| Analyzing Reflections | | | | | | A new computer vision system turns a shiny object into a camera of sorts, enabling an observer to see around corners or beyond obstructions. “We have shown that any surface can be converted into a sensor with this formulation,” PhD student Kushagra Tiwary says. Full story via MIT News → |
| How to untangle a worm ball: Mathematicians solve a knotty mystery California blackworms tangle themselves up by the thousands, then separate in a split second. Their trick may inspire the design of self-detangling materials and fibers. Full story via MIT News → | |
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| In a time of war, a new effort to help MIT-Ukraine program leaders describe the work they are undertaking as they shape a novel project to help a country in crisis. Full story via MIT News → | |
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| Q&A: Introducing Axim Collaborative, a new MIT-Harvard online ed venture CEO Stephanie Khurana describes the nonprofit, whose work is aimed at those without easy access to degree and credential programs. Full story via MIT News → | |
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| Scientists discover how mutations in a language gene produce speech deficits Faulty versions of the Foxp2 gene disrupt neurons’ ability to form synapses in brain regions involved in speech, a new study shows. Full story via MIT News → | |
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| The answer may be blowing in the wind The MIT Energy Initiative’s Spring Symposium highlights the vast potential of offshore turbines in decarbonizing the grid. Full story via MIT News → | |
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| Will artificial intelligence help — or hurt — medicine? // NPR Assistant Professor Marzyeh Ghassemi examines how the increasing use of artificial intelligence could impact medical care. Full story via NPR→ |
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| Opinion: The writers’ strike is partly about AI. They’re right to worry // The Los Angeles Times Institute Professor Daron Acemoglu and Professor Simon Johnson make the case that the development of artificial intelligence should be shifted “toward a focus on ‘machine usefulness,’ the idea that computers should primarily enhance human capabilities. Full story via The Los Angeles Times→ |
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| What if AI could rebuild the middle class? // Planet Money Professor David Autor speaks with Greg Rosalsky of NPR’s Planet Money about the potential benefits and downsides of AI, sharing his hope that with the right policies in place to help prepare workers, AI could be harnessed to help “reinstate the middle class.” Full story via Planet Money→ |
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| 26 Empire State Buildings could fit into New York’s empty office space. That’s a sign. // The New York Times Professor of the practice Carlo Ratti and Harvard Professor Edward Glaeser emphasize that in order to “create a city vibrant enough to compete with the convenience of the internet, we need to end the era of single-use zoning and create mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhoods that bring libraries, offices, movie theaters, grocery stores, schools, parks, restaurants, and bars closer together. We must reconfigure the city into an experience worth leaving the house for.” Full story via The New York Times→ |
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Curiosity Unbounded is a new podcast featuring conversations between MIT President Sally Kornbluth and newly tenured MIT faculty members. President Kornbluth invites us to listen in as she dives into research in MIT’s labs and in the field. Along the way, she and her guests discuss pressing issues as well as what inspires the people running at the world’s toughest challenges at one of the most innovative institutions on the planet. In the second episode, President Kornbluth sits down with Mai Hassan, an associate professor of political science whose work investigates the bureaucratic state as well as democratization efforts in Kenya and elsewhere in the East Africa region, including her native Sudan.
Listen to the episode→ |
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| | | | | The energy I could be spending trying to push back against everyone’s projections is energy that I would rather spend improving, growing, and learning. | | —Amanda von Goetz, MBA ’14, founder and CEO of software technology firm Fermata Discovery, on experiencing bias on the job Full story via MIT Sloan→ |
| | | In an entirely unscientific survey, the MIT Alumni Association asked alumni what word, phrase, or acronym would reveal they went to MIT. While the responses varied, one thing is for certain: The MIT community has a language all its own. Watch the video | Learn more via Slice of MIT→ |
This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by memorable words. 🍍
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Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
—MIT News Office |
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