Author: Ms. R.

Chronic poverty in the developing world can seem like an insoluble problem. But a long-term study from Bangladesh co-authored by an MIT economist presents a very different picture: When rural poor people get a one-time capital boost, it helps them accumulate assets, find better occupations, and climb out of poverty. In particular, the study strongly suggests that poverty is not principally the product of people’s capabilities or attitudes. Rather, the very poor are usually mired in a poverty trap,……

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Immigrants to the U.S. are more likely to start businesses than native-born Americans are, according to a study that takes a wide-ranging look at registered businesses across the country. Co-authored by an MIT economist, the study finds that, per capita, immigrants are about 80 percent more likely to found a firm, compared to U.S.-born citizens. Those firms also have about 1 percent more employees than those founded by U.S. natives, on average. “Immigrants, relative to natives and relative to……

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In a new brain-wide circuit tracing study, scientists at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory focused selective attention on a circuit that governs, fittingly enough, selective attention. The comprehensive maps they produced illustrate how broadly the mammalian brain incorporates and integrates information to focus its sensory resources on its goals. Working in mice, the team traced thousands of inputs into the circuit, a communication loop between the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the lateral posterior (LP) thalamus. In……

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MIT Police Sergeant Brian Joseph Sousa Jr. passed away suddenly on April 16 at the age of 49. A member of the MIT Police for 23 years, Sousa held various roles in the patrol division before his promotion to sergeant in 2011. A familiar face at the Institute, Sergeant Sousa was known by all members of the community for his kindness, patience, sense of humor, and love of MIT. “Sergeant Brian Sousa was 100 percent committed to the safety……

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In January, as the Charles River was starting to freeze over, Keith Murray and the other members of MIT’s men’s heavyweight crew team took to erging on the indoor rowing machine. For 80 minutes at a time, Murray endured one of the most grueling workouts of his college experience. To distract himself from the pain, he would talk with his teammates, covering everything from great philosophical ideas to personal coffee preferences. For Murray, virtually any conversation is an opportunity……

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Over time, cancer cells can evolve to become resistant to treatment, more aggressive, and metastatic — capable of spreading to additional sites in the body and forming new tumors. The more of these traits that a cancer evolves, the more deadly it becomes. Researchers want to understand how cancers evolve these traits in order to prevent and treat deadly cancers, but by the time cancer is discovered in a patient, it has typically existed for years or even decades…….

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As the computing and data needs of MIT’s research community continue to grow — both in their quantity and complexity — the Institute is launching a new effort to ensure that researchers have access to the advanced computing resources and data management services they need to do their best work.  At the core of this effort is the creation of the new Office of Research Computing and Data (ORCD), to be led by Professor Peter Fisher, who will step……

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