Events Sep 17 - Sep 23
Events Sep. 17 – Sep. 23 Tuesday (5:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.) Music, Manuscripts, and Megabytes: Unlocking sound in the ‘Ars Mutandi,’ talk by Professor Michael S. Cuthbert — 14E-304 (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) Contra Dance with live music by Forks of Nature — W20-491 Wednesday (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Innovation Series Event: From Farm to Tablet: A Food Startup Feast — 32-123 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) From MIT to Andy’s Room: the Birth and Evolution of Computer Graphics — MIT Museum (6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Reading the Human Genome, talk by Prof. Eric Lander Thursday (4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Starr Forum: Strange Rebels: 1979 and the Birth of the 21st Century — 66-110 (4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Opening Reception for Sidewalk City: Mapping the Unmapped — 7-338 Friday (7:30 p.m.) LSC shows Radical Reels — 26-100 Saturday (11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Latin American Independence Day BBQ — Kresge pits (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival Gala — 50-Morss Hall Sunday (1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Eastgate Fall Harvest Festival and BBQ — E55 Monday (2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) Media Lab Conversations Series: Mark Bauman, Chairman of National Geographic’s Cross Platform Committee — Media Lab 3rd floor (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Moral, Political, Scientific: What is Thoughtful Engineering? — 66-110 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
A week of innovation
Robotic cheetahs, body-heat fueled technology, cameras that operate at the speed of light, and a potential cure for HIV? This compilation of fascinating topics at the cutting edge of research led the conversation at MIT’s t=0 week. Students filled rooms until it was standing room only as some of MIT’s leading professors presented state-of-the-art technologies, ideas, and businesses during this week to kick off entrepreneurship at MIT.
Stand up against back pain
It’s not easy being MIT students. In addition to carpal tunnel, eye strain, and weight gain from too much free food, we must deal with back pain from sitting hunched over a desk for long hours. Fortunately, there’s a solution for that last problem: a standing desk.
Events Sept. 10 – Sept. 16
Events Sept. 10 – Sept. 16 Tuesday (10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Employer Resume Critiques with 30+ companies, hosted by the Global Education and Career Development Center (sign-ups on CareerBridge) — 12-172 Wednesday (8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.) Israeli Dancing with kosher snacks provided, hosted by the MISTI MIT-Israel Program, Folk Dance Club, and MIT Hillel — Sala de Puerto Rico (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Starr Forum — Syria: A Just War? with speakers Barry Posen, Jeanne Guillemin, Augustus Richard Norton, and John Tirman — E15-070 (Bartos theater) Thursday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) MISTI Open House, sponsored by the Center for International Studies and MISTI — E40-496 (6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) MIT Undergraduate Biochemistry Association General Body Meeting, with free dinner — W20-201 Friday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) LSC shows Fast & Furious 6, tickets for $4 in Lobby 16 — 26-100 (10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.) McKinsey Business Analyst Coffee Chats, sponsored by Sloan Business Club (sign-up necessary) — Area Four Saturday (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) The Ig Informal Lectures at MIT by 2013 Ig Nobel Prize winners, sponsored by The MIT Press Bookstore and The Annals of Improbable Research — 26-100 Sunday (6:45 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Film on the Green @ MIT - Les Chansons d’Amour, sponsored by the Center for International Studies, FL&L, and French Consulate of Boston — Kresge Oval Monday (5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Wall Street and the Housing Bubble with speaker Wei Xiong (Princeton), sponsored by the Applied Theory Workshop (joint MIT/Harvard) — Harvard Littauer M15 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Events Sept. 02 – Sept. 08
Events Sept. 02 – Sept. 08 Tuesday (11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Wonder Woman Photo Shoot — Lobby 10 (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Trash2Treasure sale, free Reuse items — Kresge Oval Wednesday (11:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.) MIT police laptop tagging and registration — 32 (Stata Student St.) Thursday (12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.) Tour de SHASS, free lunch — 10-105 (Bush Room) (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) The Musical Theatre Guild presents AVENUE Q — W16-035 (Kresge Little Theatre) Friday (9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.) Sidney Pacific Orientation Dance Party. Featuring DJ BIG from WPOT Hot 97 Boston radio station — NW-86 Saturday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) MITMASA welcoming dinner, with Malaysian food — W20 (PDR 1 and 2) Sunday (11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Student Loan Art Program Exhibition public brunch/reception — E15 Monday (12:00p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Electricity Student Research Group interdisciplinary research lunch series on sustainable electricity — E19-319 (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) The Economic Effects of Combat Exposure, with speaker Michael Yankovich — E51-151 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Events aug. 27 – sept. 02
