Based on this roster of speakers, the MIT Center for Future Civic Media exists in a constant state of productive ferment, if not adrenaline rush. In a series of brief, timed talks, 13 researchers describe projects to help communities leverage self-knowledge into useful change or even transformation. (From MIT World)

A hologram of a butterfly, displayed on both a conventional, monochromatic holographic-video monitor (left) and the MIT researchers' new color monitor.
Images: Daniel Smalley
Cheap, color, holographic video
A practical new approach to holographic video could also enable 2-D displays with higher resolution and lower power consumption.