Massachusetts Institute of Technology / MIT Museum
Building N51 265 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139
Open Daily 10am – 5pm / Closed Major Holidays
NOTE: Special schedule on Thursday, May 23. See our Hours & Admission page for details.
Soap Box: The Political Life of Cheese
Wednesday, May 8, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Learn about artisanal cheesemaking in America. Heather Paxson, MIT anthropology professor and author of The Life of Cheese, will lead a discussion about the practical and legal challenges of artisanal cheese production -- especially when working with raw (unpasteurized) milk -- from farm to market. Share your thoughts on consumer choice, public health, and government regulation as they relate to this unique, tasty, and living food.
MIT Museum, first floor. Free with Museum admission. View video
Artisanal cheeses generously provided by Central Bottle Wine + Provisions.
Inspired by the response to our popular Rivers of Ice exhibition and ongoing public concerns about the role of science in current political campaigns and policies, the MIT Museum invites you to join us in October for three dynamic discussions about climate and conflict. Download PDF
Risky Politics
Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Why is climate change a taboo topic? Join John Sterman, MIT Professor of Management and Director of the System Dynamics Group, on the eve of the first presidential debate to discuss what happens when we elect policymakers who won’t talk about science. Share your ideas about the topics that OUGHT to be talked about in the debates and find out how decisions about climate really get made. View video.
Is America Profiting from Climate Change?
Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Here in the Northeast we enjoy warm summers and (relatively) low fuel prices, but what is the REAL impact of climate change on Americans? Join John Reilly, MIT economist and co-director of the Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, to discuss the short-term, long-lived, local, and global effects of our everyday environmental and economic decisions. View video.
Heat and Violence
Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Can global temperature change cause conflicts to heat up? Nathan Black, French Environmental Fellow at Harvard University Center for the Environment, will discuss the link between climate change and civil unrest. Explore how governmental response to climate change can incite or defuse violent conflict around the globe. View video.
Join MIT Museum Director John Durant and international guests for timely discussion about the role – and control – of the Internet during periods of social and political change. This special breakfast-time Soap Box will feature informal café-style conversation with experts in Cambridge and (by live link) in Cairo Egypt, with whom we will discuss the (ab)uses of electronic social networks during the recent "January 25 Revolution". View video.
Presented as part of the Cambridge Science Festival.
Soap Box at MIT Museum
In Cairo there will be speakers from the Jan. 25th Revolution Youth Union (RYU)
Mr. Abdullah Helmey - Member of RYU Executive office bureau and representative of the Reform and Development Party
Dr. Rana Farouk, Media Officer & Member of the RYU Executive office bureau
Mohamed Salem, Blogger http://www.sandmonkey.org/
In Cambridge, MA the speakers will be:
Dr. Ethan Zuckerman, Senior Researcher, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University
Dr. Marlyn Tadros, Executive Director, Virtual Activism/ Visiting Scholar, Northeastern University
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Rich Camilli
Soap Box: Probing the Plume
What has happened to the oil in the Gulf of Mexico? Do we really know? What are we doing to find out? Rich Camilli, an environmental engineer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, was the Chief Scientist on the June 2010 Endeavor research cruise to investigate the 1.2-mile-wide, 650-foot-high plume that resulted from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Join this interactive discussion session for an up-to-date account of the latest field research in the Gulf.
View Video
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Chris Reddy
Soap Box: Mixing Oil and Ecosystems
While few would praise the April 20th explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig as being a boon to environmental research, there is still much to be learned from this extreme tragedy. Chris Reddy, marine chemist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution studies how oil spills affect ocean ecosystems, and what role humans have in changing the way nature deals with such events. Come share your opinions about the long-term environmental impacts of the Gulf oil spill and the risk factors currently at work.
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Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Larry Susskind
Soap Box: Negotiating the Gulf Disaster
Larry Susskind, MIT’s Ford Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, and Vice Chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, is asking the tough questions. Should those affected by the Gulf oil spill receive compensatory payments? What’s the best way to guarantee the future safety of offshore oil and gas facilities? Add your voice to this important discussion about how public policy can help us prevent or navigate these situations in the future.
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Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Subra Suresh
Soap Box: How Can Engineers Contribute to the Fight Against Malaria?
MIT Dean of Engineering Subra Suresh has made understanding malaria – its effect on red blood cells, its diagnosis, and future methods of treatment – a top priority of his research group. Professor Suresh and members of his research group will talk about how engineers and biologists have come together to examine the biomechanical properties of living materials, especially malaria-infected red blood cells. Join the conversation and explore how interdisciplinary research allows for the rapid development of technologies that were science fiction only a few years ago. The Suresh Research Group's malaria research is featured in the Sampling MIT exhibit.
December 8, 2009
Dava Newman
Soap Box: Humans in Space
It’s been 40 years since humans rose above low Earth orbit. Has space exploration stalled out? Should it be abandoned? What new technologies or geopolitical realities could shift the equation? The future of human space exploration is getting started, and not just at NASA. Hear from Professor Dava Newman about new technologies, companies, and policies that are leading people back into space. Tied up in issues of national pride, scientific discovery, income disparity, and the meaning of being human, space flight is a topic on which everyone has an opinion. Share yours at Soap Box.
