Curiosity Unbounded

By Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)Science Natural Sciences

Curiosity Unbounded episodes

October 28 Quantum Computing: Promise, Hype and Reality — William D. Oliver
Quantum computers promise to tackle problems that are beyond the reach of today’s most powerful computers—but how close are we to making that promise a reality? MIT quantum engineer Will Oliver joins President Sally Kornbluth to explain what makes quantum computing different, why scaling quantum computers is so difficult, and what these machines could eventually mean for fields from drug discovery to materials science. They also explore the role of AI, MIT’s growing quantum ecosystem, and why Oliver believes we’ve already had our “Wright brothers moment” in quantum computing.
34 min
March 11 Inside Efficient AI: From GPUs to GPTs — Song Han
Song Han is an associate professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science whose research focuses on efficient AI computing. His work spans high-resolution computer vision for autonomous vehicles, more efficient image generation, improved GPT performance, and novel methods for training machine learning models. He also leads the Efficient AI team at NVIDIA Research, focused on optimizing GPU-accelerated AI systems.
28 min
February 11 From boom to bust, the workings of financial crises — Emil Verner
Emil Verner is the Jerome and Dorthy Lemelson Professor of Management and Financial Economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His research examines how finance and the broader economy interact, with a focus on the causes and consequences of financial crises — from bank runs and insolvency to debt booms, economic volatility, and political polarization.
Show notes and transcript:
https://news.mit.edu/podcast/podcast-curiosity-unbounded-episode-17-boom-bust-workings-financial-crises
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31 min
January 14 Toxoplasma and the Human Host — Sebastian Lourido
Sebastian Lourido is an associate professor of biology and a member of the Whitehead Institute. Sebastian studies human pathogens and seeks to unravel the genetic pathways that help parasites like Toxoplasma gondii exist in human cells. He hopes that his work will lead to new treatments for toxoplasmosis as well as drugs that could treat diseases caused by similar parasites.
Show notes and transcript:
https://news.mit.edu/podcast/podcast-curiosity-unbounded-episode-16-toxoplasma-and-human-host
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42 min
April 01, 2025 Making sense of your dollars — Christopher Palmer
Christopher Palmer is an Associate Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and an Affiliate with the Jameel Poverty Action Lab, based here at MIT. He studies consumer credit, and household financial decision making.
Show notes and transcript:
https://news.mit.edu/podcast/podcast-curiosity-unbounded-episode-15-making-sense-your-dollars
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33 min
February 25, 2025 Putting a glacier in its place — Brent Minchew
Brent Minchew is an Associate Professor of Geophysics in the department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT. He studies the behavior of glaciers in respect to environmental factors and is dedicated to understanding sea level rise and exploring viable interventions to stabilize ice sheets.
Show notes and transcript:
https://news.mit.edu/podcast/podcast-curiosity-unbounded-episode-14-putting-glacier-its-place
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30 min
January 28, 2025 The future of customizable 3D printing — Stefanie Mueller
Stefanie Mueller is an associate professor with a joint appointment in MIT's Electrical and Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering departments. Her work is mostly focused on developing novel hardware and software systems that advance personal fabrication technologies. She envisions a world in which anyone can use 3D printing to create any object at any time.
Show notes and transcript:
https://news.mit.edu/podcast/podcast-curiosity-unbounded-episode-13-future-customizable-3d-printing
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https://eepurl.com/ixPQPA
21 min
December 17, 2024 Making sense of cities — Andres Sevtsuk
Andres Sevtsuk is an associate professor of Urban Science and Planning at MIT. His work focuses on the influence of urban design on travel behavior and quality of life, and contributes to making cities more walkable, sustainable and equitable.
Show notes and transcript:
https://news.mit.edu/podcast/podcast-curiosity-unbounded-episode-12-making-sense-cities
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https://eepurl.com/ixPQPA
29 min
November 19, 2024Get out the vote — Ariel White
Ariel White is an associate professor of Political Science at MIT. She studies voting and voting rights, race, the criminal legal system, and bureaucratic behavior as a way to shed light on people's everyday interactions with government. Her recent work investigates how potential voters react to being affected by punitive government policies, such as incarceration and immigration enforcement, and how people can make their way back onto the voting registries after these experiences.
Links:
Ariel White
Political Science
MIT Gov/Lab
Timestamps:
(07:58) - What is actually known immediately following an election
(10:47) - How does mail-in voting affect elections
(13:09) - Why some people don't vote
Show notes and transcript: https://news.mit.edu/podcast/podcast-curiosity-unbounded-episode-11-get-out-vote
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29 min
November 05, 2024Making medicine easier to swallow — Giovanni Traverso
Giovanni "Gio" Traverso is an associate professor in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering and a gastroenterologist at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. His work focuses on innovative methods for drug delivery, diagnostics, and biological sensing. Here, Gio speaks with MIT President Sally Kornbluth about tackling the core challenges of taking medication, the unique perspective that comes with being both a professor and a practicing gastroenterologist, and the importance of entrepreneurship.
Links:
The Laboratory for Translational Engineering
MIT School of Engineering
MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering
Timestamps:
(04:48) - Electroceuticals
(06:08) - The gut-brain connection's affect on appetite
(08:29) - The challenges of adherence to medication schedules
(15:45) - Entrepreneurship
Show notes and transcript: https://news.mit.edu/podcast/podcast-curiosity-unbounded-episode-10-making-medicine-easier-swallow
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23 min

About Curiosity Unbounded

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The Curiosity Unbounded podcast brings you behind the scenes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) through conversations between MIT President Sally Kornbluth and the people working in…