| Mechanisms of Machine Learning | | | | | Machine learning “works so well that it is easy to forget that we don’t know why it works,” says associate professor of mathematics Ankur Moitra. He seeks to establish “a rigorous foundation” and to design algorithms that are more robust, interpretable, and fair. |
| How elite universities can be more inclusive MIT Sloan recently hosted an event spotlighting diversity in higher education. Here are five key takeaways. |  |
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| New drug-formulation method may lead to smaller pills Chemical engineers have found a way to load more drug into a tablet, which could then be made smaller and easier to swallow. |  |
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| STEM + humanities = a framework for understanding the world |
Natasha Joglekar ’21 is eager to apply her MIT education, with a major in computer science and biology and a minor in women’s and gender studies, to a career in medical research. |  |
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| CHIME telescope detects more than 500 mysterious fast radio bursts in its first year of operation Observations quadruple the number of known radio bursts and reveal two types: one-offs and repeaters. |  |
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| QS ranks MIT the world’s No. 1 university for 2021-22 |
Ranked at the top for the 10th straight year, the Institute also places first in 12 subject areas. |  |
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| Major scientific and technological investment sought to better compete against China // Marketplace “We are in a science and technology race for the future,” says President L. Rafael Reif of the importance of the U.S. Senate passing a bill that invests in research and development. “It is with science and technology that we address things like Covid and the biggest challenges the world has. The health of our economy, our security, that is key to all of the above.” |
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| I’m a Black, gay physician. I’m here today because my friends saw me — all of me // WBUR Chase Anderson ’11, SM ’13 writes about how the friends he made during his time at MIT showed him the meaning of friendship and support. “These friends validated my identity and helped me unshackle the self I’d been hiding, or had been forced to hide,” Anderson writes. |
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| Oximeters used to be designed for equity. What happened? // Wired “As part of AI’s growing role in health care, a wide range of noninvasive sensors are being developed with the pulse oximeter as their model,” writes Associate Professor Amy Moran-Thomas of the importance of equitable device design. “Without care, a coming generation of optical color sensors could easily reproduce the unequal errors for which pulse oximetry is now known across many other areas of medicine.” |
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| The Vatican’s space observatory wants to see stars and faith align // NPR Brother Guy Consolmagno ’74, director of the Vatican Observatory, discusses his desire to promote a greater dialogue between faith and science. “Because people can see science in action, science doesn’t have all the answers,” says Consolmagno. |
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| | | This year’s Commencement showcased the premiere of “Diary Of A Pandemic Year,” composed by Jamshied Sharifi ’83 and conducted by Frederick Harris Jr., director in music within MIT Music and Theater Arts. The composition features the MIT Wind Ensemble, MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble, MIT Symphony Orchestra, MIT Concert Choir, Rambax MIT, MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble, students from five MIT a cappella ensembles, and other MIT community members. The text is based on poetry written during the pandemic by Sophia D-G, Patricia Gao, Cynthia Hua, Moana Minton Meadow ’02, Maisha M. Prome ’21, and Kareena Villalobos. MIT poet and lecturer Erica Funkhouser compiled and edited the poems. |
| | | MIT-Ayiti.net is a digital platform of MIT-Haiti developed by professors Michel DeGraff and Haynes Miller, with support from MIT J-WEL and MIT Open Learning, that freely shares high-quality learning materials in the Kreyòl language. The platform engages a broad range of volunteer educators in Haiti and elsewhere as co-creators, and is a model of self-empowerment for Haitian teachers who, too often, lack educational resources in their native language. This new music video introducing the MIT-Ayiti platform was developed in partnership with Haitian composer, rapper, and musician Roosevelt Saillant, better known as B.I.C. Tizon Dife. |
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