Recent Spotlight Videos from MIT Video

MIT-henge

Sun, 13 May 2012 07:03:06 GMT

A light-hearted look at the twice-a-year phenomenon in which the setting sun lines up with MIT's "infinite corridor."

Making wrinkles: hydrogels that collapse into complex shapes may aid in drug delivery

Sat, 12 May 2012 07:03:14 GMT

Nick Fang says predicting how hydrogels transform could help in the design of more complex and effective drug-delivery systems.

Bio Flash Mob at the Koch Institute

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:30:10 GMT

200 Boston-area students, MIT scientists and local community members came together to make cutting-edge cancer research come to life.

The MIT Science Fiction Society

Mon, 07 May 2012 14:30:10 GMT

MIT’s Science Fiction Society curates an enormous library containing more than 90 percent of all English language science fiction ever published.

EdX: The Future of Online Education is Now

Thu, 03 May 2012 20:19:22 GMT

EdX is a not-for-profit joint venture between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to offer online versions of their classes and those of other universities.

Stu Puts Stephen on Notice

Tue, 01 May 2012 21:23:59 GMT

Stu Schmill of the MIT Admissions Office puts Stephen Colbert on notice for trashing MIT during a recent interview with Richard Hersh on the Colbert Report.

Fog-free glass

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:48:57 GMT

MIT researchers' new "multifunctional" glass, based on surface nanotextures that produce an array of conical features, is self-cleaning and resists fogging and glare.

MIT+K12 student video highlights

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Highlights from the MIT+K12 student videos. Watch all the videos at http://k12videos.mit.edu/

Visionaries: Tod Machover

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:27:32 GMT

WBUR's Visionaries series featured Tod Machover of the MIT Media Lab, and his use of music in therapy for emotionally and physically challenged individuals.

Professor Anant Agarwal on MITx

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:03:09 GMT

Open Learning Enterprise head Anant Agarwal discusses MITx, the Institute's new online-learning initiative.

The Best View in the Solar System

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:43:31 GMT

Earth from the International Space Station, as assembled by NASA's Johnson Space Center and MIT's Alex Rivest.

Perpetual Ocean

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:15:13 GMT

This animation nicely highlights the energetic turbulent ocean surface currents that are present in the real ocean but are not directly visible to the eye.

TED Talks 2012: Sherry Turkle - Connected, but alone?

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:14:05 GMT

Sherry Turkle studies how our devices and online personas are redefining human connection and communication -- and asks us to think deeply about the new kinds of connection we want to have.

Shifting sands

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:30:11 GMT

Sand in an hourglass might seem simple and straightforward, but such granular materials are actually tricky to model. Ken Kamrin of MIT MechE has come up with a model that predicts the flow of granular materials under a variety of conditions.

Building the Foundation of Modern Cancer Research: Four Decades of Discovery within the CCR at MIT

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:30:09 GMT

This film traces the story of the Center for Cancer Research (CCR) at MIT, from its founding in the early 1970s to its transition to the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research in 2007.

Smart sand & robot pebbles

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:30:10 GMT

Imagine that you have a big box of sand in which you bury a tiny model of a footstool. A few seconds later, you reach into the box and pull out a full-size footstool: The sand has assembled itself into a large-scale replica of the model.

Whitehead director talks Y chromosome with Stephen Colbert

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:58:09 GMT

Whitehead Institute Director David Page appears on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report to engage in a little lively banter about the future of the human Y chromosome.

The Buckliball

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:30:08 GMT

Inspired by a toy, the ‘buckliball’ — a collapsible structure fabricated from a single piece of material — represents a new class of 3-D, origami-like structures.

TED Talks 2012: Donald Sadoway — The missing link to renewable energy

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:38:04 GMT

Donald Sadoway is working on a battery miracle — an inexpensive, incredibly efficient, three-layered battery using “liquid metal."

Robert Lepage: MIT Student Workshop

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 07:03:11 GMT

Robert Lepage visited MIT on Sunday, Feb. 12, to initiate a collaborative workshop with MIT students and launch the class 21M.805, Performance and Design Practicum.

Weather in a tank

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 07:03:36 GMT

Since 2001, Lodovica Illari and her colleague John Marshall have worked to make rotating fluid dynamics more intuitive for undergraduate students studying weather and climate, using a demonstration aptly named "Weather in a Tank."

Carbon Capture & Storage: Greenhouse Gas Can Find a Home Underground

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:30:07 GMT

A new study by researchers at MIT shows that there is enough capacity in deep saline aquifers in the United States to store at least a century's worth of carbon dioxide emissions from the nation's coal-fired powerplants.

