Prof. Marzyeh Ghassemi and Monica Agrawal PhD '23 speak with Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray about the risks on relying solely on AI for medical information. “What I’m really, really worried about is economically disadvantaged communities,” says Ghassemi. “You might not have access to a health care professional who you can quickly call and say, ‘Hey… Should I listen to this?’”
GBH reporter Renuka Balakrishnan spotlights “True or False,” a game featured in the MIT Museum’s “AI: Mind the Gap” exhibit, which invites visitors to guess the difference between a real and deepfake video. The exhibit “provides tips visitors can use outside the walls of the museum to improve media literacy in real life,” writes Balakrishnan.
MIT’s Hayden Library held an event celebrating the 25th anniversary of Wikipedia, reports Dana Gerber for The Boston Globe. “It’s fun and it’s funny, and it often chronicles the totally ridiculous corners of the world, but we also take it super seriously,” says MIT librarian Pheobe Ayers. “I hope people realize that Wikipedia is imperfect. It's always in progress. It’s not finished. But we’re trying really hard to make it good.”
Boston Globe reporter James Sullivan spotlights the annual MIT Mystery Hunt, “a weekend-long gaming tournament” dating back to 1981. “Created as a humble pastime for like-minded problem solvers, the hunt has grown into a multi-layered, internationally renowned competition, spawning dozens of imitators around the globe,” writes Sullivan.
MIT librarian Phoebe Ayers speaks with Boston Globe reporter Rebecca Spiess about the importance of Wikipedia editors in ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the online encyclopedia. “People really want to be right,” says Ayers. “They want their source to be good. Let’s be real: It attracts the pedantic.”
WBUR reporter Maddie Browning spotlights a new exhibit of photographer Brittany Nelson’s work, which will be on display at the MIT List Visual Arts Center beginning mid-January. The exhibit “will debut new photographs and a moving-image work filmed at the Green Bank Observatory (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) in West Virginia,” writes Browning.
The MIT Museum is hosting its latest After Dark event on January 8 with a new program called “Making Time,” reports Shira Laucharoen for WBUR. The evening’s activities “will explore what it means to slow down,” writes Laucharoen. “Activities include collaborating with others on a rag rug-making project and practicing yoga and meditation with MIT’s Yes Plus Club.”
Sherwin Greenblatt '62, SM '64 reflects on his two-decade tenure as director of MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service (VMS), a program that provides support for entrepreneurs in the MIT community, reports Jon Chesto for The Boston Globe. “VMS differs from many mentoring programs in that entrepreneurs are connected to not just one mentor, but several subject matter experts, depending on their needs,” explains Chesto. “These are also considered long-term commitments, not just several months of counsel and brainstorming.”
New York Times reporter Gina Ryder spotlights how Maria Paskowitz '96, MBA '02 and her neighbors have maintained a longstanding community tradition of transforming their Manhattan neighborhood into an open-air museum of Halloween art. This year Paskowitz has transformed “the exterior of the brownstone where she’s lived for the past decade into a colosseum,” writes Ryder. “She is collaborating with her neighbor, Elizabeth Styron, whose children, aged 9, 13 and 17, will dress as gladiators prepared for combat and a chariot race.”
Visiting artist Jeanette Andrews will present “‘The Attestation: A Performance of Illusions’ a site-specific show and installation about polarized beliefs” at the Kresge Little Theater on October 3 and 4, reports Cate McQuaid for The Boston Globe.
The MIT Museum will kickstart their “Time Travel on Screen” movie screening series on September 26 with an outdoor showing of the 1979 sci-fi film, “Time After Time,” reports Ryan Yau for The Boston Globe.
Boston Business Journal reporter Grant Welker spotlights Biogen's groundbreaking ceremony for its new headquarters in MIT’s Kendall Common development. "This area is the most perfect place to do it, because you have some of the highest levels of ingenuity, innovation and energy around the biotech industry, and not to mention partnerships with academic excellence," said Nicole Murphy, Biogen’s executive vice president for pharmaceutical operations and technology." It was absolutely critical to why we feel we want to be here."
Earlier this week, Biogen celebrated the groundbreaking for the company’s new headquarters in MIT’s Kendall Common development, reports Catherine Carlock for The Boston Globe. “When a company as influential as Biogen breaks ground on the new global headquarters, it is an unmistakable vote of confidence — confidence in Massachusetts, confidence in Cambridge, and confidence in Kendall Square, and confidence in the future," said MIT President Sally Kornbluth. “It is on us, on us in Massachusetts, to find new ways to make sure this amazing ecosystem can maintain its record of trailblazing science and transformative treatments and cures.”
WBUR’s Lloyd Schwartz spotlights a forthcoming performance of Errollyn Wallen’s “Dido’s Ghost,” by the MIT Chamber Chorus and other musicians at MIT’s Thomas Tull Concert Hall Oct. 18 and 19.
The Cambridge Science Carnival, founded by the MIT Museum, will take place on September 21, 2025, in the Kendall/MIT Open Space, reports The Boston Globe. The event features “more than 100 booths with science and art based activities and demonstrations,” writes The Boston Globe. From a STEAM-themed playground to “live, interactive music from the MIT physics departments,” kids are welcome to play, learn and enjoy.