Summer 2021 recommended reading from MIT

A summer reading list featuring books by MIT faculty and staff that were published from Spring 2020 to Summer 2021. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

A noninvasive test to detect cancer cells and pinpoint their location

MIT engineers have created a nanoparticle for cancer diagnosis that can reveal the presence of cancerous proteins through a urine test, and can also function as an imaging agent, pinpointing the tumor location. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Physicists bring human-scale object to near standstill, reaching a quantum state

MIT physicists have brought a human-scale object to a near-standstill, close to a quantum state | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Giving Robots Better Moves

RightHand Robotics, co-founded by MIT alumnus Lael Odhner, combines machine vision with an intelligent gripper design to offer robots that are more adaptable and reliable in warehouse environments. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Autism and schizophrenia in brain exhibit similar circuit malfunctions

MIT neuroscientists uncovered a common neural mechanism for cognitive impairments seen in some people with autism and schizophrenia, even though the genetic variations that produce the impairments are different for each disorder. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Simple, solar-powered water desalination with efficiency of 385%

A completely passive solar-powered desalination system developed by researchers at MIT and in China could provide more than 1.5 gallons of fresh drinking water per hour for every square meter of solar collecting area. Such systems could potentially serve off-grid arid coastal are … | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Physicists observationally confirm Hawking’s black hole theorem for first time

Physicists at MIT and elsewhere have used gravitational waves to observationally confirm Hawking’s black hole theorem for the first time. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

MIT and U.S. Department of Defense team up to launch a new edX learning platform

MIT and the U.S. Department of Defense have teamed up to launch a new edX learning platform, manufacturingworkforce.org, as a way to offer cutting-edge manufacturing education and training for more Americans. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U

MIT and Harvard University announced a major transition for edX, the online platform for university courses: edX’s assets are to be acquired by education technology company 2U, and reorganized as a public benefit company. 2U will transfer $800 million to a nonprofit organization, … | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

A face mask with a sensor that can diagnose the wearer with Covid-19 in 90mins

Engineers at MIT and Harvard have designed a prototype face mask that can diagnose the person wearing the mask with Covid-19 within about 90 minutes. The technology can also be used to design wearable sensors for a variety of other pathogens or toxic chemicals. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Comparing the 4 satellite networks: similar throughput, different configurations

MIT researchers have run a comparison of the four largest global satellite meganetwork proposals, from SpaceX, Telesat, OneWeb, and Amazon. They found that each network, which would comprise thousands of satellites, could beam down tens of terabits per second, filling gaps left b … | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Could all your digital photos be stored as DNA?

MIT biological engineers have demonstrated a way to easily retrieve data files stored as DNA. This could be a step toward using DNA archives to store enormous quantities of photos, images, and other digital content. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Tiny particles power chemical reactions

MIT engineers discovered a way to generate electricity using tiny carbon particles that can create an electric current simply by interacting with an organic solvent in which they’re floating. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Engineers Create a Programmable Fiber

MIT researchers have created the first fabric-fiber to have digital capabilities, ready to collect, store and analyze data using a neural network. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Accelerating AI at the Speed of Light

MIT alumnus Yichen Shen PhD '16 is the CEO of Lightelligence, an MIT spinout using photonics to reinvent computing for artificial intelligence. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Phonon catalysis could lead to a new field

MIT and University of Muenster researchers have enhanced ion diffusion by selectively heating specific phonons without heating the entire material. The new method could lead to low-cost fuel cells and batteries in addition to a new field of research using phonon catalysis. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Artificial intelligence system could help counter the spread of disinformation

MIT Lincoln Laboratory researchers built the Reconnaissance of Influence Operations (RIO) system, which automatically detects and analyzes social media accounts that are spreading disinformation. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Inhabiting 21st-century science fiction – Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Students in MIT course 21L.434 (21st Century Science Fiction) discover that the world-making of science fiction is not only a way to envision possible futures but powerful way to think about and understand the world we currently inhabit. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Does correcting online falsehoods make matters worse?

Attempting to politely correct misinformation on Twitter can have negative consequences, leading to even less-accurate tweets and more toxicity from the people being corrected, according to a study co-authored by MIT scholars. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Filtration membranes can make gas and vapor separation less energy-intensive

The 2021 MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition grand prize went to Osmoses, a startup trying to improve chemical separations with a new molecular membrane filtration technology. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Cultures with a High Level of Collectivism Tend to Encourage Masking

Countries and U.S. states more predisposed to collectivist behavior have more people following mask guidelines during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a study co-authored by MIT Sloan Assistant Professor Jackson Lu. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Using machine learning to predict high-impact research

DELPHI, an artificial intelligence framework built by MIT Media Lab researchers, can give an “early-alert” signal for future high-impact technologies by learning from patterns gleaned from previous scientific publications. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

New system cleans messy data tables automatically

A new machine learning system from MIT uses probabilistic programming to clean dirty datasets, filling in blank cells accurately and quickly. Because it’s Bayesian, the artificial intelligence system can also tell you how confident it is in its answers. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

With a zap of light, system switches objects’ colors and patterns

ChromoUpdate is an MIT-developed “programmable matter” technique to quickly change objects’ color. The method uses light to alter the saturation of photochromatic ink on an item’s surface and could give product designers a boost in churning out prototypes. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

