"The fast-moving world of online education, where anyone can take classes at a world-famous university, is making a new foray into the community college system, with a personal twist."
"Sasha Costanza-Chock, a professor of civic media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says disaster preparedness is about more than stocking up on bottled water, packaged meals and fresh batteries. It’s also a matter of pooling technical resources to solve the problems that can arise quickly, like how to move supplies to those in need and relay reliable information about shelters and food."
"The MIT Open Documentary Lab and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam’s project, “Moments of Innovation,” documents the process of documentation."
"Instead of turning away, "in times of shortage, it's just the reverse," said Richard Larson, professor of engineering systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Panicked drivers may decide to go to the back of the line and wait, he said, rather than risk waiting longer later or missing out on a chance at gas entirely, if supplies run out."
"The digital world creates convergence, overlap and blur in previously separate, distinct and crisply defined areas. Simple definitions, such as being inside or outside something, being part of or not part of something else, being for or against just about anything... all of these are suddenly subject to reinterpretation."
"Joi Ito, 46-year-old director of MIT's Media Lab since last September, has just selected the faculty's newest outpost: the troubled streets of downtown Detroit."
"The MIT Sloan CFO Summit hosted two economics speakers during the course of the day: The first painted the state of U.S. debt levels as an appalling crisis that must be dealt with immediately — but the second begged to differ, offering an alternative set of priorities."
"If you’ve checked Twitter, updated your Facebook status and read an article or two at work today then here’s a reason not to feel guilty: Periodical procrastination has been shown to boost work performance, especially if your job is particularly tedious. Say, if you’re flying a spy drone over Pakistan."
"Researchers have been trying to create ultra-hydrophobic materials--materials that repel water--because condensation of vapor can interfere with the energy efficiency of industrial processes."
"As the devastation wrought by Tropical Storm Sandy suggests, regions in both rich and poor parts of the world urgently need to develop local plans to prepare for climate impacts and reduce their disaster risk, experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say."