Late thoughts on being a research scientist
I have one of those roommates who is constantly curious, and often tactless, but usually insightful. She waits all of five minutes after I roll out of bed before insisting I explain to her how I perceive my relationship with my mother. Or, she wants to know if I think the app Tinder is morally okay. Most of the time, these questions fall by the wayside while the tea I’m brewing receives my full and undivided attention. However, the other day breakfast was served with a comment that caught my attention.
One chess champion per laptop
Search in YouTube for “too weak, too slow” and you will find a video of two young men sitting across from each other at a small table, frantically moving carved tokens on a wooden grid and slapping a clock mercilessly. They are fighting each other to the death, with bravado and gusto, in one of the oldest battlefields known to the human mind: the chessboard. The cocky guy in the green shirt, with the looks of a Viking and the nose of a boxer, is a 22-year-old chap named Magnus Carlsen, who happens to be the strongest chess player to ever walk the earth. The other guy, at the receiving end of Magnus’ Muhammad Ali-esque taunts (“Too weak, too slow! C’mon! What, you wanna play?”) is his close friend and sparring partner, Grandmaster Laurent Fressinet.
Events Jan 15 - Jan 21
Events Jan. 15 – Jan. 21 Wednesday (1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.) Pleasures of Poetry — 14E-304 (3:30 p.m.) Chemistry and Biology of Antibiotics class — 68-180 Thursday (8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Choose to Reuse — 32 (2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.) It’s Always Darkest Before the Cosmic Dawn lecture — 37-252 Friday (11:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) TIM, MIT’s Mascot’s 100th Birthday Party — W20-lobby (3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Director Gavin Hood & MIT alum Matt Butler present “The Making of Ender’s Game,” attendance gains free admission to movie (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) LSC shows Ender’s Game — 26-100 Saturday (9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.) Free Figure Skating and Ice Dance classes — Johnson Ice Rink (3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Boston Chamber Music Society Winter Concert — Kresge Auditorium Monday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Advancing Toward the Equality of Women and Men, dinner provided — W11-155 Tuesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) Feyman Lectures: The Great Conservation Principles — 6-120 (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Having more Time per Minute - An Introduction to Time Management, sign-up by 1/20 — E51-145 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
I am a meerkat
As a scientist, I like to imagine myself as a meerkat. Not in the “I’ll eviscerate my grandkids someday” sense, but in the “I both dig deep holes and survey the land at the same time” sense.
Without Your Permission
In the place of the usual formulas and diagrams, a small alien, chipmunk in a scarf, and pig with bread wings had appeared on the chalkboard. Yes, Alexis Ohanian, the “startup guy” of reddit, hipmunk, and breadpig fame had taken over E51-345 on a Saturday night during finals week at MIT to inspire the beavers to embark on a mission of making the world suck less. Within a couple of years of graduating from the University of Virginia, Ohanian sold reddit for millions and has since gone on to start many other companies, such as hipmunk and breadpig, all while representing the seed accelerator Y Combinator and investing in over sixty other tech startups. A lover and defender of the Internet, Ohanian is launching his book, Without Your Permission, to evangelize entrepreneurs to use the Internet, which he describes as arguably “the most powerful and democratic tool for disseminating information in human history” to make awesome things that change the world. (A photo of a breadpig on a flat globe popped up on the slideshow.)
Funding the future
“What’s most interesting to me about the future of technology? Reimagining every human behavior and every human experience through the lens of a mobile device,” declares Megan Quinn, an Investment Partner at Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm famous for making early investments in companies like Google and Amazon. Having met her briefly during the MIT Silicon Valley Pitch Trek back in October and been impressed by her experience and knowledge of the digital space, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to interview her. Quinn will be joining us on Friday, Dec. 13 at the MIT VC conference, where venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and students will come together to discuss the intersection of entrepreneurship and venture capital. With years of experience leading product development at Google and Square, Quinn exhibits admirable depth of knowledge and passion for technology. I spoke with Quinn about her thoughts on the future of mobile and personalization, during which she shared her vision for the future of mobile: “We talk a lot about having the world customized around the customer through the smartphone. When you have that experience it feels magical. It feels like you’re carrying the passport to the future with you with everything responding to you and your preferences.”
