| Neural Nets v. The Brain | | | | | Neuroscientists often use artificial intelligence systems to model tasks the brain performs, but some researchers are urging caution. A new study suggests neural networks do not necessarily generate useful predictions of how the brain works. |
| Why the 2022 elections might determine the future of democracy in the US 🇺🇸 In a recent discussion, individuals from around MIT describe why every vote in state and local elections matters. |
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| Community members greet MIT’s 18th president With donuts and cider in hand, students, faculty, and staff gathered on Hockfield Court to speak with President-elect Sally Kornbluth and celebrate her appointment. |  |
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| Geophysicist Leigh Royden looks at Earth from the top down The MIT professor combines geophysics and geology to understand what’s happening beneath the crust. |  |
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| Exploring education from all angles Senior David Spicer advocates for students at MIT and beyond as he cultivates his interest in education policy. |  |
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| Ashton Carter, former U.S. secretary of defense who served in leadership roles at the MIT Corporation and Lincoln Laboratory, dies at 68 A trained theoretical physicist, Carter devoted his wide-ranging knowledge to government service. |  |
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| “Elites are making choices that are not good news” // The New York Times Professors Daron Acemoglu and David Autor discuss the forces driving working-class voters toward the Republican Party. “Elites are making choices that are not good news for non-college workers,” Acemoglu says. “In fact, they are bad news for most workers.” Autor adds: “The class and cultural resentments that were inflamed by the China trade shock (alongside other technological, cultural, and political forces) are now so burned-in that I strongly suspect that they are self-perpetuating.” |
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| People wearing masks are less likely to indulge in antisocial behavior // Forbes A study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that in China, “masks might function as a ‘moral symbol’ and decrease the likelihood of an individual engaging in any form of deviant behavior.” |
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| Opinion: “FemTech” and a moonshot for menstruation science // The Boston Globe Professor Linda Griffith underscores the pressing need to invest in studying women’s health and menstruation science. “These were the attitudes society had about breast cancer decades ago; we didn’t talk about it. But then we finally focused on the science, and overcame the squeamishness about mentioning ‘breasts’ by creating a technical language that could be spoken without hesitation by anyone,” writes Griffith. “We need a similar scientific push for menstruation science, and a comfort level with the language that goes with it. It’s time.” |
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| Animals dream too – here’s what we know // National Geographic Professor Matthew Wilson discusses his research exploring whether animals have dreams. “We have this idea of dreams being a confabulatory narrative with kind of crazy, vivid elements to it,” Wilson says. “But when we look into animal models, we’re simply trying to understand what goes on during sleep that might influence learning, memory, and behavior.” |
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 | | | | [T]he broken jobs and broken media environments stem from similar sources, creating a vicious cycle that encourages mis/disinformation, obscuring issues most relevant to working-class voters, and leading to political outcomes potentially contrary to what some imagine they are voting for. Connecting the dots is critical, not only for the 2022 midterm elections, but for the future viability of U.S. democracy. |
| | —Christine Walley, professor of anthropology, in a new “Election Insights” essay |
| | | Among MIT Halloween activities this year, Project Manus hosted a maker social in the Metropolis makerspace (Room 6C-006B). In addition to pumpkin carving with hand tools and power drills, students and staff laser-cut pumpkins and experimented with plasma-torched pumpkin designs. |
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