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.

Speaker: Sewoong Oh (University of Washington)

The Mobility Forum with Prof. Jinhua Zhao showcases transportation research and innovation across the globe. The Forum is online and open to the public.

Date: Friday, November 14, 2025 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Location: Simons Center Conference room 46-6011 + Zoom [https://mit.zoom.us/j/98894785862]Speaker: Marvin Lavechin, Ph.D. Affiliation: Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Computational Psycholinguistics Lab, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MITTalk title: Small babies, big data: decoding early vocalizations with speech technologyAbstract: Babbling is a critical milestone during which infants explore moving their articulators to produce increasingly complex sounds before producing their first words around 12 months. As of today, studying vocal development requires the costly and labor-intensive process of manually transcribing children’s linguistic productions, which often limits research to small sample sizes. In this talk, I’ll present my ongoing efforts to build a fully automated speech processing pipeline to enable large-scale studies of vocal development from naturalistic day-long recordings. The talk follows three stages of inquiry. First, detecting when children vocalize – a prerequisite for studying what they say (past work). Second, characterizing the sounds they produce (current work). Third, measuring when language-specificity emerges in their vocalizations (future work). With this pipeline, I hope to address two long-standing questions: To what extent do individuals follow shared trajectories in phonological development? And when do infants start exhibiting distinct babbling patterns across different languages? Beyond theoretical implications, these insights will also allow investigation of early vocal markers associated with atypical language development.

Cheeseman lab I "Regulation and function of the hidden proteome in mammalian cells”

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

Prof. Shorya Awtar, Mechanical Engineering, University of MichiganOur work spans mechatronic systems, human-centric design, mechanisms and transmissions, and precision machines. In this seminar, I will describe the journey from basic research and innovations in these areas to the conception and development of multiple technologies that are at various stages of market adoption and societal impact.While surgical robotics has made a huge impact in healthcare, existing solutions have failed to reach more than 90% of the global population because of their massive cost and overhead. To address this, we created a compact, handheld surgical robotic system that provides precise dexterous manipulation, haptic feedback, and surgeon ergonomics. This affordable and scalable technology is enabled by innovations in parallel kinematics, biomechanical interfaces, and hybrid human-computer control. The resulting products have created a new market segment in surgical robotics and have been used in thousands of minimally invasive procedures around the world.We have also developed the HIPERNAP technology by leveraging basic research in constraint-based design (to create new topologies), non-linear flexure mechanics (to improve load bearing), and flexible system dynamics (to eliminate non-minimum phase zeros). This has led to unprecedented performance in flexure-based nanopositioning systems in terms of payload, range, and speed. We have partnered with a leading semiconductor OEM to integrate these systems into their next generation wafer inspection machines to improve process throughput.Next, I will present an exciting new motion sickness mitigation technology, PREACT for traditional and autonomous vehicles, that employs data-driven algorithms to predict impending inertial events (e.g. braking, speeding, turning) and delivers preemptive cues to vehicle passengers. Instead of “reacting” to inertial events, this integrated software + hardware system informs the passenger ahead of time to avert motion sickness. We have conducted extensive human subject studies to demonstrate the efficacy of this technology under real-world driving conditions and are now working with an automotive OEM to embed PREACT into their vehicle platforms.Speaker Bio-SketchShorya Awtar, Sc.D., is the Joseph E. Shigley Professor of Engineering at the University of Michigan and a serial entrepreneur. Before joining Michigan, he worked at the GE Global Research Center and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He earned his Mechanical Engineering degrees from IIT Kanpur (B.Tech., 1998), RPI (M.S., 2000), and MIT (Sc.D., 2004). He has founded multiple startup companies including FlexDex Surgical, Parallel Robotics, and Motion Sync that focus on product development, manufacturing, and commercialization. He has received the Leonardo daVinci Award and Thomas Edison Patent Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Goel Award for Translational Research from the American Society of Biomechanics, multiple R&D100 Awards, and several Best Paper awards for his research, innovations, and societal impact. Shorya is a Fellow of the ASME and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

Ready to Tackle Climate Change? Join the MIT Energy & Climate Hack 2025! We’re on a mission to revolutionize how we think about energy and sustainability. This year’s theme is Industrial Decarbonization & Sustainable Manufacturing: Imagine a world where everything we buy—from electronics to airplanes to medicine—is manufactured with clean energy and zero pollution!As a participant, you’ll be in teams of up to 4 and have the opportunity to create innovative solutions to actual energy problems proposed by our sponsors. Plus, you'll have the chance to network with some of the industry's most prominent organizations and collaborate with competitors from around the globe.Let’s create a future that doesn't just survive, but thrives!Click here to apply! The deadline is 10/13/2025, and the dates for the hackathon are 11/14/2025–11/16/2025.

A reading of selections from Einstein's Dreams with audience participation and conversation between author, physicist Alan Lightman, and researcher and artist D. Pillis.Join us for a special reading with author Alan Lightman from his seminal work, Einstein’s Dreams, a fictional meditation on the nature of time. Lightman and Pillis will lead a public reading of some of the book’s most beloved passages, inviting audience members to read aloud and share their own favorites. Attendees will also have the opportunity to imagine new worlds of time, you are encouraged to submit your ideas to the link below.Following the reading, Lightman, Professor of the Practice of the Humanities at MIT; and Pillis, an MIT Media Lab alum and Assistant Professor of Virtual Production at Emerson College, will engage in a conversation about the book's enduring impact, emerging research on TeleAbsence, and deep connections between time, physics, memory, identity, and the universe.A reception will follow the event.Please submit your reading selections or original visions of time using this form.November 14, 2025 6pm - 8pm $15 General Admission | $5 for MIT ID Holders

Award-winning selected films from the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF). Celebrate the global outdoor community with films from around the world. Please note that these films are not rated; content may not be appropriate for all audiences.This event is presented in collaboration with the MIT Outing Club.

Bhagavad Gita Fall Lecture SeriesJoin HG Sadananda Dasa, MIT Vaishnava Hindu Chaplain, for a weekly journey into the timeless wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita. Explore profound questions about identity, purpose, karma, yoga, love, and selfless service, and discover practical insights for living a meaningful and spiritually grounded life. Each session combines reflection, discussion, and practical tools for self-realization.RSVP: tinyurl.com/mitgita25