MIT Theater Arts: The next act

Performing arts building ushers in a new era of theater at the Institute.

3 Questions: Brent Ryan on Hurricane Harvey’s implications for U.S. cities

Stranded in Houston by hurricane floodwaters, an MIT associate professor sees firsthand how design and policy decisions affected the storm’s impact.

President Reif writes to support preservation of DACA

In Boston Globe op-ed, MIT president calls on White House and Congress to protect “Dreamers.”

Evelyn Wang joins leadership team in MechE

Mechanical engineering alumna and internationally recognized professor is the new associate head of the department.

Gregory Falco: Protecting urban infrastructure against cyberterrorism

PhD student works at the intersection of urban planning and computer science.

Writing for The Boston Globe, President L. Rafael Reif expresses support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. “As the president of one of America’s leading technical universities — an institution built on intellectual excellence, a meritocratic openness to talent, and a long tradition of national service — I believe repealing DACA would be a mistake.”

Writing for Fortune, Prof. Nicholas Ashford explains that the U.S. should implement more stringent chemical safety measures to prevent explosions. “Government at all levels should hasten the adoption of common-sense, inherently safer rules to save lives, and to protect businesses and communities,” Ashford explains.

Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab, writes for Forbes that lifelong education is a key component to job security and retirement planning, highlighting MIT’s online education offerings and MicroMasters programs. “People with the willingness and agility to learn new skills…are the most resilient players in an economy defined by sudden technological shifts and the rapid accumulation of new knowledge.”

Robotic system monitors specific neurons

Success rate is comparable to that of highly trained scientists performing the process manually.

Neighboring exoplanets may hold water, study finds

Observations and modeling suggest TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets may have held onto water, billions of years after their formation.

Robot learns to follow orders like Alexa

ComText, from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, allows robots to understand contextual commands.