Guiding robot planes with hand gestures

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:19:34 GMT

Aircraft-carrier crew use standard hand gestures to guide planes on the carrier deck. But as robot planes are increasingly used for routine air missions, researchers at MIT are working on a system that would enable them to follow these gestures.

The Paradiso Synthesizer

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:19:34 GMT

MIT Media Lab associate professor Joe Paradiso's homemade analog synthesizer, probably the world's largest, is on display at the MIT Museum and streaming online.

Crash. Design. Rebuild: engineering design and rapid prototyping

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:30:07 GMT

During 2012 IAP, AeroAstro undergraduate students had seven days to redesign (and fly!) commercial, off-the-shelf, remote-controlled aircraft kits.

Rocks, Bands, Logic

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:03:06 GMT

Video by: Lan Li (2011)

"Rocks, Bands, Logic," is a short film exploring themes in visual representations of science and perceptions of self through three graduate students at MIT. Converging experiences in geosciences, theoretical physics, and computer science, this documentary presents an intimate perspective on the professionalization of science as students confront challenges in articulating randomness and order in their academic research and in their own lives.

Featuring:
Ben Mandler, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Jean Yang, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Tim Hsieh, Center for Theoretical Physics

Special appearances by:
Karan Mehta, Joseph Near

Filmed and edited by:
Lan Angela Li, History, Anthropology, Science, Technology and Society

Special thanks to:
Chris Boebel & Christine Walley

DV Lab, 2011
Submitted to the AFO International Film Festival of Science Documentary Films

MIT Japan 3/11 Initiative

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 18:30:07 GMT

The MIT Japan 3.11 Initiative is MIT’s response to the March 2011 triple disaster in Japan.

Optimal paths for automated underwater vehicles (AUV)

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 08:03:38 GMT

Sometimes the fastest pathway from point A to point B is not a straight line: for example, if you're underwater and contending with strong and shifting currents.

Profile: Miles Barr, winner of the 2012 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:04:31 GMT

Meet Miles Barr, the 2012 $30,000 winner of the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for his inventive work with paper solar cells.

The ‘New Seed': Babadoru 5-chome project

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:18:29 GMT

This video captures the story of the Babadoru 5-chome community and the shelter designed for them by the Japan 3/11 Initiative team

Meet MIT AgeLab's AGNES

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:30:11 GMT

MIT AgeLab's 'Age Gain Now Empathy System' suit was designed to provide insight into the physical effects of aging

MIT's Charm School on CBS Sunday Morning

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:55:55 GMT

CBS Sunday Morning featured MIT's Charm School during its Sunday, March 4, airing. Bill Geist reports.

MIT Glass Lab documentary

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:03:05 GMT

A documentary originally produced by the MIT Glass Lab and edited for a 2012 MIT Libraries' exhibition on Glass at MIT.

Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast Highlights

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 08:03:17 GMT

Memorable moments from the past 20 years of the annual MIT Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast.

NBA All-Star weekend and the MIT Media Lab: Slam Net Force

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:14:38 GMT

How much force will be exerted by Derrick Williams or Chase Budinger during the NBA All-Star Game's Slam Dunk Contest? Researchers at the MIT Media Lab were called in to find a way to measure the dunks' impacts for Saturday's contest.

Unique languages, universal patterns

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:30:08 GMT

Under the surface, English and Japanese have deep similarities, as MIT linguist Shigeru Miyagawa argues in his new book, Case, Argument Structure, and Word Order.

ROBOTANY: Game Of The Week: Episode 2

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 08:03:06 GMT

The 2012 Game of the Week Podcast 2: ROBOTANY featuring GAMBIT Game Lab Technical Director, Andrew Grant and GAMBIT Researcher Jason Begy.

Robert Lepage: Multidisciplinary Performance and Media Artist

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:30:13 GMT

Robert Lepage has been named the recipient of the 2012 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts at MIT, which includes an $80,000 cash prize and a campus residency.

The City Car

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:30:07 GMT

Conversation with Ryan Chin, Research Associate and PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab, about the CityCar electric automobile.

MITx 6.002x Introduction

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

6.002x (Circuits and Electronics) is an on-line adaption of 6.002, MIT's first undergraduate analog design course, for MITx, the Institute's new online learning initiative.

Spacewar! Turns 50: MIT Celebrates Its Earliest Computer Game, Feb 8th and 10th. 2012

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:02:38 GMT

In 1961, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) gave MIT a PDP-1 computer and the games began. From discussions about "interesting displays" to new lessons in interactive programming, MIT's Kludge room became the birthplace of Spacewar!

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of this momentous occasion with two larger-than-life celebrations of this influential game.

