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Join us for an immersive experience exploring the works of Stockholm-based artists Goldin+Senneby. Their recent work focuses on issues of autoimmunity, accessibility, and ecology. We will meet at the List Center for a guided tour through the gallery.Drawing on the experience of living with multiple sclerosis, the exhibition’s title refers to a treatable aspect of the disease. While the gradual progression of the condition offers limited options for intervention, the sudden flare-ups have attracted significant interest from the pharmaceutical industry, paving the way for lucrative treatments. Flare-Up also alludes to the volatile, inflammable nature of pine resin, which has fueled investment in genetically engineered pines as a potential source of green energy.This presentation at the List Center is organized by Natalie Bell, Curator, with Zach Ngin, Curatorial Assistant, MIT List Visual Arts Center.This event is open the MIT Community only.

Time: 1:00 PMLocation: Cambridge, MA

Time: 2:00 PMLocation: Newport, RI

On view October 1 -- December 11, 2025This exhibition draws on archival materials from the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT (AKDC) to explore a century of cultural heritage preservation in Aleppo, Syria. It takes as its point of departure the work of Kamil al-Ghazzi (1853–1933), the pioneering Aleppine historian whose influential three-volume chronicle, Nahr al-Dhahab fī Tārīkh Ḥalab (The River of Gold in the History of Aleppo), was published between 1924 and 1926.Ink, Stone, and Silver Light presents three modes of documentation—manuscript, built form, and photography—through which Aleppo’s urban memory has been recorded and preserved. Featuring figures such as Michel Écochard and Yasser Tabbaa alongside al-Ghazzi, the exhibition traces overlapping efforts to capture the spirit of a city shaped by commerce, craft, and coexistence. At a time when Syria again confronts upheaval and displacement, these archival fragments offer models for preserving the past while envisioning futures rooted in dignity, knowledge, and place.

The irony of artificial intelligence is that it often reveals more about human intelligence than machines themselves.From AI in the home to robots in the workplace, the presence of AI all around us compels us to question its potential and recognize the risks. What has become clear is that the more we advance AI technology and consider machine ability versus human ability, the more we need to mind the gap.Researchers at MIT have been at the forefront of this evolving field. The work presented in this exhibition builds on the pioneering contributions of figures such as Claude Shannon and Seymour Papert, while highlighting contemporary research that spans computer science, mechanical engineering, neuroscience, and the social sciences.As research probes the connections between human and machine intelligence, it also underscores the profound differences. With AI now embedded in everyday life — from smart assistants in our homes to robots in the workplace — we are challenged to ask critical questions about its potential, its risks, and the boundaries between machine ability and human capability.Join us in shining light on the tremendous promise, unforeseen impacts, and everyday misconceptions of AI in this riveting, interactive exhibition.Learn more about the exhibition.

Imagine different worlds in Cosmograph: Speculative Fictions for the New Space Age, an exhibition that brings art and science together to examine possible futures where outer space is both a frontier for human exploration and a new territory for exploitation and development by private enterprise.We are living at the dawn of a New Space Age. What will the future hold? Will space elevators bring humanity's space junk to turn it into useful material here on Earth? Will asteroid mining be the next frontier in prospecting? Will the promise of geo-engineering turn into a nightmare of unintended consequences?Explore these possibilities and more in our new exhibition that blurs the lines between fact and fantasy, and art and science.

MIT is not a place so much as it is a unique collection of exceptional people.What is essential at MIT is asking questions others may not ask, trying the unexpected in pursuit of a greater solution, and embracing distinctive skills and combinations of talents. Whether encompassing global issues, ventures into space, or efforts to improve our daily lives, stories told in this exhibit showcase the process of discovery that sits at the heart of MIT.Delve into the experimental culture and collaborative spirit of the MIT community in this dynamic and interactive exploration of groundbreaking projects and ongoing innovation."MIT’s greatest invention may be itself—an unusual concentration of unusual talent, forever reinventing itself on a mission to make a better world." — President L. Rafael ReifLocated in the Brit J. (1961) and Alex (1949) d'Arbeloff GallerySupported by the Biogen Foundation

How can code be used as a creative tool by artists and designers?This question motivates the work of the Future Sketches group at the MIT Media Lab. Led by artist and educator Zach Lieberman, the group aims to help us “see” code by using it to make artistically controlled, computer-generated visuals.Explore some of the latest research from the group that uses typography and digital tools to create interactive, creative, and immersive work.Located in our Martin J. (1959) and Eleanor C. Gruber Gallery.

