Events Sept. 02 – Sept. 08
Events Sept. 02 – Sept. 08 Tuesday (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Crepes and Camaraderie Evening, sponsored by Ashdown House and the Warehouse Graduate Dorm — NW35 (Ashdown) Courtyard (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) Contra Dance beginner’s night, with live folk music, free for MIT and Wellesley students, sponsored by Folk Dance Club — Kresge Rehearsal Room B Wednesday (11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Sidney Pacific Plant Sale — NW86, Sidney Pacific Courtyard Thursday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Coffeehouse Lounge Outdoor Concert: The Black Moons — W20 (Stratton Student Center Steps) (1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Community Service Fair, hosted by the MIT Public Service Center — Kresge Oval Friday (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Student Loan Exhibition: Arts BBQ, celebration of arts on campus — E15 (List Visual Arts Center) (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) The Musical Theatre Guild presents Grease, $3 incoming MIT freshmen, $6 MIT and Wellesley students, $10 MIT affiliates, $15 general public — W16-035 (Kresge) Saturday (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.) Oink, Oink, Cluck, Baaaaa! Eastgate Animal Petting Zoo, see and feed farm animals, sponsored by Eastgate Community Association and GSC Funding Board — E55 (Eastgate) Courtyard (1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.) Demo Day for the MIT Global Founders’ Skills Accelerator, sponsored by Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship — W16 (Kresge) Sunday (6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) MIT Bangladeshi Students’ Association Fall Kickoff and Welcome Dinner, sponsored by MIT BSA and GSC Funding Board — 50-140 Monday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Why You Can’t Find a Taxi in the Rain and Other Labor Supply Lessons from Cab Drivers, with speaker Hank Farber of Princeton University, sponsored by Public Finance/Labor Workshop — E62-650 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Events Aug. 26 – Sept. 1
Events Aug. 26 – Sept. 1 Tuesday (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Orientation Pizza Making with Hillel — W11 Main Dining Room Wednesday (11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.) Learning Fair, open-house event sponsored by GSC and MIT spouses&partners — W20-307 (Student Center) (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) European Club info session I with MISTI — 1-135 Thursday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) MIT COOP at Kendall hosts VIP night for incoming freshman class of 2018 and new Sloan students, with food, giveaways, and discounts — NE-49 (MIT COOP) Friday (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) The Musical Theatre Guild presents Grease, $3 incoming MIT freshmen, $6 MIT and Wellesley students, $10 MIT affiliates and other students, $15 general public — W16-035 (9:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.) Sid-Pac orientation blacklight dance party, sponsored by Sidney-Pacific Graduate Community, LEF, and GSC Orientation — NW86 Saturday (2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Chinese traditional art workshop I (Guqin), Chinese tea and refreshments provided, sponsored by GSC Funding Board and Chinese Association of Science and Technology — NW10 (large lounge) (6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Summer Grill Night, sponsored by GSC Funding Board and Eastgate Community Association — E55 (Eastgate courtyard) Sunday (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Trial by Audience, or Musical Comedy Down to the Waistcoat, sponsored by MIT Gilbert and Sullivan Players, free admission — 4-237 Monday (5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Sid-Pac Orientation BBQ, sponsored by Sidney-Pacific Graduate Community, GSC Funding Board, MIT COOP BOOKS, GSC Orientation, H-Mart, Harvest CO-OP, and Whole Foods — NW86 courtyard Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Boston Comic Con
Boston Comic Con has grown so much in recent years that it increased from two to three days in length this year. I thought I might be too tired to experience BCC after attending San Diego Comic Con only two weeks earlier, but thankfully this convention offered a less intense atmosphere. More than anything else, the show focused on providing a venue for comics enthusiasts to meet and interact with some of their favorite artists and writers.
A comic based on real physics: Spectra
Editor’s Note: This interview was edited for clarity.
Three days at San Diego Comic-Con
After buying enough protein bars, beef jerky, and vitamins to sustain me for three days, I packed away all my food along with a space blanket and some sunscreen. I wasn’t going on a camping trip, though. I was headed to San Diego Comic-Con.
A day in the life of a modern-day Power Ranger
Editor’s Note: Some parts of this interview were shortened and edited for clarity.
