Remotely Piloted Systems

NOAA researchers set out this week on a two-week mission to fly over the Arctic to measure how much the ice has melted over the summer and gauge the speed of this fall’s refreezing of sea ice. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, 2014's minimum sea ice extent was 1.94 million square miles, the 6th smallest on record. Aboard a NOAA Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft, a highly specialized four-engine turboprop known for its work as a hurricane hunter, researchers will use...

Starting to build the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle).

Farmers have been practising Precision Farming for several years now.

Most evenings I ride my bike home from work past the public library here in Cambridge, Mass. Often I see parents with their children, enjoying themselves on the playground in front of the library. I also see people quietly reading inside the building, as the evening lights around them turn on.

In the same way that playgrounds are public spaces for play, I think of libraries as public spaces for learning. I have been interested in another type of public space, the concept of a digital commons, for a long time. And today I am fascinated by the connection between these public spheres, between the physical space of the library, and the digital virtual space of information and communication. Leveraging their strengths, and tinkering with ways that they can complement each other, is one way to reimagine what the library of the future could look like.

In the past, when access to information and experts was scarce and books were unaffordable, libraries acted as archives of shared human knowledge. Today content knowledge is accessible easily via the Internet. But content knowledge is only a small part of learning. We learn best when we work on projects that ignite our passion, in collaboration with peers, and in a playful environment that encourages risk taking. At the Media Lab we call those the four Ps of Creative Learning and we apply them everyday.

Bringing together the things that are great about the Internet with the affordances of a physical venue that the library can offer, let’s imagine a few interesting scenarios.

The maker culture is a relatively recent phenomenon that has already managed to newly inspire people to think of themselves as creators rather than consumers. In the same way that books used to be scarce, many tools and machines, such as 3-D printers or laser cutters, are not affordable and could easily be shared between a number of users. Some libraries are already starting to host maker spaces and host communities of tinkerers and creators. But more could be done to network the libraries and connect their local communities.