Events Dec 10 - Dec 16
Events Dec. 10 – Dec. 16 Tuesday (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) The High Redshift Universe Next Door — 37-252 (9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Colleges Against Cancer Pink Dessert Night — W7 Wednesday (6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Life Sciences Circle Event: Next-omics - Personalized Medicine beyond Genomics — Broad Institute Thursday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Crowd Sourced Mapping for Open Government — E25-401 (2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.) Finals Week Study Break-Cookies with Canines — Hayden Library Friday (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) MIT Asian Dance Team presents “Illusions” — Kresge Little Theater (4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) End-of-semester stargazing — 37-roof Saturday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Association of Puerto Rican Students Xmas Dinner — 10-Bush Room Monday (12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.) Winterfest 2013 presented by President Reif and Mrs. Reif — Walker Memorial Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Events Dec 3 - Dec 9
Events Dec. 03 – Dec. 09 Tuesday (8:00 p.m.) LSC shows Ride Along — 26-100 Wednesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Brown Bag Lunch Series: Corals of the deep sea — E38-300 (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) xTalks: Online teacher education in Pakistan — 12-122 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Introduction to Web Design using Wordpress, sponsored by the Sloan Coders — E51-361 Thursday (4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Will MIT Lead Against Climate Change? A Discussion on Divestment — 4-237 (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Long-Form Journalism: Inside “The Atlantic” — 66-110 Friday (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) LSC shows The Nightmare Before Christmas — 26-100 Saturday (1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Anime Karaoke — W20-491 (2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Fun Tech Forum: TECH SHOW TIME III: Arts in Ancient China — 26-100 Sunday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) QWERTY is dead, long live QWERTY! The Birth of Input in Twentieth-Century China — E51-095 (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Bangladesh Victory Day Celebration — 50-140 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Man on the street
What do your classmates think about food? We asked around in the Student Center to find out!
Events Nov. 26 – Dec. 2
Events Nov. 26 – Dec. 2 Tuesday (2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Equilibrium Dynamics in a Fluctuating Environment with speaker Ruitian Lang, sponsored by Organizational Economics — E62-650 Wednesday (4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.) Combinatorics seminar on recent progress in distinct distances problems with speaker Adam Sheffer, sponsored by the math department — E17-133 Thursday (6:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.) The Annual Oven Buster Blaster Stuffer on WMBR — 88.1 FM or wmbr.org Friday (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Friday After Thanksgiving Chain Reaction, sponsored by the MIT museum ($5 for students, $12.50 for adults in advance) — W33 (Rockwell Cage) Saturday (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Fun Tech Forum: Tech Show Time II, discussion on “the genius in ancient China,” sponsored by the GSC Funding Board, MIT CAST, and MIT CSSA — NW10 lounge (Edgerton) (7:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) Hats: a ballroom social ($6 for students, $8 for MIT affiliates, and $10 for the general public), sponsored by the MIT Ballroom Dance Team and the GSC Funding Board — W20 (La Sala de Puerto Rico) Sunday (8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.) International Folk Dancing, teaching and beginner dances from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. — Lobdell Monday (7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Folk music of the British Isles and North America, featuring Jeff Warner, sponsored by the Literature Section and MIT Music and Theater Arts — 4-237 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
A leg up on pants
It is often believed that trousers are simply an alternative for jeans, which is not true! Trousers and jeans are completely different in terms of look and fabric. Trousers have numerous unique characteristics that jeans do not have. First of all, trousers are made with soft materials, such as cotton and wool, which give you maximum comfort and warmth, whereas jeans are made with denim, which is usually stiff and rough. Trousers are known for comfort and versatility, but not so much for fashion potential. However, I am sure that some of you jeans-guys will turn into trousers-guys after reading this.
Events Nov 19-Nov 25
Events Nov. 19 – Nov. 25 Tuesday (2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Why Don’t Firms Hire Young Workers During Recessions? — E62-650 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Alley Stoughton: Gender Diversity at MIT and Beyond — 50-005 (8:00 p.m.) LSC shows Lone Survivor — 26-100 Wednesday (3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) MIT Spouses and Partners: Culture Shock: What it is and how to cope — E55 Eastgate Penthouse Lounge (7:00 p.m.) LSC and Hillel show The Gatekeepers — 1-190 Thursday (1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Research with MITx data — 66-154 (4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.) Reverse Engineering Chinese Censorship — E51-335 Friday (12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) Conservative Internationalism: Armed Diplomacy under Jefferson, Polk, Truman, and Reagan — E40-496 (4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Fossil Free MIT presents Chasing Ice: Free Film Screening + Ice Cream — 35-225 (5:30 p.m.) LSC shows Despicable Me 2 — 26-100 Saturday (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Fun Tech Forum: Tech Show Time, archeologist talk— NW10-lounge (8:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.) MInuTe to Win It, competition — Sidney-Pacific-157 Sunday (8:00 p.m.) NFL Sunday at the Thirsty Ear: Patriots vs. Broncos — NW35 Monday (5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) MIT Alumni in the Game Industry — 32-155 (5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Firm Performance and Wages: Evidence from Across the Corporate Hierarchy — E19-758 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
THE NATURALIST’S NOTEBOOK: Little Brown Birds
Apparently, it’s now November, since it is already dark when I get out of class. In the birdwatcher’s calendar, this cold, wet season is the time to go out and search for a dozen species of sparrows and thrushes. These birds are all small and brown and go by the informal name of Little Brown Bird (LBB for short). A typical sighting goes like this: “Look, something moved in the grass! Oops, I scared it, it’s flying away.” “It’s gone. What was it?” “Oh, an LBB.”