On February 8th, 2012 from 9AM-5PM on the MIT Stata Center's "Student Street" (1st floor) you can play a new iteration of Spacewar! built by the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab on a giant mockup of the PDP-1 monitor made especially for the 50th anniversary.

And at The MIT Museum beginning at 5:00PM on February 10th, 2012, you will have a second chance to play the new iteration of Spacewar! on the specially created giant mockup of the PDP-1 monitor and on the big presentation screen at The MIT Museum. At 6:30PM, GAMBIT's US Executive Director Philip Tan will give a short lecture on the game's development and impact.

So, join us for these two free special events here coming up on February 8th and 10th here at MIT!

For additional information on the anniversary, developments, and events, please contact Generoso Fierro

For more information: Spacewar! Turns 50

Harnessing nature's solar cells

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:30:08 GMT

MIT researcher Andreas Mershin has a vision that within a few years, people in remote villages in the developing world may be able to make their own solar panels, at low cost, using otherwise worthless agricultural waste as their raw material.

MIT Diversity Summit 2012: Keynote address

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:30:06 GMT

In 2010, faculty from all five MIT schools released an assessment of diversity in the Institute’s faculty. The report of the Initiative on Faculty Race and Diversity, issued through the Office of the Provost, found that while recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority faculty had vastly improved in recent years, the “climate” around race and inclusion — the day-to-day experience of minority groups within MIT’s culture — is “distinctly and sometimes painfully different from that of their majority peers.” In particular, the report revealed a tension at MIT between diversity and excellence: a belief, whether right or wrong, that by seeking to make its faculty more diverse, MIT sacrifices its core value of academic excellence. Last week, faculty, students and staff gathered to examine this underlying tension during the 2012 Institute Diversity Summit. During the daylong event, participants and audience members gathered in MIT’s 10-250 lecture hall for panel discussions and breakout sessions on race, gender and cultural awareness. Lunch and Keynote Speaker: Evelynn Hammonds, PhD Dean of Harvard College, Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and of African and American Studies Recorded on 1/27/12.

Highlights: President Obama at MIT

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:17:47 GMT

On Oct. 23, 2009, MIT proudly hosted a visit by President Barack Obama, which caused great excitement on campus and in the MIT community around the world. This short video produced by the MIT News Office captures the day's highlights.

Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC)

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:30:07 GMT

Amos Winter discusses the Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC) and results of recent trials in East Africa.

RLE Investigator Profile Video Series: Vincent W.S. Chan

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:17:53 GMT

Chan discusses research and education in his group.

Jeffrey Grossman - Solving energy problems, one molecule at a time

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:29:17 GMT

Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Jeffrey Grossman explores new possibilities in topics from molecules to rooftop solar panels. Read more about Grossman's work at http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/profile-grossman-0126.html

The Mercury Game

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:39:16 GMT

The Mercury Game is a negotiation simulation that is designed to teach people about the role of science in international environmental policy making. To download the game go to: http://mit.edu/mercurygame

Mediated Matter

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:26:39 GMT

Mediated Matter research integrates computational form-finding strategies with biologically inspired fabrication in order to enhance the relation between natural and man-made environments.

LightBridge

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:20:18 GMT

LightBridge is a 10,000 pixel dynamic display created for the FAST Festival of Art, Science and Technology in celebration of MIT's 150th anniversary.

MIT Media Labcast: Boxie

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:51:36 GMT

Boxie is a mobile interactive robotic camera built with the goal of actively capturing stories about its environment and the people within it.

Polina Golland - The quantifier

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:13:13 GMT

By helping biologists turn their hunches into rigorous mathematical models, Polina Golland builds software that interprets medical images. Read more about Golland's work at http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/profile-golland-0112.html

Walter Lewin: Looking at 20th Century Art through the Eyes of a Physicist

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:51:28 GMT

Physicist Walter Lewin shares his personal insights into major works of art from the first quarter of the 20th century.

Visualizing video at the speed of light -- one trillion frames per second

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:04:53 GMT

MIT Media Lab researchers have created a new imaging system that can acquire visual data at a rate of one trillion frames per second. That's fast enough to produce a slow-motion video of light traveling through objects.

Doing double duty: MIT's Collin Stultz

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 20:58:50 GMT

A computational biologist and physician, Collin Stultz takes a unique approach to studying diseases that could lead to new treatments.

