Mapping cities + safe autopilot + diversity in STEM + MIT Gala

A new AI-based approach for controlling autonomous robots satisfies the often-conflicting goals of safety and stability.

After the James Webb Space Telescope’s first year in service, astronomers are awash in new observations that illuminate the oldest stars and galaxies.

Victoria Li ’15 is working toward a future with more accessible mental-health care through her startup, Heard, which provides therapists with support.

The Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center’s IDEAS program empowers teams partnering with communities to tackle a range of social challenges.

Sylvester James Gates Jr. ’73, PhD ’77 makes the case that “diverse learning environments expose students to a broader range of perspectives, enhance education, and inculcate creativity and innovative habits of mind. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) demand creativity—their research needs diverse thinking. This can be enhanced with equitable opportunities for all populations to participate in all institutions of higher education. My own life experience attests to this need.”

MIT scientists have found that the “motions of undulating animals and the states of quantum objects can be described using strikingly similar equations.” The similarities allowed the team to “use mathematical tools previously developed by quantum physicists to analyze the animals. For instance, the team quantified how differently a snake-like robot and a C. elegans move and created a diagram that placed them on a spectrum of other undulating creatures.”