Events Nov 12 - Nov 18
Events Nov. 12 – Nov. 18 Tuesday (1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.) Very Small Arrays: Data Graphics at the New York Times — 32-G449 (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Secularism, Sexuality, and Sectarian Conflict lecture — 3-133 (5:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m.) Ancient & Medieval Studies Speaker Series: Does Virtuous Activity Constitute Happiness? Two Case Studies in Plato — 14E-304 Wednesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) Gender and Nationalistic Violence: What We Can See in the Movies — E40-496 (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Skincare for Busy People — 56-162 Thursday (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Soap Box: The Science of Remembering (and Forgetting) with Ki Goosens — MIT Museum (6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) The High Stakes World of Mobile Payments — 34-101 (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Musing, Schmoozing & Sushi, interfaith dating conversation — W11 Small Dining Room Friday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Paleogenomics 2.0: A Planetary Perspective — 54-915 (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) “Fungineering” or, Thinking Outside the Building — 3-370 Saturday (9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Boston Asian American Students’ Intercollegiate Coalition conference — 26-100, Lobdell, Building 32 Monday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Do Minority Candidates Benefit from Anonymous Job Applications? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment — E51-151 (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Naming ceremony for the Memorial Lobby — Lobby 10 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Breaking rules and transforming the economy
How is technology fundamentally transforming our economy and our day-to-day lives? The Cyberposium, a day long conference at Harvard Business School, brought together students, thought leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and academics to gather in thought-provoking panels to address how technology is impacting society and businesses today. MIT students from all courses and MIT alumni met at the event, excited about the panels on the future of mobile technology, sharing economy, wearable devices, social influence, education and health technology (and many others) and ready to engage in dialogue about Techonomy 2.0.
Dean Obeidallah
“Immigrants work hard. Last year at this very time, we had Hurricane Sandy going on. In my neighborhood in New York, every American restaurant closed. What was open? Chinese restaurants. How do I know that? I look out my window, and the Chinese delivery guy I know is on his bike, delivering food because somebody ordered delivery during a hurricane. Ok, I ordered delivery. Because I knew he’d be there, and there he was!”
Events Nov. 05 - Nov. 11
Events Nov. 05 – Nov. 11 Tuesday (2:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) Feeding the world without consuming the planet, conference — E51-115 (4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) MIT Emile Bustani Middle East Seminar: Is Syria Being “Lebanized” or is Lebanon Being “Syrianized?” — E51-376 Wednesday (10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.) No Exit from Pakistan: America’s Tortured Relationship with Islamabad — E40 - 496 Thursday (1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.) 8.02x Online & 8.02 TEAL Residential: how each course can be used to improve the other — Whitehead Institute Auditorium (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Sonia Livingstone: “The Class: Living and Learning in the Digital Age” — E14-633 Friday (3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.) Leo Marx’s Machine in the Garden 50th Anniversary: A Symposium, book talk Saturday (12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Girls Day, women in science in engineering — MIT Museum Sunday (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) MIT Sangam’s Diwali Night cultural show — Kresge Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Events Oct. 29 – Nov. 04
Events Oct. 29 – Nov. 04 Tuesday (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Nanotechnology from Laboratory to Space, with speaker Brent Segal of Lockheed Martin (refreshments at 3:45 p.m.) — 34-101 Wednesday (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Soap Box: The Science of Remembering (and Forgetting) with speaker John Gabrieli, sponsored by the MIT Museum — N51 Thursday (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Essay writing for graduate & professional school applications, sponsored by MIT Global Education & Career Development — 37-212 Friday (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) The MIT Shakespeare Ensemble presents Hamlet (tickets $12 online) — W20-202 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) MIT Affiliated Artist Concert: Heng Jin Park, piano; Gabriela Diaz, violin; and Jing Li, cello, sponsored by MIT Music and Theater Arts — 14W-111 (Killian Hall) Saturday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Dean Obeidallah comedy show ($5 MIT student, $10 non-MIT student, $15 non-student), sponsored by Muslim Students’ Association— 6-120 Sunday (6:00 a.m. – 7:30 a.m.) Solar eclipse viewing (if weather permits), sponsored by observe@MIT and EAPS — 37 roof Monday (4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) “Do People Want to Know Their Lifespan?” with speaker Emily Oster, sponsored by the MIT Undergraduate Economics Association and the Economics department — E51-335 (5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) The High-Frequency Trading Arms Race: Frequent Batch Auctions as a Market Design Response, with speaker Eric Budish, sponsored by the Applied Theory Workshop — E19-758 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.