Caspar Hare - How we (should) decide

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:02:49 GMT

Associate professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy Caspar Hare aims to develop theories of practical rationality that may just help us make real-world decisions. Read more about Hare's work at http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/pr

Seeing through walls - MIT's Lincoln Laboratory

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:23:50 GMT

The ability to see through walls is no longer the stuff of science fiction. Thanks to new radar technology developed at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory a system has been built by researchers that can see through walls from some distance away, giving an instantaneous picture of the activity on the other side. Read more about this research: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/ll-seeing-through-walls-1018.html

Ramesh Raskar: Super-human vision

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:28:09 GMT

Associate professor Ramesh Raskar speaks about his work pioneering innovative imaging platforms in the MIT Media Lab. Read more about Raskar's work at http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/profile-raskar-0929.html

3-D printing with variable densities

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:47:57 GMT

MIT Media Lab researchers Steven Keating and Neri Oxman demonstrate some of their work around 3-D printing.

The Interphase Program at MIT

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:41:01 GMT

Interphase is a rigorous seven-week summer residential, academic and community-building program for admitted MIT freshmen that instills subject mastery of calculus, physics and chemistry, and helps them explore their cultural identities through reading, writing and discussion. In addition, students take physical education classes, participate in laboratory research with faculty mentors, and engage in small-group learning activities and workshops designed to develop their analytical thinking and communication skills.

MIT Edgerton Center - Summer Engineering Design Workshop

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 23:04:29 GMT

This summer, a few dozen Boston-area high school students chose to spend their mornings toiling away with a variety of materials to create working marvels of engineering. Learn more: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/video-edgerton-workshop-0805.

FAST Highlights - Festival of Art, Science and Technology

Mon, 23 May 2011 19:49:32 GMT

FAST was a prominent feature of the MIT150 events, a festival celebrating MIT's unique confluence of Art, Science and Technology.

Optogenetics: Controlling the brain with light

Thu, 19 May 2011 17:19:10 GMT

This animation illustrates optogenetics — a radical new technology for controlling brain activity with light.

Maxwell's Dream: Paint with Light

Wed, 11 May 2011 14:40:16 GMT

An art installation that allows observers to play with a magnetic field to create patterns in light.

"View From The Road" - Kevin Lynch

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:52:53 GMT

Professor Kevin Lynch BCP '47 produced this high-speed film as part of his studies into the theory of city form and of human perceptions of the city.

MIT150 The Next Century Convocation Opening Video

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:20:29 GMT

The opening video to the Convocation ceremony held as part of MIT's 150th anniversary celebration on April 10, 2011.

IceWall - a Festival of Arts, Science and Technology Installation

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:25:08 GMT

MIT 150 celebrated past innovation and achievement, while acting as a catalyst for the next generation. In this spirit, IceWall, part of the Festival of Art, Science and Technology, plants a new future, even as its own seemingly fades away.

The Green Grease Project

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:01:22 GMT

Students from MIT's Biodiesel team organized the Green Grease project to help garbage pickers in Brazil save money and be more environmentally friendly by retrofitting their transport vehicles. In summer 2010, the team traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil

"Underwater Photography" (1964) - Science Reporter

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:44:52 GMT

This black-and white film features Harold "Doc" Edgerton interviewed by John Fitch about the technology and scientific applications of underwater photography for the MIT Science Reporter.

Autonomous Parking - MIT AgeLab

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 22:07:11 GMT

Bryan Reimer discusses the MIT AgeLab's work on a car that can park itself.

MIT Media Lab Medical Mirror

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:42:52 GMT

You can check a person's vital signs — pulse, respiration and blood pressure — manually or by attaching sensors to the body. But a student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program is working in the MIT Media Lab on a system that coul

Tod Machover - 'Death and the Powers;' a robotic opera

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 20:52:42 GMT

MIT Media Lab Professor Tod Machover discusses his robotic opera more than 10 years in the making, 'Death and the Powers.' Read more about its premiere at http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/opera-machover-0910.html

A labelmaker for the blind

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:13:44 GMT

A device that started out as a class project last fall is moving rapidly toward becoming a commercial product that could make the lives of millions of visually impaired people a bit easier. Karina Pikhart '09 and classmates designed a machine to make braille labels.

Giant Leaps: The Legacy of the Apollo Program

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:15:57 GMT

What is the legacy of the Apollo program, and what can we learn from it to help us confront the scientific and engineering challenges of our own time?

The Chameleon Guitar: Physical Heart, Virtual Body

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:44:06 GMT

The Chameleon Guitar — so named for its ability to mimic different instruments — is an electric guitar whose body has a separate central section that is removable.

Sustainability at MIT: Greening MIT's Campus and Beyond

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:23:21 GMT

The concept is getting a hands-on workout at MIT through projects that use the campus as a test lab.

2.007 — 'the mother of all robot contests'

Wed, 09 May 2007 22:29:33 GMT

MIT's annual 2.007 mechanical engineering robot contest has been dubbed the mother of all robot contests.