Experience the captivating work of Arthur Ganson, where his perceptions of the world are choreographed into the subtle movements and gestures of his artistic machines."These machines are daydreams condensed into physical form, computer programs manifesting in three-dimensional space." - Arthur GansonArthur Ganson's medium is a feeling or idea inspired by the world he perceives around him – from the delicate fluttering of paper to the sheer scale of the universe. Combining engineering genius with whimsical choreography, he creates machines to encode those ideas into the physical world. But he invites everyone to draw their own conclusions on the meaning behind the subtle gestures of the machines.Currently on display are a select group of Arthur Ganson's works from our MIT Museum Collection. We expect to exhibit his work in large numbers in the future.

MIT Collects features objects and other media from the museum's vast collection, arranged in areas that tell stories, explore themes, and dive into subject areas.Modeling Everything:Models and model-making, both the objects and the action, are vital to every research area at MIT and to the life of the Institute itself. Explore a wide array of models for teaching, discovery, research, and documentation, from ships to crystal structures to architectural design.Radical Atoms:Hiroshi Ishii and the Tangible Media Group at the MIT Media Lab have pioneered new ways for people to interact with computers, with the invention of the “tangible user interface.” It began with a vision of “Tangible Bits,” where users can manipulate ordinary physical objects to access digital information. It evolved into a bolder vision of “Radical Atoms,” where materials can change form and reconfigure themselves just as pixels can on a screen.This experimental exhibit of three iconic works—SandScape, inFORM, and TRANSFORM—is part of the MIT Museum’s ongoing efforts to collect the physical machines as well as preserve the user experience of, in Ishii’s words, making atoms dance.A Sequence of Actions:Developed and operated at MIT, the Differential Analyzer, Whirlwind Computer, and Apollo Guidance Computer were massive and complex projects that involved thousands of people. See historical components and artifacts from this critical era in programming during the mid-20th century and explore how these early programmers influenced today’s digital culture.Technology and the Dream:Through recordings of students, staff, researchers, and community members, listen to personal reflections and gain a sense of the Black experience at MIT. This dynamic audio installation is co-curated with the MIT Black History Project.Totally Useless Things:Toys, puzzles, and play are a significant part of the creative process. Playful activity can shape a research agenda or an entire discipline. Extracurricular play — like MIT's famous hacks — enhances creativity and community. And play itself is a rich field for scientific research. Jump in and learn how curiosity is the fuel that discovery runs on.Located in the Edward O. Thorp Gallery

How can you investigate something you cannot see?The challenge of understanding the unknown motivates scientists today, just as it has inspired curious people for centuries.Using material from the Allen Forbes Collection, this exhibit traces the scientific process of observing, measuring, and describing that turned whales from monsters into mammals.Using prints from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries, Monsters of the Deep examines how European knowledge about the creatures of the sea was informed by new information from sailors, scholars, and beachcombers, and how that knowledge transformed what people understood about the natural world.Want a closer look at what we have on view? You can explore digitized versions of exhibition objects here.On view through January 2026.

Hiroshi Ishii and the Tangible Media Group at the MIT Media Lab have pioneered new ways for people to interact with computers, with the invention of the “tangible user interface.”It began with a vision of "Tangible Bits," where users can manipulate ordinary physical objects to access digital information. It evolved into a bolder vision of "Radical Atoms," where materials can change form and reconfigure themselves just as pixels can on a screen. This experimental exhibit of three iconic works — SandScape, inFORM, and TRANSFORM — is part of the MIT Museum's ongoing efforts to collect the physical machines as well as preserve the user experience of, in Ishii's words, making atoms dance.Learn more about the exhibits here, or watch the YouTube video of Hiroshi Ishii's talk at the MIT Museum below.This is an ongoing exhibition in our MIT Collects exhibition.

