What Lies Beneath | | | A new book examines how game-theory logic underpins many of our decisions. “Things that at first seem irrational, once you dig a little and think about what is being signaled, and ask the right questions, become a lot less puzzling,” says research scientist and author Erez Yoeli. Full story via MIT News → |
At Climate Grand Challenges showcase event, an exploration of how to accelerate breakthrough solutions Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry calls the initiative “classic MIT.” Full story via MIT News → | |
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MIT engineers introduce the Oreometer Mechanical engineers put an Oreo’s cream filling through a battery of tests to understand what happens when two wafers are twisted apart. Full story via MIT News → | |
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Study finds an unexpected upside to imposter syndrome Employees dealing with self-doubt often excel at teamwork, cooperation, and socializing. Full story via MIT News → | |
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Bringing “cultural diplomacy” to the classics Wiebke Denecke, an expert in East Asian literature, wants to add to the international, interdisciplinary study of the humanities at MIT. Full story via MIT News → | |
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MIT scientists develop low-cost, high-precision fabrication method for thin mirrors and silicon wafers A novel photolithography technique could be a manufacturing game-changer for optical applications. Full story via MIT News → | |
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Do you split your Oreo? Researchers at MIT explain how to make the filling stick to one side // CNN An MIT study explores why the cream filling inside Oreo cookies always sticks to one cookie when twisted open. Says graduate student Crystal Owens, “The best scientific research, even at MIT, is driven by curiosity to understand the world around us, when someone sees something weird or unknown and takes the time to think ‘I wonder why that happens like that?’” Full story via CNN→ |
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Pandemic’s lesson for many older folks: Stay in your home as long as you can // The Boston Globe MIT AgeLab researchers are designing “prototypes of ‘smart homes’ for older residents, equipped with social robots, voice-activated speakers that give medication reminders, motion sensors embedded in carpets to detect falls, and intelligent doorbells that double as security cameras.” Full story via The Boston Globe → |
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Opinion: When classical music was an alibi // The New York Times “In moments of war and violence, it can be tempting to either downplay classical music’s involvement in global events or emphasize music’s power only when it is used as a force for what a given observer perceives as good,” write Professor Emily Richmond Pollock and University of Michigan Professor Kira Thurman. Full story via The New York Times→ |
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Batteries, solar, wind and hydropower: Why renewable energy is essential to curbing climate change // ABC News Professor Jessika Trancik underscores the urgent need to transition to renewable energy sources, and explores how we can build a future powered by renewables. “Up until recently there were really significant questions about whether we could transition to another [energy] foundation,” says Trancik. Full story via ABC News→ |
| | | We need about five Manhattan Projects. | | —Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, in praise of MIT’s Climate Grand Challenges initiative, and in reference to accelerated wartime research efforts that helped turn the tide in World War II Full story via MIT News → | | Alex Brinson (second from right), a physics graduate student within the Laboratory for Nuclear Science, recently released a rap video about new research carried out by the CRIS collaboration at CERN and by the Laboratory of Exotic Molecules and Atoms at MIT. “I started rapping when I was 15, and gradually I found myself gravitating toward rhyming about math and physics — partly because it’s what I love, and partly because there’s just not enough STEM rap in the world (yet),” Brinson says. “Our work ... is an important first step in using molecules to search for hadronic sources of time-reversal symmetry (T) violation — a necessary ingredient to explain why there’s so much more matter than antimatter in the universe!” Watch the video→ | |