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Interview with the dean: David Schmittlein

An interview with Dean David Schmittlein, dean of the MIT Sloan School of Management, in which Schmittlein discusses Sloan's engagement with the global community and his hopes for the school's future.

China Forum lecture series begins May 14

MIT will kick off a new monthly lecture series on China with a talk by Yingyi Qian, dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University and professor of economics at UC Berkeley. Qian will speak about China's economic transformation.

Beaver-like robots face off in annual MIT contest

Robots designed to toss pool-noodle trees into a river of ping-pong balls ruled over competitors focused on rescuing fuzzy toy beavers in this year's 2.007 contest, "Da (yes) MIT, or Save the Baby Beavers," held on Thursday, May 8, at MIT.

Study suggests caution on new anti-obesity drug

chemical structure of a CBC-type cannabinoid

Anti-obesity drugs that work by blocking brain molecules similar to those in marijuana could also interfere with neural development in young children, according to a new study from MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory.

Lightman lights up future for Cambodians

Alan Lightman, MIT physicist and writer, and his wife, Jeanne, made a pact a decade or so ago to turn their energies toward humanitarian pursuits. The latest of their efforts is a dream come true for residents of a small Cambodian village -- a new mosque.

Study debunks myth of job testing as race barrier

Do standardized tests that some employers require of job applicants serve as a barrier to equal employment? A pioneering study co-authored by an MIT economist shows that screening helps productivity without hindering minority hiring.

Harnessing sunlight on the cheap

For a project that could be on the very cutting edge of renewable energy, this one is decidedly low tech--and that's the point. A team of students is assembling a prototype for a concentrating solar power system built from simple, inexpensive materials.

MIT examines reality of slashing gasoline use

It is possible to slash fuel use by all vehicles on U.S. roads to pre-2000 levels within a few decades, but doing so would require immediate action on several challenging fronts, according to a new analysis by MIT researchers.

MIT commercial property price index turns higher

Despite signs of a widening disconnect between buyers and sellers, transaction sale prices of U.S. commercial property owned by institutional investors rose 2.1 percent in the first quarter of 2008, according to an MIT index.

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