, it’s two different worlds, so it’s strange to use it as a clear indicator they must be related. 4. If it’s obvious they’re connected, and making any claim of probability re: their connection should require putting your name and reputation on the line, what’s your name?
- willis936 10mo agoYou are demonstrating a fundamental misunderstanding of trust. Aaron Katersky and Josh Margolin put their name on the line because without that you wouldn't know the provenance of the information and wouldn't know if you should trust it. Citing an unnamed officer making claims that they have insufficient evidence for is not good journalism, so their reputation takes a hit. The officer also deserves this reputational hit since they are making the unsubstantiated claim. To be very clear here, the claim is that "there is nothing to suggest the two sets of predmeditated murders within a week within an hour are related". The fact that they're the same demographic, high profile, using the same weapon, close in proximity, and close in time are all concrete things that relate them. It is embarrassing to state otherwise, so the officer was not named. However the reporters are not immune to this, so they take the hit. I am not stating the positive "they are related", I am refuting the negative "they are unrelated". And as for my identity: I am not a reporter or public official. You don't need to and shouldn't use me as a source of truth. I am a member of the public applying logic to facts. I am closer to this event than you but I won't say more. As a member of HN who respects privacy I'm sure that should be enough for you.
- mxkopy 10mo agoThis is his ORCID profile, which lists his grants and published works: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9755-6563 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9755-6563
- ChrisArchitect 10mo agoEarlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46292708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46292708
- OutOfHere 10mo ago[flagged]
- gopher_space 10mo agoI'm not sure why "bitter grad student" isn't everyone's default assumption.
- eichin 10mo agoFinal exams at MIT started yesterday and don't end until Friday https://registrar.mit.edu/classes-grades-evaluations/examinations/final-exam-schedule https://registrar.mit.edu/classes-grades-evaluations/examina... so grades are mostly not yet available.
- DoctorOetker 10mo agoas if the police are waiting for the victim to finish grading the exams
- ruggeri 10mo agoYou’ve been downvoted by others because this is lazy stereotyping.
- willis936 10mo ago[flagged]
- reactordev 10mo agoThe autocracy. Police under this administration have completely checked out. It’s up to the feds and we’ve seen from Brown how they handle things.
- lovich 10mo agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia > Warren v. District of Columbia[1] (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981) is a District of Columbia Court of Appeals case that held that the police do not owe a specific duty to provide police services to specific citizens based on the public duty doctrine.
- wagwang 10mo agoWhy are you making this political; besides one of the brown victims was the vp of the college republicans so whats the angle here again?
- dmoy 10mo agoIn the US at least, duty to protect and serve is just a marketing slogan. There are multiple court cases decisions showing that police have no duty to protect people. All the way up to the Supreme Court
- datameta 10mo ago"Protect and Serve" (the State)
- DoctorOetker 10mo ago(the status quo)
- datameta 10mo ago
- buckle8017 10mo ago[flagged]
- cindyllm 10mo ago[dead]
- david_shaw 10mo ago>"The theoretical physicist and fusion scientist was known for his award-winning research in magnetised plasma dynamics. Magnetised plasma dynamics is the study of the state of matter in which the motion of charged particles is influenced by the presence of an external magnetic field, according to Nature. Loureiro joined MIT's faculty in 2016 and was named director of MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center in 2024." Although it may be a total red herring, it may be worth noting that there are (debatably pseudoscientific) theories -- primarily Plasma cosmology[1] and the Electric Universe theory[2] -- that are related to (and potentially in conflict with) this field of research. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_cosmology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_cosmology 2: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Electric_Universe https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Electric_Universe
- deleted 10mo ago[deleted]
- JuniperMesos 10mo agoMy prediction is that it was a random home invasion robbery committed by someone with multiple previous felonies who had no idea that the person living in the house they were trying to rob was a MIT professor. But I have no more information than anyone else does, I'm making a low-confidence educated guess, and at some point in the near future it's very likely that the professionals whose job it is to investigate serious crimes will have a better idea of what actually happened than anyone posting in this thread.
