The rapid advance of artificial intelligence has generated a lot of buzz, with some predicting it will lead to an idyllic utopia and others warning it will bring the end of humanity. But speculation about where AI technology is going, while important, can also drown out important conversations about how we should be handling the […]
It was an uncharacteristically sunny morning as Marcela Angel MCP ’18, flanked by a drone pilot from the Boston engineering firm AirWorks and a data collection team from the Colombian regional environmental agency Corpoamazonia, climbed a hill in the Andes Mountains of southwest Colombia. The area’s usual mountain cloud cover — one of the major […]
“All I did was swim,” says Jerry Lu, recalling his teenage years as a competitive swimmer. “From age 12 to 19, it was close to 30 hours a week of training.” Although Lu no longer competes himself, his understanding of the dedication and impeccable technique required in elite sports continues to shape his path as […]
How are waves of disruptive technologies, such as more advanced versions of artificial intelligence systems, changing the way we work, live, and play? Are there pathways that academics, practitioners, innovators, and entrepreneurs ought to be pursuing to ensure that the largest share of the benefits associated with new technologies uplift the most marginalized populations? What […]
Combat sports might not be the first thing that comes to mind when people think of MIT, but the MIT Sport Taekwondo Club has been attracting students as an outlet from the rigors of academic life for more than 20 years. “The recurring thing we hear from graduating students in the club is that taekwondo […]
For the past two and a half years, graduate student Tong Zhang has been figuring out how bacteria protect themselves against phages — the viruses that infect them. All the while, doing so as a student far from her hometown of Beijing, China. Phages and bacteria are in a constant arms race, which those in […]
Now in its 22nd year, the MIT Priscilla King Gray (PKG) Public Service Center’s IDEAS Social Innovation Challenge has prepared over 200 student-led teams to utilize innovation for social good. In addition to providing over $1.1 million in funding, the PKG Center has enlisted diverse partners to mentor teams in refining and implementing their ideas. […]
A new MIT Bootcamp brought 48 experienced and emerging innovators from six continents to campus as they learned how to scale their ventures. The Venture Advancement Program, which ended on May 12, was organized by MIT Open Learning and delivered a mix of lectures, workshops, and mentoring sessions from leading MIT academics and startup veterans. […]
When MIT’s mini cheetah perfectly executed a backflip on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” the audience screamed and applauded wildly. If this machine — which also pranced around the stage like a show dog and stretched in several different directions — could perform such a difficult maneuver, one that is impossible for most humans, […]
Chemical “upcycling,” or converting plastics into higher-value products, to the left. Materials that repair damage and restore themselves to the right. Straight ahead: fibers that can be woven into fabrics and used as microphones or loudspeakers. Such was the varied innovation that crowded MIT’s Morss Hall on Polymer Day 2023. Sixty-four teams from schools throughout […]
