Massachusetts Institute of Technology / MIT Museum
Building N51 265 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139
Open Daily 10am – 5pm / Closed Major Holidays

Soap Box

Soap Box is an interactive series in which participants of all backgrounds converse with top MIT scientists or engineers in an informal cafe-style setting at the MIT Museum. Now in its fifth year, Soap Box is the premier public forum for discussing new technological and scientific developments at MIT.

Fall 2009

Soap Box: Join the Debate

For the Fall 2009 Soap Box series, the MIT Museum presents discussions of scientific and technological fields that will have enormous impact on the 21st Century. Issues around , human space flight and global pandemics all the promise to change our world, in good ways and bad, and how we will respond to these opportunities and challenges depends on a thoughtful, responsible, and ethical foundation established here and now. Join the conversation with top MIT scientists and engineers as we lay out the current state of these fields, what we might expect in the future, and what we need to do now to ensure that our future is healthy, happy, free and productive.

Tue. 11/17

Soap Box: Global Pandemics
From SARS to H1N1, diseases are traveling faster and farther that ever before in our increasingly interconnected world. New disease analysis tools and vaccine and antiviral technologies could tip the balance, or one bad bug might wipe us all out. Which way will it go? Professor Hidde Ploegh talks about the weapons we have now to fight pandemics and new tools in the pipeline, and invites you to discuss challenges for privacy, biodefense, and public health that arise in the aggressive response to a pandemic. Join the conversation and help figure out the appropriate response to a threat to civilization itself.

6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Free admission, refreshments served

Tue. 12/8

Soap Box: Humans in Space

It’s been 40 years since humans rose above low Earth orbit. Has space exploration stalled out? Should it be abandoned? What new technologies or geopolitical realities could shift the equation? The future of human space exploration is getting started, and not just at NASA. Hear from Professor Dava Newman about new technologies, companies, and policies that are leading people back into space. Tied up in issues of national pride, scientific discovery, income disparity, and the meaning of being human, space flight is a topic on which everyone has an opinion. Share yours at Soap Box.

6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Free admission, refreshments served

MIT Museum Home Programs Soap Box

Watch the Live Webcast of Nov 17 Soap Box on Global Pandemics

Soap Box programs are usually broadcast as a live webcast which you can access from the museum multimedia page on the evening of the event.

Archived videos of previous speakers are later viewable in an edited format on MIT World™.

If you have ideas for Soap Box, or are interested in sponsoring the series please let us know.