Slap some inspirational Post-its on the bathroom mirror—we’re going manifesting.
If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at someone who claims to be putting something “out into the universe” (or been the person on the receiving end of the eye roll), bad news and good news: The universe doesn’t care, but manifesting really can work. “It’s not about the universe, it’s about you,” said James Doty, an adjunct professor of medicine and the founding director of Stanford’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. According to Doty, manifesting is simply the process of embedding our intentions into our subconscious. In his new book, Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything, he explains that when our attention is focused on what we want and why we want it, we can help create new neural pathways in our brain. To activate this neuroplasticity “superpower,” he suggests doing daily exercises. For example, visualizing your goal for five minutes can help reprogram your brain to notice opportunities that will further your efforts—and reward you when you advance toward your goal. Although it still takes hard work to turn your dreams into reality, Doty believes manifesting is a worthwhile first step. “We may have come to believe that our inner power is limited by our external circumstances or our past conditioning,” he said, “but in reality, it starts in our own minds.”
School segregation on the rise.
May 17 marked the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. But a new report from researchers at Stanford and USC shows that the landmark decision is not aging well. “School segregation levels are not at pre-Brown levels, but they are high and have been rising steadily since the late 1980s,” said Sean Reardon, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and faculty director of the Educational Opportunity Project. The report found that in most large school districts, segregation between white and Black students has increased by 64 percent since 1988. That’s despite decreases in residential segregation and racial economic inequality during the same period. When analyzing the data, the researchers found two pivotal turning points: Since 1991, roughly two-thirds of districts that were under court-ordered desegregation have been released from oversight. And in 1998, the charter-school sector began to grow. Together, those two changes accounted entirely for the rise in school segregation from 2000 to 2019, according to the report. With segregation in large districts still on the rise, “these findings should sound an alarm for educators and policymakers,” said Reardon.
Up before dawn—students head to Bay to Breakers.
Photo: Christina Duong, ’26
Pikachu, Mario, some cows, a hot dog, and lots of other students traveled en masse this month from the Farm to San Francisco for the annual Bay to Breakers footrace. Enjoy video highlights of their adventure (without the predawn wake-up call).
AI may not have feelings, but it could detect yours.
Most psychiatric disorders are diagnosed through self-reporting. But researchers at Stanford Medicine are developing AI tools that can give doctors an accurate picture of a person’s mental well-being, help providers choose treatments for their patients, and flag those in urgent need of support. When employed to screen telehealth messages, the Stanford-created Crisis-Message Detector 1 was able to identify and flag messages from patients who were having thoughts of suicide, self-harm, or violence to others, resulting in reduced wait times from nine hours to under 13 minutes for people experiencing mental health crises.
But there’s more. Ehsan Adeli, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, is developing “ambient intelligence,” which uses tools like audio analysis, pressure sensors on the floor, and thermal sensors to detect markers of unusual behavior. The tech could be used in hospitals or care facilities to identify a person who is hallucinating or showing early signs of cognitive decline. Meanwhile, at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, postdoctoral fellow Betsy Stade has built machine-learning models that evaluate details of speech to gauge the severity of a patient’s anxiety or depression. AI could also help people practice the skills they learn in cognitive behavioral therapy, she says. “When I think about the promise of fully AI psychotherapists, I think of the possibility that you could be getting huge numbers of patients really high-quality treatment at very low cost,” she told Stanford Medicine magazine.
But wait, there’s more.
Stanford women’s golf has won its second NCAA championship in three years after a 3–2 takedown of UCLA.
The women’s rugby club team became the USA Rugby Women's D1 champions this month. It’s the program’s fifth national championship and its first since 2008.
Recently, we asked you for your career insights, and wow, you had a lot to say. Here are the results and golden nuggets of advice from 264 survey responses, including the 17.2 percent of alums who’ve found a lifetime of happiness in their first career and those who’ve discovered satisfaction in unexpected places—like in a stable, shoveling horse manure for a living.
Speaking of, we’ve got a new survey for you. What was in style when you were at Stanford? Oversized flannels? Aviator glasses? Or (dare we say it) skinny jeans? Let Stanford magazine know—we’ll report back.
Who writes scientific papers? According to a recent paper published in Surfaces and Interfaces, the answer might be a large language model. Stanford research (written by humans) shows that 17.5 percent of computer science papers had at least some content drafted by AI.
Hundreds of tribes from the United States and Canada celebrated at Stanford Powwow this month. This year’s theme—“Empowering Indigenous Women”—championed traditions, ancestors, and mothers.
Gold Spike Awards, the university’s highest annual volunteer service honor, were awarded to Angela Nomellini, ’75, and Ram Shriram. Nomellini has dedicated 25 years of service to the university, helping chart the direction of the Graduate School of Education and serving as an influential member of the Athletics Board. Ram Shriram served two terms on the Board of Trustees and has been an advocate and dynamic fundraiser for groundbreaking efforts including bioengineering and AI.
Columbae will remain a co-op with a social justice theme for the 2024-25 academic year. The university had decided to transition the house to a self-op after only a handful of students chose it during preassignment (the system by which undergrads apply to live in themed housing), but residents led a successful campaign to fill the house.
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