From: MIT World on Sat, Dec 04 2010 3:35 PM

The built environment consumes a very large share of the nation’s energy, and so offers rich opportunities for reducing our overall carbon footprint. MIT researchers share innovations that could soon radically alter the energy profile, as well as form and function, of buildings. Their work may p...

From: MIT World on Sat, Dec 04 2010 3:35 PM

Who better to comment on current realities of real estate investment than practitioners immersed in the business at the highest level? Moderated by prominent real estate economist Ray Torto, this panel includes five senior executives with well over a century of collective experience at major dev...

From: MIT World on Tue, Nov 23 2010 11:42 AM

Who better to comment on current realities of real estate investment than practitioners immersed in the business at the highest level? Moderated by prominent real estate economist Ray Torto, this panel includes five senior executives with well over a century of collective experience at major dev...

From: MIT World on Mon, Nov 15 2010 12:29 PM

An iconic figure in real estate development, Gerald D. Hines relates lessons learned over his half-century career to an admiring industry audience. Leveraging know-how in mechanical systems and project management, and not a small amount of chutzpah, Hines opened a one-man office in 1957 Houston,...

From: MIT World on Tue, Nov 09 2010 11:03 AM

Like a contemporary “whodunit” with a global crime scene, the financial meltdown has left behind countless victims, and lots of pointing fingers. The reasons for the collapse are debated by this group of estimable economists, some of whom worry that without really understanding what happened, we...

From: MIT World on Fri, Nov 05 2010 8:23 AM

Where others see just data points and fodder for bar graphs, Aaron Koblin visualizes dynamic systems where information assumes forms both abstract and familiar. In this talk, Koblin shares recent projects that meld statistical science and art to convey a really big picture, while often inviting ...

From: MIT World on Tue, Nov 02 2010 11:47 AM

Where others see just data points and fodder for bar graphs, Aaron Koblin visualizes dynamic systems where information assumes forms both abstract and familiar. In this talk, Koblin shares recent projects that meld statistical science and art to convey a really big picture, while often inviting ...

From: MIT World on Thu, Oct 28 2010 4:27 PM

To keep up with demand, the oil industry ventures increasingly farther and deeper offshore, extracting resources as fast as possible in often hazardous conditions with newly minted technology. So to these panelists, the BP Deepwater Horizon accident did not come as a complete surprise. However, ...

From: MIT World on Thu, Oct 28 2010 12:26 PM

While the government declared an end to the oil spill at the Macondo well on September 19, 2010, research into the causes and impacts of the Gulf disaster is ongoing. At the kickoff panel of a three-part symposium, three scientists discuss what they are learning about the disposition of the near...

From: MIT World on Sat, Oct 23 2010 8:02 PM

Physicist and art collector Walter Lewin shares his personal insights into major works of art from the first quarter of the 20th century. Known in the hallways of building 37 for his famous art contests, Lewin succumbs to pressure from students and colleagues to give this lecture as par...

From: MIT World on Sat, Oct 23 2010 8:02 PM

It is well know that we cannot engineer our way out of traffic congestion by building new roads. In fact, expanding the road network may paradoxically attract new traffic, and increase gridlock. Andreas Schulz provides a mathematical explanation for this conundrum. Using Nash equilibria and rela...

From: MIT World on Sat, Oct 23 2010 8:02 PM

Today, cell phones are a menace to safe driving, as they distract operators who should otherwise focus on the road. Tomorrow, cell phones could actually improve our driving, and help drivers avoid traffic congestion, use the road system more effectively, and manage the parking supply. Li-Shiuan ...

From: MIT World on Sat, Oct 23 2010 8:02 PM

If you had half a million dollars, would you opt for a passenger car that could drive itself (called an autonomous vehicle) or would you choose a new Ferrari? Emilio Frazzoli provides a number of reasons why autonomous vehicles might be the preferred choice, if not the typical one. Autonomous ve...

From: MIT World on Sat, Oct 23 2010 8:02 PM

In what could be the ultimate twist on Toy Story, Henry Jenkins suggests that action figures — those Star Wars and Masters of the Universe dolls from a few decades ago -- had the power to spark human creativity and transcend their original function. Jenkins argues such toys served children...

From: MIT World on Sat, Oct 23 2010 8:02 PM

In an era of packaged toys and online games, have our children lost the knack of creative play? While American kids may never again prefer sticks and other found objects to the manufactured experience, Laura Seargeant Richardson of frog design believes children can still evolve from game consume...

From: MIT World on Sat, Oct 23 2010 8:02 PM

Can a theory that explains why successful organizations fail and newcomers prevail help turn around America’s public schools? Michael B. Horn describes how the idea of disruptive innovation, developed by management researcher and author Clayton M. Christensen, can provide a fresh perspective on ...

From: MIT World on Sat, Oct 23 2010 8:02 PM

Even back in the early days of Comparative Media Studies (CMS), when Henry Jenkins and colleagues met in the basement of the Media Lab, there was much discussion of how new media might shape learning and spur novel forms of expression and community engagement. Over the years, as Jenkins and thes...

From: MIT World on Sat, Oct 23 2010 8:02 PM

While Alice Cahn cites evidence that traditional TV viewing is alive and well, her panelists line up to describe a TV industry under siege by digital competitors, and in the throes of major change. In the course of this session, which focuses on how television engages a young(er) audience, a gen...

From: MIT World on Sat, Oct 23 2010 8:02 PM

The United States urgently needs a transformation of its energy supply both to address climate change and for reasons of energy security. To meet this immense challenge, the nation requires not just technological breakthroughs, but heavy lifting from big industry as well as government guidance, ...

From: MIT World on Sat, Oct 23 2010 8:02 PM

Just when it seemed the corrosive influence of big money on American politics could not be greater, the Supreme Court gave corporations full license to exercise ‘free speech’ during campaign season. Renowned legal scholar Lawrence Lessig and his respondents debate the most effective response to ...