Events aug. 27 – sept. 02 Tuesday (12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Japanese Tea Ceremony Lessons ($10 MIT community, $5 students) — W4 Green Living Room (5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) McKinsey & Company Info Session: MIT Happy Hour (RSVP online) — 50 Muddy Charles Wednesday (2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) MIT spouses & partners stroller tour of MIT, snacks afterward — Kendall outbound T Thursday (10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Gelfand Centennial Conference: A View of 21st Century Mathematics — 34-101 Friday (7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) Community Shabbat Dinner at Hillel — W11 Main Dining Room (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) LSC shows Zero Dark Thirty (free tickets in Lobby 16)— 26-100 Saturday (9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.) Westgate Fall 2013 yard sale — W85 lawn Sunday (2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.) The Musical Theatre Guild presents AVENUE Q — W16-035 (Kresge Little Theatre) Monday (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Ashdown House Dessert Night: International Dessert Sampling — NW35-Hulsizer Room Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Of toothpaste, and the arc of the moral universe
Sometime in June, a discovery in Senior House threw me briefly into a personal crisis. Someone had used my toothpaste.
Flying monkeys, hedgehogs, and castles, oh my!
I originally wanted this article to show that graduate students can kick back, relax, and stave off the insanity that is just a stone’s throw away from the genius we all aspire to achieve. However, as I wrote the title, I realized this may actually convince you of the opposite, that graduate school does in fact drive graduate students off the deep end. So, throwing caution to the wind, I am sharing two tales of the silly, the frivolous, and the fun that I’ve experienced this summer.
Supporting grad student families
“In the United States and Europe, around half of those who gain doctoral degrees in science and engineering are female — but barely one-fifth of full professors are women. Women are not invited in significant numbers to sit on the scientific advisory boards of start-up companies. A scientific conference at which half of the keynote speakers are women stands out simply because of that. Why has progress stalled? Child care is one major factor that blocks the career of many women.”
Missed beats
My history with music reads like an I Saw You MIT post. “I heard you, ten second music video clip of ‘Feel Good, Inc.’ on a TV commercial.” “I heard you, midi version of ‘Diary of a Madman’ on a web 1.0 Johnny the Homicidal Maniac fansite.” Yet it was only recently that I started explicitly looking for new and classic bands to listen to, and educating myself in good music.
MIT, in a box
I arrived at the Institute in August of 2009 with two suitcases, a backpack, and a lot of enthusiasm. I was eager to begin my college life — to stay up absurdly late, make friends while psetting, have a swank dorm room, be independent etc. — and I had arrived at school early to participate in my Freshman Pre-Orientation Program (FPOP), the Freshman Arts Program.
Creating your own opportunities
Visit the Museum of Science, Boston this week. Proceed to the Blue wing up the escalators and to the left of the butterfly exhibit. There you will find Ocean Stories, an exhibit housed in the Art Science Gallery, a 2000-square-foot gallery twenty feet tall. By exploring Ocean Stories, you will discover oceanography translated through the prism of artwork.
Events May 7 - May 13
Events may 07 – may 13 Tuesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Artists Beyond the Desk presents Cate Gallivan on piano — Killian Hall (5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) A Conversation with award-winning Portuguese author, Dulce Maria Cardoso — 14E-305 Wednesday (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Soap Box: The Political Life of Cheese, free cheese — MIT Museum (7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Slavery And The American Imagination — Simmons Hall Multipurpose Room Thursday (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Discussion of book 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10 — 4-231 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) MIT DanceTroupe presents: #DTMF — Little Kresge Theater Friday (7:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m.) LSC shows Pitch Perfect — 26-100 Saturday (6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Sidney Pacific End of Term BBQ and Outdoor Movie — Sidney Pacific Courtyard MP room (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) MIT Concert Choir, director William Cutter — Kresge Auditorium Sunday (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) MITHAS presents Rupak Kulkarni Bansuri — Wong Auditorum (4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Chamber Music Society music for two pianos and other works — Kresge Auditorium Monday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) When the Levee Breaks: Black Migration and Economic Development in the American South? — E62-233 (5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Innovation Series Event: It takes more than just Big Data — Evolving Solutions for Pharma and Healthcare — 32-123 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Is there an absolute right or wrong?
