MIT will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Institute’s move from Boston to Cambridge this May, reports Kristin Toussaint for Boston.com. Toussaint writes that MIT is hosting a "competition in which MIT alumni, students, staff, and faculty can create vessels that will make their own voyage across river."
In an article for The Boston Globe, Bryan Marquard writes about Prof. emeritus Marvin Minsky, co-founder of the former AI Lab (now CSAIL), a founding member of the Media Lab, and a pioneer in the field of AI, who passed away on Sunday.
The Boston Globe’s Steve Annear writes that MIT will host a parade to honor the 100th anniversary of the Institute’s move to Cambridge, and MIT community members are invited to create vehicles for the parade. “Who knows what students will come up with?” explains Prof. John Ochsendorf. “The idea is that they come by land or by sea.”
STAT reporter Andrew Joseph writes that MIT scientists have developed a potential new treatment for diabetes. Joseph explains that the new technique could allow healthy insulin-producing cells to be successfully transplanted into patients.
Prof. emeritus Marvin Minsky, one of the founders of the field of artificial intelligence, died Sunday at age 88, reports Glenn Rifkin for The New York Times. Rifkin writes that Minsky “combined a scientist’s thirst for knowledge with a philosopher’s quest for truth as a pioneering explorer of artificial intelligence.”
Prof. Paul O’Gorman spoke at Columbia University regarding a study he conducted on how climate change might impact extreme snowfall, reports Andrea Thompson for Scientific American. O'Gorman found that while average annual snow amounts and extreme snowfalls would decline as temperatures rose, “extreme snowfalls would become a bigger proportion of all snow events.”
Alumnus Anmol Madan, co-founder and CEO of MIT startup Ginger.io, writes for The Huffington Post about how to improve mental health care in the U.S. In his piece, Madan highlights how MIT researchers have found “vast potential for the application of mobile sensing to mental health.”
In an article for The Boston Globe, David Abel writes about MIT’s efforts to combat climate change. Abel notes that, “MIT is embarking on an unprecedented program to accelerate progress on low-carbon energy technologies.”
In this video, Prof. Edward Boyden speaks with The Huffington Post about how sleep and meditation impact people on a neurological level. Boyden says that traditions such as mediation can “help us be more attuned to what our mind really wants.”
Bloomberg Business reporter Rebecca Greenfield writes about a new study co-authored by MIT researchers that finds that when workers have control over their schedules they tend to be more satisfied. Prof. Erin Kelly explains that at present employees "worry about if there are career consequences for working in this different way.”
Dean of Admissions Stuart Schmill speaks with WRKO’s Kim Carrigan about a new set of recommendations for the college admissions process. Schmill explains that, “we want students who are going to come here and try to improve the lives of their classmates,” as well as students interested in having a positive effect on the world.
MIT researchers are collaborating with the Self-Employed Women's Association to identify how women in India use technology, reports The Times of India. "There are lots of innovations in the name of the poor, but nobody knows what works," explains Prof. Bishwapriya Sanyal.
New York Times columnist Frank Bruni examines “Turning the Tide,” a new report that recommends changes to the college admissions process. Bruni says the report - which Stuart Schmill, dean of admissions, contributed to – “sagely reflects on what’s wrong with admissions and rightly calls for a revolution, including specific suggestions.”
In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Leslie Brody speaks with Stuart Schmill, dean of admissions, about a report that recommends new guidelines for the college admissions process. “We want students to lead balanced lives,” says Schmill of the impetus for updating the admissions process.
Prof. Paula Hammond speaks with Tom Ashbrook of NPR’s On Point about Vice President Biden’s new cancer initiative. Hammond likens the challenge to “going to the moon and back, it’s creating a permanent space station out there as well that allows us to continue to learn about some of the new approaches.”