- mothballed 10mo agoIt's a reasonable guess, but 8:30p seems like a dumb time for a home robbery. Usually they're committed during the day when people are at work, and if not that then deep in the night for maximum cover. 8:30 is almost like the ideal time if you actually want someone to be there and answer the door at an hour where it wouldn't cause enough alarm for them to answer the door with a weapon.
- wat10000 10mo agoWhen it comes to small-scale crime like this, the smartest thing is typically not to do it at all. So the people who do it will generally not be very smart.
- Supermancho 10mo agoIndeed, 8:30p is no different from 2p or 10a for the act. It's most likely a matter of happenstance. It happened to be the warmest time of the day (even though it was evening). Maybe the thinking was someone was home to help them find the valuables, maybe not. > 8:30p seems like a dumb time for a home robbery. The assertion that there is some optimization for some specific imagined motivation, is literal fantasy.
- froglets 10mo agoFewer crimes are committed when the weather is bad since criminals avoid going out like everyone else.
- lesser-shadow 10mo ago[dead]
- shtzvhdx 10mo ago[dead]
- kazinator 10mo ago> Correction 16 December: An earlier version of this story incorrectly defined the kind of plasma that Professor Loureiro researched. If I get shot and someone writes some libelous bullshit about how I worked with hygienic macro systems, someone kindly jump on that shit ASAP. Thanks in advance!
- cryptonector 10mo ago[flagged]
- classified 10mo agoWould you want your epitaph to say that you worked on implementing dynamic scoping rules?
- RagnarD 10mo ago[flagged]
- juggerlt 10mo ago[flagged]
- acdha 10mo agoYou’re trying too hard to make that conspiratorial take: most responsible outlets don’t speculate on motives until there’s some evidence of a connection. For example, the stories I’ve read quoted his neighbors wondering whether there’s a connection to what happened at Brown, which is just an hour away and still has the killer at large. If there’s any evidence of an anti-Jewish motive, I will be shocked if it’s not an NYT headline within minutes.
- jimbo808 10mo agoThe title of this article leads with "Jewish, Pro-Israel MIT Professor..." so I think they've already decided to go with the "victim of antisemitism" default until proven otherwise.
- alphazard 10mo agoCertainly it's more conspiratorial to assume that his death had something to do with his research, or that he was secretly a some kind of Walter White character? Being politically outspoken on an issue which is contentious in that area, and which has caused violence before seems like the most plausible explanation that I have heard so far.
- acdha 10mo agoNo, it’s just sticking to the publicly known information. Not listing something isn’t saying it’s not a factor, it’s just literally going with what the police were saying: they didn’t have any information about the motive yet.
- uselesswords 10mo ago
- shrubble 10mo agoIs it true that Brookline had very few murders in the past 5 years? Increases the chance of it being targeted instead of random.
- stmw 10mo agoIt is a very very safe town.
- johanyc 10mo agoI lived around that area for 3 years. Never heard of any shooting in that neighborhood.
- etruong42 10mo agoBrookline was rated Best Places to Live for Quality of Life in the U.S. in 2025-2026 by US News which "measures how satisfied residents are with their daily lives, and takes into account factors like crime, quality and availability of health care, quality of education and average commute time" I also live nearby.
- neilv 10mo agoFlagged. The post is about someone just murdered, yet most of the HN comments on this post are strangely insensitive and dumb. HN ranks highly in Google, so friends and family members may see these comments.
- FilosofumRex 10mo agoPros always use silencers - but amateurs instigated/inspired by security services/spies, are meant to be caught and will confess
- IAmBroom 10mo agoTurn off the TV and go to bed. Silencers don't silence guns. It's an expensive piece of evidence of limited usefulness. Also, jewel thieves don't abseil down from the ceiling.
- HardwareLust 10mo ago[flagged]
- RagnarD 10mo agoI'd made another post (that I can't reply to) pointing to an Israeli news article that Nuno Loureiro was Jewish. Apparently, he was not, so please note the correction here. To those who say that being Jewish would NOT have been a motivation for some in the world: stop evading reality. Especially so soon after the Bondi beach massacre.
- stevenwoo 10mo agoSomeone he knew had a grudge. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/person-of-interest-arrested-in-brown-shooting https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/person-of-interest-arr...