Many students hesitate to express their thoughts, not due to a lack of ideas, but out of fear that their thoughts may not be “correct.” In an introductory music class, students write about unfamiliar pieces on the first day, and this unfamiliarity often leads to self-censorship. They form impressions and have the language to describe…
Student evaluations of teaching (SETs) are commonly used to gauge teaching effectiveness and influence decisions on promotion, tenure, contract renewal, and merit pay. Despite their widespread application, research increasingly indicates that SETs often reflect students’ perceptions and emotions rather than the true quality of course design or teaching effectiveness. These findings cast doubt on the…
In the late 2000s, physicians observed that patients started arriving at appointments with questionable medical information sourced from the internet, says internist and AI researcher Adam Rodman. According to Rodman, around 68 percent of adults have previously used search engines for medical advice. However, AI chatbots are now consulted by about 32 percent of adults,…
In 1960, engineers at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in India developed the nation’s first computer, named the “Automatic Calculator.” Equipped with ferrite-core memory similar to IBM’s advanced machines, this device, known as TIFRAC, was a significant achievement despite limited resources. “The engineers hadn’t seen an operational computer before,” says Dwai Banerjee, an…
A peculiar pair of planets is orbiting a star roughly 190 light years away in the Milky Way galaxy. This strange duo, a hot Jupiter and a mini-Neptune, has puzzled astronomers since it was discovered in 2020. Now, researchers from MIT have examined the mini-Neptune’s atmosphere, revealing insights into the origins of this unusual planetary…
The Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute holds over 600 scrapbooks that offer unique insights into lesser-known histories and the daily lives of people from past eras. These collections are particularly valuable for understanding women’s history, which is often underrepresented in official records. Victor Betts, a curator at the library, highlights the diverse nature of…
In 1985, the Innovative Design Fund advertised in Scientific American, offering up to $10,000 for innovative prototypes in clothing, home decor, and textiles. William Freeman, who was an electrical engineer at Polaroid and is now an MIT professor, submitted a unique idea: a three-sided zipper. Unlike traditional zippers for clothing, this was envisioned to switch…
Annually, over 1,500 researchers at MIT.nano depend on more than 200 tools and instruments for experiments, generating 160,000 hours of work in 88,000 tool uses. This requires a robust operational system to ensure fair access and smooth research processes. The facility uses an automated reservation system to coordinate demands and maintain an efficient shared lab…
Researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have discovered that different mutations in the gene MECP2 cause various abnormalities in Rett syndrome, challenging the notion that the disorder arises from a general gene dysfunction. The study found that each mutation needed a unique treatment approach to correct the specific issues they caused. “Individual…
The control of gene expression partially relies on interactions between genes and regulatory elements along the genome. These interactions are influenced by chromatin, a DNA-protein mix, which moves within a crowded environment. MIT researchers have, for the first time, quantified chromatin movement over timescales from microseconds to hours. Their study shows chromatin exists in two…
