Former MIT economics professor Eric S. Maskin and former graduate student Mario R. Capecchi were among the recipients of the Nobel Prizes in Economics and Medicine this year, respectively.

Two MIT alumni were awarded “genius grants” by the MacArthur Foundation last week. The fellows, Saul T. Griffith PhD ’04 and Yoky Matsuoka PhD ’98, will receive a stipend of $500,000 over the course of five years that may be spent however they wish. Griffith and Matsuoka are among 24 recipients this year.

Wireless access points have been deployed in parts of Cambridge, Mass., as part of the experimental stage of the Cambridge Public Network, a project which started a couple of years ago to provide the entire city with free wireless Internet access. The initial access points are set up in areas including Harvard Square and NewTown Court on the corner of Windsor Street and Mass. Ave.