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.

Speaker: Orit Peleg (University of Colorado Boulder)Title: Emergent Spatiotemporal Patterns in Insect SwarmsAbstract:For the overwhelming majority of organisms, effective communication and coordination are critical in the quest to survive and reproduce. A better understanding of these processes can benefit from physics, mathematics, and computer science – via the application of concepts like energetic cost, compression (minimization of bits to represent information), and detectability (high signal-to-noise-ratio). My lab's goal is to formulate and test phenomenological theories about natural signal design principles and their emergent spatiotemporal patterns. To that end, we adopted insect swarms as a model system for identifying how organisms harness the dynamics of communication signals, perform spatiotemporal integration of these signals, and propagate those signals to neighboring organisms. In this talk, I will focus on two types of communication in insect swarms: visual communication, in which fireflies communicate over long distances using light signals, and chemical communication, in which bees serve as signal amplifiers to propagate pheromone-based information about the queen's location. Through a combination of behavioral assays and computational techniques, we develop and test model-driven hypotheses to gain a deeper understanding of these communication processes and contribute to the broader understanding of animal communication.

TBA | Jin Li (HKU, visiting Sloan)

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: Jeffrey Ratmell, University of ChicagoHost: Alison RingelTitle: TBDThe 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.

Cristina Arellano (FRB Minneapolis)

Brain-Body Music: Bridging Neuroscience, Physiology, and Human–Computer InteractionThis talk will present new directions in brain–body music research, situated within the broader field of human–computer interaction. I will share interactive systems and experimental studies from the Brain Music Lab that use brain and body signals—such as EEG, heart rate, and respiration—to create dynamic musical feedback. These systems serve as testbeds for embodied communication between humans and machines, and as tools for studying how music mediates empathy, attention, and social connection. Alongside the scientific investigations, I will highlight performances and installations that transform physiological data into sound, demonstrating how creative practice can advance HCI research while opening new avenues for musical expression.Bio: Grace Leslie is a researcher, composer, and flutist advancing the science and practice of music technology at the intersection of neuroscience and human–computer interaction. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder (ATLAS Institute; College of Music), where she directs the Brain Music Lab.Her research investigates how music interfaces with brain and body, with a focus on sensorimotor synchronization, multisensory biofeedback, and inter-brain coupling. Through experiments and interactive systems, Leslie explores music as a medium for communication, empathy, and regulation. This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, including a prestigious NSF CAREER Award, which supports her lab’s development of new brain–body music interfaces.Leslie’s publications span music cognition, human–computer interaction, and interactive system design, and her research has been featured in both scientific and artistic venues worldwide. Complementing this scholarship, her performances and installations transform EEG, heart, and breath signals into immersive sonic experiences, translating physiological states into sound.

Time: 5:00 PMLocation: Cambridge, MA

Time: 5:00 PMLocation: Cambridge, MA

Time: 7:00 PM ET (4:00 PM PT)Location: Pasadena, CA