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November 17, 2009
Hidde Ploegh
Soap Box: Global Pandemics
From SARS to H1N1, diseases are traveling faster and farther that ever before in our increasingly interconnected world. New disease analysis tools and vaccine and antiviral technologies could tip the balance, or one bad bug might wipe us all out. Which way will it go? Professor Hidde Ploegh talks about the weapons we have now to fight pandemics and new tools in the pipeline, and invites you to discuss challenges for privacy, biodefense, and public health that arise in the aggressive response to a pandemic. Join the conversation and help figure out the appropriate response to a threat to civilization itself.
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May 19, 2009
Marc Baldo
Luminescent Solar Concentrators Explained
Learn from Marc Baldo (Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) about the latest research being done with luminescent solar concentrators - inexpensive plates of glass or transparent plastic that concentrate sunlight without the need to track the sun across the sky.
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May 12, 2009
Vladimir Bulovic
Nanoscale Engineering for High Performance Solar Cells
Nanotech opens up new possibilities for those working to more effectively exploit or manipulate light. Listen to Vladimir Bulovic (KDD Associate Professor of Communications and Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) as he discusses quantum dots -- nanoparticles of semiconductor material that give off different colors of light depending on size -- and how these hardy, brightly colored nano dots could be used to reinvent the light bulb.
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May 5, 2009
Tonio Buonassisi
Next Generation Solar Cells – Lowering Costs, Improving Performance and Scale
Hear from Tonio Buonassisi (Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering) about the search for the best kinds of materials for making cheaper and more efficient solar cells in the future, either by incorporating materials that are so abundant that they could support a major boom in the industry or by cutting production costs for conventional solar cells.
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January 14, 2009
Natalie Kuldell
Do-It-Yourself Biology
MIT biology professor, Natalie Kuldell and Reshma Shetty PhD '08 explain the meaning of the term Do-It-Yourself Biology, engage the audience by stimulating their imagination, and lead a discussion about the ethics and standards involved in teaching people how to take science into their own hands.
Watch Archived Webcast
Ellen Hume, Research Director of MIT's Center for Future Civic Media speaks about the future of the news in a digital age.
Watch the archived webcast (Windows Media)
Dayna Cunningham, Executive Director of the Community Innovators lab at MIT's Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning explores how putting different media - cameras, recorders, and other data gathering tools - into the hands of people who traditionally have been excluded from political power, can achieve positive political and social change.
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Henry Jenkins, Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program and the Peter de Florez Professor of Humanities encourges people to better understand the concept of "civic media." Will new media platforms that encourage bonding over long distances help move Americans toward more personal and immediate civic engagement?
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Ethan Zuckerman, Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University Law School was the first in a series about Technologies and Emerging Democracies.
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Sherry Turkle, a professor of Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT and Media Lab professor Cynthia Breazeal discuss sociable robots and their impact on human-technology relations.
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Award winning journalist, author and editor, now a Distinguished Fellow at the MIT Media Lab, John Hockenberry joins with Associate Professor Hugh Herr, director of the MIT Media Lab Biomechtronics Group to talk about human augmentation.
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Dr. David Berry, bioengineer and venture capitalist, discusses genetic engineering of microbes for biofuel production, focusing on developing an inexpensive way to harness hydrogen from bacteria.
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Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences, William Mitchell talks about the City Car project, a new transportation ecosystem - prototypes of which are on display at the MIT Museum.
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Advancements in Underwater Vehicles: Responding to Current Environmental Issues
Research Engineer James Morash talks about how technology advances aid research in areas such as the health of coral reefs and post storm event water quality.
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Making Health Policy in Massachusetts: An Insider's Perspective
Economics Professor and member of the Health Insurance Connector Board Jon Gruber discusses Massachusetts' groundbreaking health reform law and gives an inside view into the ongoing process of shaping health care in Massachusetts.
New Lessons in Cancer Research
Biology Professor Jacqueline Lees explains how gene marking will help scientists and doctors better understand tumor growth.
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A Genius for Change, and the Passion To Do It
Senior lecturer Amy Smith co-hosts with students discussing their latest work on new technologies for the developing world. Cosponsored with The Technology and Culture Forum at MIT.
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Global Warming: Up Close and Local, part 2
Boston University Biology Professor Richard Primack and graduate student Abraham Miller-Rushing return to the MIT Museum during the Cambridge Science Festival to discuss observations contributed by citizens and their contribution to our growing understanding of the local effects of climate change in New England.
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Laura Schulz, Assistant Professor in MIT's Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, discusses how children think and learn about cause and effect, and the role of play.
Global Warming: Up Close and Local, part 1
Boston University Biology Professor Richard Primack and graduate student Abraham Miller-Rushing launch a citizen science initiative to support work in better understanding the effects of climate change in the Boston area.
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Geothermal - An Undervalued Primary U.S. Energy Source
Tester led a panel that concluded that a substantial portion of the country's energy needs could be met by mining geothermal resources.
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One Laptop per Child: Revolutionizing How the World's Children Engage in Learning
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Growing Pains: Transitioning to a Sustainable Energy Economy
Part 3 of the Fall 2006 Soap Box Special on Energy
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The Role of New Technologies in a Sustainable Energy Economy
Part 2 of the Fall 2006 Soap Box Special on Energy
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The Challenge: Meeting Global Energy Demand Sustainably
Part 1 of the Fall 2006 Soap Box Special on Energy
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Zebrafish and Cancer: What's the Connection?
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Sowing the Seeds for a More Creative Society
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The Neurology of Vision
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The Implications of Synthetic Biology
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Fuel Cells and Portable Power Solutions
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Robotics in Space Exploration
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Human Genetics: Our Past and Our Future
View video
MIT MUSEUM Building N51 265 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139
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