New Approach Helps Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Explore
Observing the world’s oceans is increasingly a mission assigned to autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) — marine robots that are designed to drift, drive, or glide…
MIT
Cryptographic System Could Enable Crowdsourced Genomics
Genome-wide association studies, which look for links between particular genetic variants and incidence of disease, are the basis of much modern biomedical research. But databases…
New Research Shows Fasting Boosts Stem Cells’ Regenerative Capacity
As people age, their intestinal stem cells begin to lose their ability to regenerate. These stem cells are the source for all new intestinal cells,…
When and Where Advanced Photovoltaics Are Economic to Install
Which is a better deal: an established, off-the-shelf type of solar panel or a cutting-edge type that delivers more power for a given area but…
Neuroscientists Develop Calcium-Based MRI Sensor to Monitor Neural Activity
System detects direct signals of neural activity; could reveal patterns underlying behavior. MIT neuroscientists have developed a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sensor that allows…
New Implantable Device Furnishes Islet Cells With Their Own Supply of Oxygen
Since the 1960s, researchers have been interested in the possibility of treating type 1 diabetes by transplanting islet cells — the pancreatic cells that are…
Machine-Learning System Replicates Human Auditory Behavior, Predicts Brain Responses
Using a machine-learning system known as a deep neural network, MIT researchers have created the first model that can replicate human performance on auditory tasks…
Scientists Reveal How Diamonds Can Bend and Stretch
Diamond is well-known as the strongest of all natural materials, and with that strength comes another tightly linked property: brittleness. But now, an international team…
Integrating Photonics with Silicon Nanoelectronics Into Chip Designs
New technique would allow addition of optical communication components to existing chips with little modification of their designs. Two and a half years ago, a…
Engineers Develop New Manufacturing Process That Spools Out Strips of Graphene
MIT engineers have developed a continuous manufacturing process that produces long strips of high-quality graphene. The team’s results are the first demonstration of an industrial,…
Biologists Discover Pathway That Protects Mitochondria
MIT Scientists discover a pathway that monitors a protein import into mitochondria and elicits a cellular response when the process goes awry. If there’s one…
Chemists Create Flexible Polymer Gels From Caffeine
Caffeine is well-known for its ability to help people stay alert, but a team of researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital has now…
Optoelectronic Chips Reduce Energy Usage, Increase Speed
Startup’s optoelectronic chips could reduce energy usage by up to 50 percent in data centers while increasing computing speeds. With novel optoelectronic chips and a…
Dense Stellar Clusters Are Home to Black Hole ‘Megamergers’
Black holes in dense stellar clusters could combine repeatedly to form objects bigger than anything a single star could produce. When LIGO’s twin detectors first…
New Technique Enables Sharper Biological Imaging
Fluorescence imaging is widely used for visualizing biological tissues such as the back of the eye, where signs of macular degeneration can be detected. It…
Scientists Identify Key Ingredients When First Organisms Appeared on Earth
Large concentrations of sulfites and bisulfites in shallow lakes may have set the stage for Earth’s first biological molecules. Around 4 billion years ago, Earth…
Self-Healing Aluminum Oxide Protects Against Corrosion
Researchers have found that a solid oxide protective coating for metals can, when applied in sufficiently thin layers, deform as if it were a liquid,…
MIT Engineers Develop a Polymer Thermal Conductor
Plastics are excellent insulators, meaning they can efficiently trap heat — a quality that can be an advantage in something like a coffee cup sleeve….