Postdoc Digbijay Mahat became a cancer researcher to improve health care in Nepal. But when the Covid-19 pandemic exposed a new level of resource disparities, he leapt in to help his homeland navigate Covid testing and vaccine rollouts.

A new web comic highlights the work of Joy Buolamwini SM ’17, who studies algorithmic bias in computer vision systems. She is also founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, which aims to create a world with more ethical and inclusive technology.

Via @mitmensrowing on Instagram: “Another foggy morning. #standwithukraine”

Having trouble hearing? Just turn up your shirt. That’s the idea behind a new “acoustic fabric,” inspired by the human ear, that converts sounds into electrical signals. The fabric can capture sounds ranging from a quiet library to heavy traffic.

S. Craig Watkins looks beyond algorithm bias to an AI future where models deal with systemic inequality. “There’s an urgency as AI is used to make really high-stakes decisions,” he says. “New systems can replicate historical biases at scale.”

Veteran and PhD student Andrea Henshall has used MIT Open Learning to soar from the Air Force to multiple aeronautics degrees. “My trajectory would be so different if MITx and OCW didn’t exist,” she says. “MIT was the first and it’s still the best.”