Reflections from MIT President Reif + Mark Rober + pathways from community college

The popular YouTuber, engineer, and inventor works to engage young people in science and technology while encouraging curiosity and resilience.

New research enables users to search for information without revealing their queries, based on a method that is 30 times faster than comparable prior techniques.

Those selected for these positions receive additional support to pursue their research and develop their careers.

Students see the benefits of adding a creative skillset to their repertoire.

Health benefits of using wind energy instead of fossil fuels could quadruple if the most polluting power plants are selected for dialing down, new study finds.

Senior Lecturer Tara Swart highlights several exercises that can help reduce stress and anxiety. “While anxiety can be scary, understanding how our bodies and brains react during those moments can remove some of the pressure and help us take control of our nervous system,” writes Swart.

“I call myself a spiritual materialist. As a scientist, I’m a materialist. Not in the sense of seeking happiness in cars and nice clothes, but in the literal sense of the word: the belief that everything is made out of atoms and molecules, and nothing more,” writes Professor of the practice Alan Lightman in his forthcoming book, “The Transcendent Brain: Spirituality in the Age of Science.” “Further, I believe that the material stuff of the universe is governed by a small number of fundamental laws. Yet I have had transcendent experiences.”

Undergraduate Evelyn De La Rosa discusses her experience with the Transfer Scholars Network, a new program aimed at providing community college students with a pathway to four-year universities. De La Rosa notes that before she was nominated for the program, “MIT wasn’t on the market for me. I wouldn’t have applied because I would have thought that it was out of reach.” Stuart Schmill, dean of admissions and student financial services, says of MIT’s participation in the program, “We want to be as accessible as we can. The education is better for our students the more diverse the population is. We want to educate the best students from everywhere, from all backgrounds.”

Researchers from MIT, Caltech, and elsewhere have found that “quantum systems can imitate wormholes, theorized shortcuts in spacetime, in that the systems allow the instantaneous transit of information between remote locations.” Graduate student Alexander Zlokapa explains: “We performed a kind of quantum teleportation equivalent to a traversable wormhole in the gravity picture. To do this, we had to simplify the quantum system to the smallest example that preserves gravitational characteristics so we could implement it.”