Give blood to the tree
You can buy the Sport Death shirt, and the Roast shirt, and even the Lambda Sigma Delta jersey (complete with purity score!). But there is a special rite of passage for those who want to be a true Senior Haus resident. I am speaking, of course, of learning how to tire swing.
Mary Rowe retiring from role as ombudsman
The MIT Ombuds Office, according to its mission statement, “helps people express concerns, resolve disputes, manage conflicts, and learn more productive ways of communicating” and serves as a neutral resource to the MIT community. Last year, MIT’s two ombudsmen received about 800 visitors, who collectively raised 3800 different issues, including academic concerns, interpersonal problems, and requests for referrals. Mary Rowe, one of MIT’s ombudsmen, is retiring from her position this year.
THE NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK: The birds, the bees, and the flowers
It’s a romantic night. A young male bee, just out of his pupa, is looking for adventure. He spies another bee in the bushes, and from her scent, discovers that she is a female. He falls in love, and within a matter of seconds they are having sex. Then, something strange happens: she hits him on the head with a lump of pollen. Confused, he wanders off, and immediately falls for another beautiful bee. They too make love, and his new partner takes the pollen off of his head.
Five surprises at MIT
At MIT, you can walk a straight sixth of a mile indoors through the Infinite Corridor. You can get a pirate’s license if you take the right classes, take a pirate oath, and sign a waiver. Starting from the beginning of freshman year, you learn that the MIT community is full of interesting facts such as these, and an array of adventures. However, looking back as I prepare to graduate in June, there are several things that stand out as major surprises about my MIT undergraduate experience. They feel so obvious in hindsight, but these five revelations took me by surprise one at a time.
Hidden in “plane” sight
I love MIT, having spent the entire decade of the sixties here. After graduating in 1963 (Course 6), I stayed on to get a Ph.D. in 1970, and I’ve remained active as president of the class of 1963. Shortly after I retired in 2003, at the end of a 33-year career in electrical engineering and computer science, I started working as a volunteer mentor for MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service (“VMS” – see http://vms.mit.edu/). As a result, I find myself at MIT several times a month.
Events May 13- May 19
Events may. 13 – may. 19 Tuesday (5 p.m. – 6 p.m.) 14th Annual Henry W. Kendall Memorial Lecture with Dr. Richard Alley — E15-070, Bartos Theater (7 p.m.) MIT Chamber Music Society — Killian Hall Wednesday (11:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) 2014 Bike Awareness Day — W20 steps (2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) xTalks: Big Data Where Art Thou? — 32-155 Thursday (5:30 p.m. — 8:00 p.m.) MIT Enterprise Forum Innovation Series Event: How Will Drones and Other Flying Robots Shape Your Everyday Life? — Johnson Rink Friday (5 p.m.) Daniel Manesh Senior Piano Recital — Killian Hall (7 p.m. – 11 p.m.) Anime;Brain?Reset! — 3-133 Saturday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Celebrate Spring with Baby Animals: traveling petting zoo — Westgate (7:30 p.m.) MIT Ballroom Dance Club: End of Semester Social Dance — W20-La Sala Sunday (9 a.m. – 2 p.m.) Swapfest — N4 Monday (11 a.m. – 12 p.m.) xTalks: Carl Wieman on how to teach and learn expertise in STEM — 3-270 (1 p.m. – 2 p.m.) Can Crowdfunding Democratize Access to Capital? — E62-233 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Events May 06 – May 12
Events May 06 – May 12 Tuesday (5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Taste of India, with free food, performances, and dances, hosted by MIT Sangam and the GSC Activities Committee — Walker Memorial (7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) MIT Chamber Music Society Jazz Combos Concert, sponsored by Music and Theater Arts — Killian Hall Wednesday (11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) MIT Police Laptop Tagging and Registration, $10 cash or MIT cost object per item, sponsored by IS&T Computing Help Desk — Lobby 10 Thursday (12 p.m. – 1 p.m.) Energy 101 Session: An Introduction to Oil and Gas, sponsored by the MIT Energy Club — E51-325 (5 p.m. – 7 p.m.) Comparative Media Studies/Writing and the MIT Game Lab host Philip Jones and show his documentary “Gaming in Color” — E14-633 Friday (5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) MIT D-Lab Spring Showcase and Open House — N51, 3rd floor (8 p.m. – 11 p.m.) LSC shows Blue is the Warmest Color, tickets for sale in Lobby 16 for $4 — 26-100 Saturday (12 p.m. – 4 p.m.) Family Day at the List: Graphic Text Workshop, family-friendly tour at 2 p.m., free and open to all — E15 (8 p.m. – 10 p.m.) MIT Concert Choir and Orchestra: Verdi Requiem, free in advance via Eventbrite, $5 at the door — Kresge auditorium Sunday (11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.) BBQ and frisbee to celebrate Lag BaOmer with MIT Hillel — Kresge lawn (7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) MIT Vocal Jazz Ensemble performs the music of Irving Berlin — Killian Hall Monday (4:15 – 5:15 p.m.) Nuclear and Particle Physics Colloquium, with speaker Simona Murgia from UC-Irvine — 26-414 (6 p.m. – 7 p.m.) Texas Culture Night, sponsored by the Technology Policy Students Society — NW86-185 (Sid Pac seminar room) Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
MIT life from the kitchen sink
Surrounded on all four sides by the short, squat buildings of student family housing at MIT, the large, inviting playground is the focus of the view from every kitchen window, presumably positioned to enable mothers to call Johnny, or Ahmed, or Xiao Ming home for dinner. A plethora of languages are spoken here on the playground, but the main language is that of uncertainty.
Events Apr 29 - May 05
Events Apr. 29 – May. 05 Tuesday (1:15 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.) Our Digital Lives: Protecting Our Data In Use and At Rest — 32-144 (2:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.) Historic Letterlocking: The Art and Security of Letterwriting — 32-144 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Silica Sounds in the Round — MIT Museum Wednesday (12 p.m. – 1 p.m.) Artists Beyond the Desk Presents Esmeralda Barreiro — Killian Hall (9 p.m.) LSC shows The Hunger Games: Catching Fire — 32-123 Thursday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Dertouzos Distinguished Lecture: The Cryptographic Lens — 32-123 (5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Russian History in a Nutshell — 56-154 Friday (12:01 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Open Mic in the Lewis Music Library — 14E-109 (5 p.m.) Steer Roast pit lighting — Senior House Courtyard Saturday (1 p.m. – 4 p.m.) MIT Anime Karaoke — Coffeehouse lounge (3 p.m.) RAMBAX Senegalese Drum Ensemble Outdoor Concert — Student center steps Sunday (10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.) Beaver Dash — Z Center overhang (8 p.m. – 11 p.m.) Folk Dancing with Live Croatian Music — Student Center 2nd floor Monday (7 p.m. – 9 p.m.) Internet, Security, and Power — Broad Auditorium Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Redefining sustainability
As part of Earth Week at MIT, we’ve looked at a few labs that are working to build a brighter and more sustainable future.
On honeybees
Walk along the Charles today, and you’ll find that spring is in full swing. The crocuses and daffodils are blooming. The geese are back in town. And if you stand still for a bit and watch the flowers, you may encounter a few pollinating insects buzzing along.
Composting at MIT
Here in Cambridge and at MIT, literally tons of waste are thrown away every day, filling our landfills and generating methane and carbon emissions when they could be generating value for our communities. Recent data from the EPA shows that people in the United States generate on average 4.4 pounds (2 kg) of trash per person every day. Approximately 65 percent of this ends up in a landfill, resulting in 160 million tons added to our landfills — enough to cover the entire area of Cambridge, Massachusetts with over 75 feet of garbage — every year.
Making MIT a model of sustainability
The MIT Office of Sustainability sits in a temporary space in the basement of Building 12, a far cry from the stereotypical green and airy spaces that are associated with “eco-friendliness.” Despite these humble surroundings, Dr. Julie Newman, Director of Sustainability since August 2013, is propelling the Office to influence the decision-making of MIT.
Soaking up the sun for a cross-country drive
How many MIT students does it take to build a solar-powered car? The MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT), an Edgerton Center-sponsored, student-run group, can do it in two years with just 15-20 students.