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 | 5 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 | 5 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 | 5 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 | 5 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 | 5 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 | 5 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 | 5 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 | 5 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 | 5 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 | 5 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 | 5 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 | 5 years ago

Researchers develop speedier network analysis for a range of computer hardware

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Nanowire could provide a stable, easy-to-make superconducting transistor

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Language learning system that pays attention – more efficiently than ever before

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

LaserFactory: Fabrication of Fully Functional Devices

MIT researchers developed a system called LaserFactory for manufacturing functional, custom-made devices and robots, without human intervention. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

“I know what you bought at Chipotle”

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Geologists produce new timeline of Earth’s Paleozoic climate changes

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Solving a Rubik's Cube in record time (2018)

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Robust artificial intelligence tools to predict future cancer

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Boosting the efficiency of carbon capture and conversion systems

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Turning desalination waste into a useful resource

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Designing Customized “Brains” for Robots

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

MIT developed NLP models that help make better vaccine targets

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

MIT's Eric Lander and Maria Zuber for senior science posts in US cabinet

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

MIT study sheds light on longstanding question of why cancer cells waste energy

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

MIT Proposed Electric Plane design could reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 95%

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Ten “keys to reality” from Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Inspired by kombucha tea, engineers create “living materials”

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


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Portable device can quickly detect plant stress

Researchers from Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) designed a portable optical sensor that allows rapid monitoring of plant stress. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Are you a “harbinger of failure”? (2015)

An MIT study finds the same consumers tend to purchase failed products. Dubbed “harbingers of failure,” these buyers may provide new window into consumer behavior and behavioral economics. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Dava Newman named director of MIT Media Lab

Dava Newman, MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics, has been named the new director of the MIT Media Lab. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Dava Newman Named Director of MIT Media Lab

Dava Newman, MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics, has been named the new director of the MIT Media Lab. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Being capable of thinking quantitatively is the single most important thing

Former NFL lineman and MIT grad student John Urschel has penned his memoir, ““Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football.” “Being capable of thinking quantitatively — it’s the single most important thing,” he tells MIT News. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Method finds hidden warning signals in measurements collected over time

MIT researchers have developed a deep learning-based algorithm to detect anomalies in time series data. The technology could provide advance warning of potential failures in systems ranging from satellites to computer data centers. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Making smart thermostats more efficient

A new smart thermostat can quickly learn to optimize building microclimates. The device was developed by the MIT Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems and partners at Skoltech. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Net emissions reductions from EVs depends on when they are recharged

MIT researchers developed a novel electric vehicle emissions model to quantify the importance of vehicle-charging patterns and the impact of ambient temperature on EV emissions levels. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

New type of atomic clock keeps time even more precisely

An MIT-designed atomic clock uses entangled atoms to keep time even more precisely than its state-of-the-art counterparts. The design could help scientists detect dark matter and study gravity’s effect on time. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Making data-informed Covid-19 testing plans

A new web-friendly modeling tool at whentotest.org helps organizations build tailored Covid-19 testing strategies that can save money and reduce coronavirus spread. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

To the brain, reading computer code is not the same as reading language

MIT neuroscientists have found reading computer code does not rely on the regions of the brain involved in language processing. Instead, it activates the “multiple demand network,” which is also recruited for complex cognitive tasks such as solving math problems or crossword puzz … | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Storing medical information below the skin’s surface (2019)

MIT researchers have developed a novel way to record a patient’s vaccination history: storing the data in a pattern of quantum-dot dye, invisible to the naked eye, that is delivered under the skin at the same time as the vaccine. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

An LED that can be integrated directly into computer chips

MIT researchers have developed a bright, efficient silicon LED that can be integrated directly onto computer chips. The advance could reduce cost and improve performance of microelectronics that use LEDs for sensing or communication. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

A cool advance in thermoelectric conversion

An MIT team led by Mingda Li has achieved a breakthrough in thermoelectric generation, which offers a direct means of converting thermal energy, including waste heat, into electricity. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

A technique to sift out the universe's first gravitational waves

A new MIT technique may sift out universe’s very first gravitational waves. Identifying primordial ripples would be key to understanding conditions of the early universe. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Discovery suggests new promise for nonsilicon computer transistors

An alloy material called InGaAs could be suitable for high-performance computer transistors, according to MIT researchers. If operated at high-frequencies, InGaAs transistors could one day rival those made of silicon. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Neuroscientists find a way to make object-recognition models perform better

MIT neuroscientists have developed a way to overcome computer vision models’ vulnerability to “adversarial attacks,” by adding to these models a new layer that is designed to mimic V1, the earliest stage of the brain’s visual processing system. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

Better learning with shape-shifting objects

MIT researchers have developed an adaptive basketball hoop that shrinks and raises as its user makes shots more consistently. | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago

System can sterilize medical tools using solar heat

Autoclaves, which are used to sterilize medical tools, require a steady supply of hot, pressurized steam. Researchers at MIT and the Indian Institute of Technology have come up with a way to generate that steam passively, using just the power of sunlight, to help maintain safe, s … | Continue reading


@news.mit.edu | 5 years ago