[Editors] Darkest before dawn: a project from the MIT News Office

[Greg Frost]

Very few people who experienced the U.S. economic recession of the  
early 1990s could have predicted that the Internet and related  
communications technologies would improve their lives within a few  
short years. Similarly, few Britons who lived through the Panic of  
1825 — a financial crisis that sparked runs on dozens of English  
banks — could have foreseen the way railroads and industrialization  
were about to transform their lives.

As recession chatter dominates the media, the MIT News Office is  
asking members of our community for their thoughts on technologies in  
their fields that have the potential to lift us out of our current  
economic funk (at a minimum) and even radically transform our way of  
life. Accordingly, we were wondering if you could help us identify  
experts from your areas who would be willing to contribute a few  
sentences — ideally no more than 125 words — to this project. The  
question we're hoping to have them answer is this: "Is there one  
particular technology in your field that is in its infancy at the  
moment but that has the potential to significantly disrupt and  
enhance our way of life over the next five to 10 years?"

We're aiming to run the various responses in an upcoming issue of  
Tech Talk and on the MIT News Office web site.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

Greg

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Greg Frost
News Manager
MIT News Office
617.258.5401
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