Ask A-theist is a column by Aaron Scheinberg G, an atheist, and Stephanie Lam G, a Christian, which uses contrasting worldviews to explore questions and misconceptions about philosophy and religion. This week, Stephanie chose the question. Send us the burning questions you have always wanted answered by an atheist or Christian (or both), and we’ll tackle them!
Don’t be afraid to ask
The Internet is littered with quotes about how it’s the great questions and not the great answers that are important and shape history, science, and the universe as a whole. It’s not as if I had never thought about it; really, I had. I had just assumed this was talking about my research questions, the big important questions I could spend a lot of time crafting. I assumed those were the questions I was being judged on.
Events Apr 30-May 6
Events apr. 30 – may 6 Tuesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) 11th annual Prokopoff violin music concert — 14E-109 (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Entrepreneurship in an Emerging Economy: The CWG Illustration — E62-262 Wednesday (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) One Democracy’s Gains and Pains: the US-Mexico Drug Entrapment, pizza provided — 32-141 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) A Crisis in Civics?, talk by Director of MIT Center for Civic Media Ethan Zuckerman — NW-86 Thursday (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Sacrificing Freedom of Mind: How We Fall Prey to Cults and Controllers — 32-155 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Urban Films: Revolution ‘67 (2007) — 66-110 Friday (12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.) Media in Transformation 8 conference panel: Oversharing of private information using social media — E15-070 (6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) LSC shows Les Miserables — 26-100 Saturday (11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) Media in Transformation 8 conference panel: Surveillance by digital technologies — E51-115 (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) MIT Anime Karaoke — Student Center Coffee House Sunday (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Tang Hall Egg Drop contest — Tang Hall, W84-24 (8:00 p.m. – 9:30) Techiya Spring Concert: The Hobbit – an unexpected Bar Mitzvah — 6-120 Monday (1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.) The Sequester: The Future of Science Funding and its Impact on MIT – Students, Faculty, Postdocs, and Research — 56-114 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
50 minutes of anxiety
Sitting in class, 50 minutes always seemed like a lifetime. I never thought it could feel longer after leaving undergrad.
Events apr. 23 – apr. 29
Events apr. 23 – apr. 29 Tuesday (5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Screening of Emerging Thailand: The Spirit of Small Enterprise and discussion with MIT economics professor Robert M. Townsend — E25-111 Wednesday (11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.) MIT Parking and Transportation and Cambridge Bikes presents free bike repairs in conjunction with Earth Day — W20 (5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Screening of Pandora’s Promise and discussion with filmmaker Robert Stone — 34-101 Thursday (11:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Choose to Reuse — 32 first floor (7:15 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) MISTI Foreign Film Night: Volver — 1-277 Friday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) 100 Years of Service: Snapshots of the MIT Women’s League (refreshments provided) — 10-340 (4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Earth Week film screening: Chasing Ice (refreshments provided) — 6-120 Saturday (8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.) Reverend Freakchild performs live on WMBR’s Lost Highway program — 88.1 FM (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Songkran Festival hosted by Thai Students at MIT (TSMIT), $1 per food ticket — W20-306 Sunday (7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Skydiving trip hosted by MIT Skydiving Club — Skydive Pepperell (5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Ohms Spring Concert: COhmmencement — 10-250 Monday (5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) MIT Fashion Event sponsored by the Martin Trust Center, featuring fashion startups and industry experts (free tickets on eventbrite) — E51-115 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
The importance of adaptations
“Did you know,” I said to the eight-year-old boy in a Red Sox cap, “that about 50 percent of the oxygen in our atmosphere comes from the ocean by way of the tiny, drifting marine animals and plants called phytoplankton? So for every second breath you take, thank the plankton!”