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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
MIT researchers developed software to more efficiently run graph applications on a range of computing hardware, including both CPUs and GPUs. The advance could boost analysis of social networks, recommendation algorithms, and internet search. | Continue reading
MIT researchers developed a superconducting nanowire that could enable efficient, easy-to-make electronics. The advance could boost quantum computing, as well as magnetic sensors for applications in brain imaging and telescopes. | Continue reading
SpAtten, a hardware and software system developed at MIT, streamlines state-of-the-art natural language processing. The advance could reduce the computing power, energy, and time required for text analysis and generation. | Continue reading
MIT researchers developed a system called LaserFactory for manufacturing functional, custom-made devices and robots, without human intervention. | Continue reading
A new algorithm offers insights into consumer spending by identifying what someone purchased from only the bill total. The work was led by Michael Fleder and Devavrat Shah at MIT. | Continue reading
MIT geologists have produced a new timeline of Earth’s Paleozoic climate changes. The record shows ancient temperature variations coinciding with shifts in planet’s biodiversity. | Continue reading
A robot developed by MIT students Ben Katz and Jared Di Carlo can solve a Rubik’s Cube in a record-breaking 0.38 seconds. | Continue reading
MIT researchers have improved their machine learning system, Mirai, developed to predict cancer risk from mammogram images, and validated their effectiveness with studies across several hospitals. | Continue reading
Researchers at MIT have developed a method to boost the performance of carbon capture systems that use catalytic surfaces to enhance the rates of carbon-sequestering electrochemical reactions. | Continue reading
Chemical processing could turn brine from desalination plants into useful industrial chemicals like sodium hydroxide, so that it doesn’t need to be dumped back into the sea. | Continue reading
MIT researchers have developed an automated way to design customized hardware that speeds up a robot’s operation. The system, called robomorphic computing, accounts for the robot’s physical layout in suggesting an optimized hardware architecture. | Continue reading
MIT researchers have devised a way to computationally model viral escape, using models that were originally developed to model language. The model can predict which sections of viral surface proteins, including those of influenza, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2, are more likely to mutate in … | Continue reading
President-elect Joseph Biden has selected two MIT faculty leaders — Broad Institute Director Eric Lander and Vice President for Research Maria Zuber — for top science and technology posts in his administration. Lander will be Presidential Science Advisor and Zuber will co-lead th … | Continue reading
MIT biologists have found a possible explanation for the Warburg effect, first seen in cancer cells in the 1920s. They found cancer cells use fermentation, an inefficient metabolic pathway, because it helps them to generate large quantities of a molecule called NAD+, which they n … | Continue reading
A proposed hybrid-electric plane could “eliminate aviation’s air pollution problem,” say MIT engineers. Their design could reduce global nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 95 percent, they report in a study. | Continue reading
In his book, “Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality,” MIT physicist and Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek distills scientists’ understanding of the physical world into 10 philosophical themes, using the fundamental theories of physics to reframe ideas of space, time, and our place in the … | Continue reading
Engineers at MIT and Imperial College London have developed a new way to generate tough, functional materials using a mix of bacteria and yeast similar to the “kombucha mother” used to ferment tea. Using this mix, called a Syn-SCOBY (synthetic symbiotic culture of bacteria and ye … | Continue reading