From: MIT World on Sat, Mar 27 2010 8:58 AM

As the U.S. moves toward universal broadband access, look for increased government openness, new opportunities for civic engagement, and some dangers along the way, say these panelists. While Chris Csikszentmihalyi acknowledges the civic potential of broadband, he does not believe it will be a s...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

Based on this roster of speakers, the MIT Center for Future Civic Media exists in a constant state of productive ferment, if not adrenaline rush. In a series of brief, timed talks, 13 (!) researchers describe projects to help communities leverage self-knowledge into useful change or even transfo...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

In this first of three AeroAstro symposium events to mark the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, an extraordinary cast of luminaries recount the parts they played in the Apollo program, and celebrate MIT’s unique role in getting humans to the moon. Theodore Sorensen believes Presiden...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

Stay calm, stick with your vision and business fundamentals, and you’ll survive and perhaps even thrive in rough economic times, counsel these entrepreneurial aces. In a conversation with the Kauffman Foundation’s Bo Fishback, panelists reflect on their experiences bringing novel tech products t...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

Recalling a lecture he gave at MIT in 2005, Alan Davidson returns to the questions of the impact of public policy on the way technology is evolving in the Internet space. Instead of viewing it as a lawyer for a public policy interest group—his previous role—he now approaches it from his...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

It’s no exaggeration to say John Holdren’s job involves tackling the most critical issues of our age: economic recovery and growth, health care, energy, climate change, global pandemics, national security, ecosystem preservation the list goes on. As President Obama’s science and technology advis...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

In his role as a biochemist, Hidde Ploegh explains the "essential features of the lifestyle of the flu virus" discussing not only how viruses work to invade our systems and cause the flu, but also adding insights into the political and societal framework in which public health groups and governm...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

In a mind-stretching talk covering the history of the planet, development of higher-order consciousness, and East-West religious practices, Trappist monk Thomas Keating claims that humanity is poised to take its next evolutionary step, to the “furthest levels of human understanding.” While Keat...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

In thirty years, S. D. Shibulal has seen his share of economic crises, three to be exact. But in thinking hard about the role of crises in the future for today's students, he predicts: they will occur more frequently, and will be less predictable, longer lasting and more costly. Wi...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

The future of space exploration is "the Moon, Mars, and beyond." For the human scientist-astronaut, "the issue is one of location and locale," according to Dava Newman. The argument is no longer whether it's man vs. robot; rather it's how humans and robots will work together in ...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

Years of extreme partisanship and lobbying have left Americans cynical and bewildered about health care reform, but, say these panelists, the urgency of achieving some measure of change is not diminished, both for American families and the nation as a whole. The sad truth is that the problem may...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

The U.S. has had more than 70 years to come to terms with the Great Depression, and we really thought we knew how to avoid another one, says Paul Krugman. “It wasn’t supposed to be possible. Then came the current crisis.” So how to explain the Great Recession of 2008? Krugman suggests a combinat...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:24 AM

“Punch brothers! Punch with care! Punch in the presence of the passenjare!...” This ditty about tram car ticketing made famous by Mark Twain might spring to mind during Nigel Wilson’s talk. Technology unimaginable in Twain’s day is spurring a global shift in urban transit, Wilson says, from manu...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:23 AM

Celebrity culture and the brutal economics of print journalism have conspired to kill arts criticism, but it has begun migrating to the web, where it just may survive and even thrive. Panelists discuss the field’s colorful history, current decline, and possibly vibrant future. Arts criticism wen...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:23 AM

Transportation systems, as we know them today, will simply not sustain the worlds’ growing population. Imagine a projected population of nine billion individuals. If this future population had mobility patterns like drivers in the United States, there would be a staggering 7.6 billion motor vehi...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:23 AM

Few companies have endured such hardship, or risen to such heights in a brief span of time as Akamai Technologies. Paul Sagan tells how he became the CEO of this young firm, and helped it survive and then flourish despite “unimaginable adversity.” Brought up in a Chicago newspaper family, Sagan ...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:23 AM

In urging the MIT community to use its gifts to help others in need, particularly, the victims of the earthquake in Haiti, Dylon Rockwell recalls his mother's quest to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. With vivid memories of hundreds of New Orleans residents arriving in his hometown of ...

From: MIT World on Tue, Mar 23 2010 4:23 AM

Consumers will soon be able to quantify the carbon footprint of products they consume, and that could begin to change consumer behavior. The common banana you buy, say organic or not, is probably labeled by the country or origin. Increasingly, you might see a second sticker adorning your beloved...

From: MIT World on Thu, Mar 18 2010 2:46 PM

Consumers will soon be able to quantify the carbon footprint of products they consume, and that could begin to change consumer behavior. The common banana you buy, say organic or not, is probably labeled by the country or origin. Increasingly, you might see a second sticker adorning your beloved...

From: MIT World on Wed, Mar 10 2010 12:15 PM

Few companies have endured such hardship, or risen to such heights in a brief span of time as Akamai Technologies. Paul Sagan tells how he became the CEO of this young firm, and helped it survive and then flourish despite “unimaginable adversity.” Brought up in a Chicago newspaper family, Sagan ...