AudioFiles Q+A with Professor Sara Seager

Sara Seager Full Interview

Noam Chomsky: The Final Smiley & West

In the midst of her search for life on other planets, astrophysicist Sara Seager's own world is shattered when her husband is told he has stage three cancer.

Professor Sara Seager is a planetary scientist and astrophysicist. She has been a pioneer in the vast and unknown world of exoplanets, planets that orbit stars other than the sun. Her ground-breaking research ranges from the detection of exoplanet atmospheres to innovative theories about life on other worlds to development of novel space mission concepts. Now, dubbed an "astronomical Indiana Jones", she on a quest after the field's holy grail, the discovery of a true Earth twin. Dr. Seager earned her PhD from Harvard University and is now the Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Science and Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Seager is a 2013 MacArthur Fellow and was named in Time Magazine's 25 Most Influential in Space in 2012.

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Sara Seager: A New Search For Life

A conversation with Judith Donath SM '86, PhD '97, whose book The Social Machine was published by MIT Press in May 2014. The book is a chronicle of Donath's projects in social media dating from the late 1980s, long before the term was in vogue. Read more: http://bit.ly/1TjtJwr

Donath also traces the rise of social media to its roots in Usenet groups and discussion boards to the conquests of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Donath explores why these media thrived while others failed, and the book serves as both a guide for researchers studying social media and a cautionary tale for casual users who don’t always question them critically enough. 

Learn more about Judith Donath: http://vivatropolis.org/judith/  
Book homepage: http://vivatropolis.org/SocialMachine/
Podcast transcript: https://bit.ly/2Gz80lL

The Social Machine (Alumni Books Podcast)

Professor Noam Chomsky, UCL Rickman Godlee Lecture 2011 (Part 3 of 3)

Contours of global order: Domination, stability, security in a changing world.

Professor Noam Chomsky explores the crucial role of a supportive intellectual culture in an environment of potentially dangerous irrationality in policy-making circles and among sectors of the political class, while institutional structures bar efforts to confront very serious domestic and international issues.

UCLTV Playlist of lecture excerpts: http://bit.ly/dKk2qY

Further links:
Blog post on the event: http://bit.ly/hwklig 
Professor Chomsky's MIT page: http://bit.ly/gon5cT

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the world's top universities. Across all disciplines our faculties are known for their research-intensive approaches, academic excellence and engagement with global challenges. This is the basis of our world-renowned degree programmes. Visit us at www.ucl.ac.uk.

Professor Noam Chomsky - UCL Rickman Godlee Lecture 2011 (Part 3 of 3): Questions & Answers

MIT has a long history with food, from nutrition science to environmental costs, and today food innovation projects at MIT run the gamut. MIT’s newest food initiative, Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (JWAFS) is bringing together research across disciplines.

Episode transcript: https://bit.ly/2q1Fi6G. 

Learn more about JWAFS and food projects at MIT in the Slice of MIT podcast, Food for Thought. This episode focuses on four things: an Institute-wide food and water security lab; a Media Lab Agriculture Initiative; a chemistry sensor project that can detect spoiling meat; and an alumnus chef that uses science to perfect his recipes. Read more: http://bit.ly/1R3UfMU

This podcast is being released a few days before Thanksgiving 2015, so of course, we needed to address the Thanksgiving meal. Kenji Lopez-Alt ’02, culinary director of Serious Eats—a renowned food blog, offers insight into cooking with science and weighs in on the persistent Thanksgiving turkey question, to brine or not to brine?

Renee Robins ’83, executive director for JWAFS, talks about the growth of food and water projects at MIT and the promising technologies that are coming from interdisciplinary collaborations.

One promising research project is the Open Agriculture Initiative, run by Caleb Harper March ’14 in the Media Lab. Harper discusses his research that uses alternative growing methods, like aeroponics and hydroponics, along with LED lights, and controlled climate—all harnessed by open-source technology. He hopes his work can become the foundation for a new method of agricultural production to help produce food that can be eaten closer to the point of growing and to grow anything, anywhere in the world with similar technology and the right climate recipe.

Jan Schnorr ’12 was working toward completing his PhD in Tim Swager’s lab in the chemistry department when he started C2Sense, a startup that is developing sensors that can detect food spoilage and therefore help reduce food waste. “We had a project around ethaline detection, which is very relevant for fruit freshness,” says Schorr. There are several types of low-cost sensors being developed to monitor fruit and meat ripeness, indicating if the food has gone bad. These sensors could help at all steps in the supply chain—in distribution and storage, in grocery stores, and at home in refrigerators.

Music: "Cover Affair" and "Jarvic 8"
All songs by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Food for Thought: What's New in Food Science?

Eugene Mirman, Scott Adsit, and Maeve Higgins learn from Dr. Leslie Dewan, an MIT alum who developed a revolutionary new nuclear reactor that's powered by nuclear waste. It's environmentally friendly, cheaper than other reactors, and it can't meltdown. She's kind of a big deal. Along the way, we learn about the social life of nuclear engineers, why BP really needs some new recruiting videos, and Guy Fieri's cooking. Hosted by Chris Duffy. Produced by Pretty Good Friends.

Nuclear Power And Molten Salt

In this episode, we discuss how the focus of education should be changing and how we best position American students for the challenges of a new century.

Rethinking Higher Education

Hosted by the MIT Alumni Association, the Slice of MIT podcast offers a taste of Institute life—amazing discoveries, fascinating alumni, interesting research—for alumni and listeners interested in MIT. 

A production of the MIT Alumni Association  | An office of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts [http://apple.co/1FNoeDl] and visit Slice of MIT [http://alum.mit.edu/slice] for more MIT news and stories.

Food for Thought: What's New in Food Science?

Slice of MIT Podcast

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