China’s Transition to Electric Vehicles

China recently imposed a mandate on automakers requiring that electric vehicles (EVs) make up 40 percent of all sales by 2030. An MIT study finds the cost will be substantial. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Saving the Radome – Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The radar dome, or "radome," atop the MIT Cecil and Ida Green Building was saved from demolition by the MIT Radio Society, which had found creative new uses for it, like bouncing radio signals off the moon. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

New AI tool calculates materials’ stress and strain based on photos

MIT researchers developed a machine-learning technique that uses an image to estimate the stresses and strains acting on a material. The advance could accelerate engineers’ design process by eliminating the need to solve complex equations. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Study finds ride-sharing intensifies urban road congestion

A study to assess how ride-sharing impacts urban mobility in the United States found ride-sharing increased both intensity and duration of road congestion while there was no significant change in private vehicle ownership. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Counting pedestrians to make pedestrians count

By counting pedestrians in the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Associate Professor Andres Sevtsuk has produced a new model of pedestrian flows on street networks that can be used for city planning. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

An on-off switch for gene editing

A new gene editing technology called CRISPRoff allows researchers to control gene expression with high specificity while leaving the sequence of the DNA unchanged. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Neuroscientists discover a molecular mechanism that allows memories to form

Encoding memories in engram cells is controlled by large-scale remodeling of the proteins and DNA that make up cells’ chromatin, according to an MIT study. This chromatin remodeling, which allows specific genes involved in storing memories to become more active, takes place in mu … | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

How industrialized life remodels the microbiome

A new study from an MIT-led team has revealed that bacterial populations in the human gut can remake themselves within the lifetime of their host, by passing genes back and forth. The researchers also showed that this kind of gene transfer occurs more frequently in the microbiome … | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Astronomers image magnetic fields at the edge of M87’s black hole

A new image of the M87 black hole reveals how it looks in polarized light. The work was published by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, of which MIT Haystack Observatory is a member institution. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Questions: Artificial intelligence for health care equity

MIT faculty members Regina Barzilay, Fotini Christia, and Collin Stultz describe how artificial intelligence and machine learning can support fairness, personalization, and inclusiveness in health care. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Vaccination by Inhalation

MIT researchers have developed a vaccination strategy that can create an army of T cells that can protect mucosal surfaces such as the lungs, offering a quicker response to viral invaders. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

System detects errors when medication is self-administered

MIT researchers developed a system of wireless radio signals and artificial intelligence to detect errors in patients’ use of inhalers and insulin pens. The technology could reduce unnecessary hospital admissions caused by poor adherence to certain medication administration guide … | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

A Remedy for the Spread of False News?

Most people who share false news stories online do so unintentionally, and their sharing habits can be modified through reminders about accuracy, according to a study co-authored by MIT scholars. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Faster drug discovery through machine learning

MIT researchers have developed DeepBAR, a machine learning technique that quickly calculates drug molecules’ binding affinity with target proteins. The advance could accelerate drug discovery and protein engineering. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Ultrasound has potential to damage coronaviruses

An MIT study suggests coronaviruses, including the virus that causes Covid-19, may be vulnerable to ultrasound vibrations. Simulations suggest ultrasound waves at medical imaging frequencies can cause the virus’ shell and spikes to collapse and rupture. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

How to reduce the environmental impact of your next virtual meeting

By analyzing the three major environmental footprints — water, land, and carbon — researchers from MIT and Purdue provide a more holistic look at the environmental impact of internet use and infrastructure. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Artificial intelligence that more closely mimics the mind

Nara Logics, co-founded by MIT alumnus Nathan Wilson PhD ’05, is attempting to mimic the brain with an AI platform powered by an engine it calls Nara Logics Synaptic Intelligence. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Using artificial intelligence to generate 3D holograms in real-time

MIT researchers developed a way to produce holograms almost instantly. The deep learning-based method is so efficient, it could run on a smartphone, they say. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

MIT Sloan’s Gary Gensler to be nominated for chair of SEC

Gary Gensler, a leading finance expert and a faculty member at the MIT Sloan School of Management, has been picked by President-elect Joe Biden as his nominee to be chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Algorithm helps artificial intelligence systems dodge “adversarial” inputs

A deep-learning algorithm developed by MIT researchers is designed to help machines navigate in the real world, where imperfect or “adversarial” inputs may cause uncertainty. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Online school reviews reflect school demographics more than effectiveness

MIT researchers analyzed more than 800,000 online K-12 school reviews using advanced natural language processing, determining that reviews were largely associated with schools’ test scores. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Researchers virtually open and read sealed historic letters

An international team of scholars at MIT and elsewhere has read an unopened letter from early modern Europe using an automated computational flattening algorithm. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Researchers introduce a new generation of tiny, agile drones

MIT researchers developed an insect-size drone with soft actuators — akin to muscles — that are agile and resilient to collisions. The advance could boost aerial robots’ repertoire, allowing them to operate in cramped spaces and withstand collisions. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago

Data transfer system connects silicon chips with a hair’s-width cable

MIT researchers developed a data transfer link that’s slimmer, more energy efficient, and faster than alternatives like USB or fiber optics. The advance could cut energy budgets at data centers and lighten the load for electronics-rich aircraft. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 3 years ago