Janet Echelman's Remembering the Future widens our perspective in time, giving sculptural form to the history of the Earth's climate from the last ice age to the present moment, and then branching out to visualize multiple potential futures.Constructed from colored twines and ropes that are braided, knotted and hand-spliced to create a three-dimensional form, the immersive artwork greets you with its grand scale presiding over the MIT Museum lobby.This large-scale installation by 2022-2024 MIT Distinguished Visiting Artist Janet Echelman, was developed during her residency at the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST). Architect, engineer and MIT Associate Professor Caitlin Mueller collaborated on the development of the piece.The title, Remembering the Future was inspired by the writings commonly attributed to Søren Kierkegaard: "The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly the one you'll never have."As the culmination of three years of dedicated research and collaboration, this site-specific installation explores Earth's climate timeline, translating historical records and possible futures into sculptural form.Echelman's climate research for this project was guided by Professor Raffaele Ferrari and the MIT Lorenz Center, creators of En-ROADS simulator which uses current climate data and modeling to visualize the impact of environmental policies and actions on energy systems.Learn more about Janet Echelman and the MIT Museum x CAST Collaboration.Learn more about the exhibition at the MIT Museum.

Please join us for the CSAIL Forum with Alison GopnikCSAIL Forum hosted by Daniela Rus Title: Empowerment Gain as Causal Learning, Causal Learning as Empowerment Gain: A bridge between Bayesian causal hypothesis testing and reinforcement learning Speaker: Alison Gopnik Dept. of Psychology, UC Berkeley Date/time: Tuesday 12:00-1:00 EDT, November 4, 2025 Venue: Live stream via Zoom: Registration required Bio: https://psychology.berkeley.edu/people/alison-gopnik Abstract: Learning about the causal structure of the world is a fundamental problem for human cognition, and causal knowledge is central to both intuitive and scientific world models. However, causal models and especially causal learning have proved to be difficult for standard Large Models using standard techniques of deep learning. In contrast, cognitive scientists have applied advances in our formal understanding of causation in computer science, particularly within the Causal Bayes Net formalism, to understand human causal learning. These approaches also face challenges when it comes to learning however. In parallel, in the very different tradition of reinforcement learning, researchers have developed the idea of an intrinsic reward signal called “empowerment”. An agent is rewarded for maximizing the mutual information between its actions and their outcomes, regardless of the external reward value of those outcomes. In other words, the agent is rewarded if variation in an action systematically leads to parallel variation in an outcome so that variation in the action predicts variation in the outcome. Empowerment, then has two dimensions , it involves both controllability and variability. The result is an agent that has maximal control over the maximal part of its environment. “Empowerment” may be an important bridge between classical Bayesian causal learning and reinforcement learning and may help to characterize causal learning in humans and enable it in machines. If an agent learns an accurate causal model of the world they will necessarily increase their empowerment, and, vice versa, increasing empowerment will lead to a more accurate (if implicit) causal model of the world. Empowerment may also explain distinctive empirical features of children’s causal learning, as well as providing a more tractable computational account of how that learning is possible.

Navigate the future of technology with confidenceFor over 25 years, EmTech MIT has been the trusted destination for established senior executives and emerging leaders, researchers, and entrepreneurs to stay ahead of change. Curated by the expert editors of MIT Technology Review, our flagship technology event delivers the clarity and insight you need to navigate uncertainty and lead with conviction.Join us on November 4-6 at the MIT Media Lab for EmTech MIT 2025, MIT Technology Review’s flagship event on transformative technology for business leaders.Learn more and register: emtechmit.com.Contact MIT Technology Review with any questions and discount opportunities.**Discounts are available to the MIT community. Register here with your MIT email address and save 40%.

