The German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has counted some of the greatest scientists in history among its ranks. Founded in 1652, and named in honor of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, the scientific organization has included among its members Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Alexander von Humboldt, and Charles Darwin, to name a few. But […]
On a warm, sunny afternoon last Thursday, MIT’s community gathered under a tent on Hockfield Court to meet the Institute’s next president, Sally Kornbluth. Amid a festive, celebratory atmosphere that included live music and fall treats, Kornbluth soaked in MIT’s culture; chatted with faculty, students, and staff; heard from members of MIT leadership; and took […]
On Oct. 12, MIT mechanical engineering alumnus Vishnu Jayaprakash SM ’19, PhD ’22 was named the first-place winner in the graduate category of the Collegiate Inventors Competition. The annual competition, which is organized by the National Inventors Hall of Fame, celebrates college and university student inventors. Jayaprakash won for his pesticide innovation AgZen-Cloak, which he […]
Frank Sidney Jones, professor emeritus in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), passed away on Aug. 28 at the age of 93. In 1971, Jones was named Ford Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning, becoming the first African American to be tenured at MIT. He also taught courses in civil engineering. From his […]
AI image generators, which create fantastical sights at the intersection of dreams and reality, bubble up on every corner of the web. Their entertainment value is demonstrated by an ever-expanding treasure trove of whimsical and random images serving as indirect portals to the brains of human designers. A simple text prompt yields a nearly instantaneous […]
The American Physical Society (APS) recently honored a number of individuals with ties to MIT with prizes and awards for their contributions to physics. They include: Institute Professor Arup Chakraborty; associate professors Ronald Fernando Garcia Ruiz and Lina Necib; Yuan Cao SM ’16 PhD ’20; Alina Kononov ’14; Elliott H. Lieb ’53; Haocun Yu PhD ’20; and several […]
A good math problem is like a walled, secret garden, according to Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) head and MIT Professor Asu Ozdaglar, who was addressing an audience of middle and high school female-identifying mathematics contestants at the 14th annual Math Prize for Girls (MP4G) event. “Many people walking around the outside […]
From its new headquarters in Cambridge’s Kendall Square, The Engine is investing in a number of “tough tech” startups seeking to transform the world’s energy systems. A few blocks away, the startup Inari is using gene editing to improve seeds’ resilience to climate change. On the MIT campus nearby, researchers are working on groundbreaking innovations […]
Mohamed Magdi Taha, an undergraduate student in Course 6-9 (Computation and Cognition) passed away in August. A native of California and Khartoum, Sudan, the rising junior and New Vassar resident was passionate about social justice issues, had deep love for his home country and family, and had a penchant for writing and studying poetry. Writing […]
Ice hockey may not be the first hobby that jumps to mind when it comes to economists, but MIT professor of economics David Autor has proudly captained his department’s intramural hockey team for several years. Autor readily admits that the team he leads is downright terrible (and that he brings down the average!), but that’s […]
