Friday, November 20

Three of a kind

MIT linguist Shigeru Miyagawa explains how the hidden similarities of English, Japanese, and some forms of Bantu reveal language’s universal essence.

Peter Dizikes, MIT News Office

today's top stories

Liquid battery big enough for the electric grid?

Professor Donald Sadoway’s research in energy storage could help speed the development of renewable energy.

David L. Chandler, MIT News Office

Turning heat
to electricity

MIT research points to a much more efficient way of harvesting electrical power from what would otherwise be wasted heat.

David L. Chandler, MIT News Office

institute announcements

In victory for MIT, campus post office to remain open

Branch in basement of W20 had faced possible closure, but MIT efforts lead U.S. Postal Service to reconsider.

Institute launches new diversity and inclusion web site

November 17, 2009

Kabelo Zwane, sophomore in mechanical engineering, dies at age 21

November 12, 2009

more announcements

sixty seconds at MIT

Audio, visual

Metropath(ologies) is an installation about living in a world overflowing with information and non-stop communication.

Sociable Media Group: http://smg.media.mit.edu/

MIT Museum: http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/connections/

Full version

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in the media

"Clearly it's time for a combination of creative thinking and tough-mindedness — and nobody has more of that latter quality than Massachusetts Institute of Technology."

Article on needed budget cuts in New Mexico titled "Could state take cue from MIT cost-cutting?"

Santa Fe New Mexican
November 20, 2009

"And news flash, it wasn't the most user friendly place."

Rick Borovoy, a visiting scientist at MIT's Center for Future Civic Media, on Boston, and a new signage project to help visitors and residents get around the city.

WBZ TV
November 20, 2009

in technology review

Google Gives a First Look at the Chrome OS

Blog: How to Spur U.S. Renewable Energy

A New Route to Cellulosic Biofuels

Blog: Google Street View as Art

Visit TechnologyReview.com

around campus

of note

MIT Giving Tree returns this Monday

The MIT Giving Tree — a program matching community members’ donated gifts with children in the Boston and Cambridge area — returns to campus from Nov. 23 through Dec. 14.

Each year, more than 500 MIT staff and students provide gifts to 600-plus children affiliated with 13 local service agencies.

Co-sponsored by the MIT Public Service Center and the Panhellenic Association, the Giving Tree allows participants to choose specific gifts for specific children, making the gift-giving process a more personalized one for all.

Gift request tags are available at the MIT Public Service Center in Room 4-104. Please purchase and wrap your gift and place the gift label on it, and return it to the PSC no later than 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

featured url

OpenCourseWare

MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity.

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

calendar highlights

November 20, 2009
ESD PhD Program Open House
8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. in Building E40, 2nd floor
November 20, 2009
Student Society Poster Session
The seventh annual Engineering Systems Student Society Poster Session
November 20, 2009
Benefits open enrollment ends
Friday, Nov. 20 is the last day of open enrollment for benefits-eligible employees.

see full calendar