Nitpick: David Brenner was from Philadelphia, not Canada. Lots of people thought he was from New York for some reason. He wrote an autobiography called Soft Pretzels with Mustard, which is a Philly food much more than a New York food (I can't fathom it myself).

I am as dismayed as you that so few MIT types are interested in space, but I guess the pragmatic move is to health care - gotta pay those loans off somehow! (sob)