"Leadership, Gender, and Workplace Climate in Large Corporations" | Sule Alan (Cornell)

Ten minutes for your mind@2:50 every day at 2:50 pm in multiple time zones:Europa@2:50, EET, Athens, Helsinki (UTC+2) (7:50 am EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88298032734Atlantica@2:50, EST, New York, Toronto (UTC-4) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85349851047Pacifica@2:50, PST, Los Angeles, Vancouver (UTC=7) (5:50 pm EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85743543699Almost everything works better again if you unplug it for a bit, including your mind. Stop by and unplug. Get the benefits of mindfulness without the fuss.@2:50 meets at the same time every single day for ten minutes of quiet together.No pre-requisite, no registration needed.Visit the website to view all @2:50 time zones each day.at250.org or at250.mit.edu

Speaker: Joris Roos (University of Massachusetts, Lowell)Title: A fractal local smoothing problem for the wave equationAbstract: We will talk about a variant of the well-known local smooth- ing conjecture with times restricted to a fractal set. The frac- tal conjecture involves a new dimensional spectrum called the Legendre-Assouad function, which also comes up in the char- acterization of 𝐿𝑝-improving properties of spherical maximal functions. Joint work with David Beltran, Alex Rutar and An- dreas Seeger.

Speaker: Gira Bhabha, Johns HopkinsHost: Joey DavisTitle: " Extreme cell biology of a minimal eukaryotic pathogen"The Biology Colloquium is a weekly seminar held throughout the academic year — featuring distinguished speakers in many areas of the biological sciences from universities and institutions worldwide. More information on speakers, their affiliations, and titles of their talks will be added as available. Unless otherwise stated, the Colloquium will be held live in Stata 32-123 (Kirsch auditorium) Contact Margaret Cabral with questions.

Matt Notowidigdo (Chicago Booth)

Diego Känzig (Northwestern Univ.)

Speaker: Jennifer Paulhus (Mount Holyoke College)Title: Automorphism Groups of Riemann SurfacesAbstract:Classification questions about automorphisms of compact Riemann surfaces date back to the 1800s. There has been renewed interest in these questions over the last 30 years as advances in computation have provided new ways to explore the area. We will talk about some of those advancements focusing on groups which are automorphisms in just about every genus they should be (particularly simple groups and the alternating groups $A_n$).

Citizenfour (2014), 114 minutes. Laura Poitras (director)Introduction by Mariel Garcia-Montes (HASTS) and Michelle Spektor (SERC)Topic: Government overreach, Surveillance, AuthoritarianismCitizenfour gives audiences an exclusive front-row seat to the moment Edward Snowden changed history with his revelations of widespread government surveillance around the world. In June 2013, filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald met with Snowden confidentially in Hong Kong, where he handed over classified documents providing evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the National Security Agency (NSA). As the story breaks, they are forced to manage the raging media storm around them, and find their personal security and that of their loved ones under threat.Cinema at the Nexus is an institute-wide film series which showcases films/documentaries that grapple with pressing issues of our day aiming to make sense of what we are experiencing today.Other events in the series:Cinema at the Nexus: "The Cost of AI" | Introduction by Eric Robsky Huntley, October 27Cinema at the Nexus: Prisoner No. 626710 is Present | Introduction by Sana Aiyar, November 13Supported by the SHASS Dean’s grant, hosted by the MIT Libraries.Pizza and light refreshments will be served.Contact for suggestions and questions: doylec@mit.edu, szarko@mit.edu, turnator@mit.edu

Crafting Sound: From Lab to Live to Living Room

Time: 4:30 PMLocation: Cambridge, MA

Free and open to all.Join us for a beginner-friendly “boot camp” fitness class, led by Dirty Water Fitness. This high-energy, full-body workout will use just your bodyweight—no equipment needed! The class blends strength, cardio, and core work in a fun, fast-paced circuit style. Designed for all fitness levels, you'll move at your own pace with plenty of encouragement and modifications to match your needs. Come ready to challenge yourself and leave feeling stronger!This class will take place outdoors - or, in case of inclement weather, indoors in the MIT Welcome Center. Please bring a water bottle and wear clothes that allow for movement. All participants must sign a waiver - please register online in advance to do so, or arrive a few minutes early to complete one on site.This fitness class is presented in collaboration with the East Cambridge Business Association - check out the other events in this series:Dirty Water Fitness | September 16th, 6-7pmOutdoor Yoga with The Embody School | October 7th, 6-7pmYoga with The Embody School | December 9th, 6-7pm

Time: 7:00 PMLocation: Springfield, MA / Springfield College