National Science Foundation (NSF)

ComText allows robots to understand contextual commands such as, “Pick up the box I put down.”

Robot learns to follow orders like Alexa

ComText, from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, allows robots to understand contextual commands.

August 30, 2017

Scientists in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) have for the first time determined the strength of the stratosphere’s circulation, based on observations of key chemicals traveling within this atmospheric layer.

Strength of global stratospheric circulation measured for first time

Estimate will help gauge hang time of greenhouse gases, water vapor, and ozone in upper atmosphere.

August 28, 2017

Researchers have come up with a new approach to network monitoring that provides great flexibility in data collection while keeping both the circuit complexity of the router and the number of external analytic servers low.

Monitoring network traffic more efficiently

Programming language plus simple circuit design could let routers report on their own operation.

August 23, 2017

Interactive Robogami enables the fabrication of a wide range of robot designs.

Custom robots in a matter of minutes

CSAIL’s “Interactive Robogami” lets you design and 3-D print origami-inspired robots from 2-D designs.

August 23, 2017

New findings suggest the ancient Earth harbored a mantle that was much more efficient at drawing down pieces of the planet’s crust.

Ancient Earth’s hot interior created “graveyard” of continental slabs

Higher mantle temperatures caused subducting tectonic plates to sink much further than they do today.

August 22, 2017

Using machine learning to improve patient care

New CSAIL research employs many types of medical data, including electronic health records, to predict outcomes in hospitals.

August 21, 2017

The Millstone Hill radar facility at MIT Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts

Investigating space weather effects of the 2017 solar eclipse

Atmospheric scientists at the MIT Haystack Observatory will study North American eclipse effects on space weather with radar and navigational satellites.

August 17, 2017

This series of photographs shows the chemical reaction that occurs during the charging of a lithium oxygen battery using lithium iodide as an additive.

Researchers clarify mystery about proposed battery material

Study explains conflicting results from other experiments, may lead to batteries with more energy per pound.

August 15, 2017

In experiments, Pensieve could stream video with 10 to 30 percent less rebuffering than other approaches, and at levels that users rated 10 to 25 percent higher on key “quality of experience” metrics.

High-quality online video with less rebuffering

CSAIL’s machine-learning system enables smoother streaming that can better adapt to different network conditions.

August 14, 2017

A new technique boosts the power output of tiny, chip-mounted terahertz lasers by 88 percent.

Tiny terahertz laser could be used for imaging, chemical detection

New design boosts the power output of the best-performing chip-scale terahertz laser by 80 percent.

August 8, 2017

Summer Scholar Alejandro Aponte works on a prototype for a pump that can deliver drugs to the brain. Aponte, a University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez mechanical engineering major, is working to make the pump small enough to be easily implantable.

Prototyping a pump for brain treatment

Summer Scholar Alejandro Aponte troubleshoots the design for an implantable pump that can deliver drugs to the brain.

August 4, 2017

This vacuum chamber with apertures for several laser beams was used to cool molecules of sodium-potassium down to temperatures of a few hundred nanoKelvins, or billionths of a degree above absolute zero. Such molecules could be used as a new kind of qubit, a building block for eventual quantum computers.

Ultracold molecules hold promise for quantum computing

New approach yields long-lasting configurations that could provide long-sought “qubit” material.

July 27, 2017

“The Indian monsoon is considered a textbook, clearly defined phenomenon, and we think we know a lot about it, but we don’t,” says Senior Research Scientist Chien Wang. An image from Varanasi, India, shows flooding in 2011.

Study: Indian monsoons have strengthened over past 15 years

A 50-year dry spell has reversed, with more rain to come.

July 24, 2017

Adriana Schulz, an MIT PhD student in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, demonstrates the InstantCAD computer-aided-design-optimizing interface.

Reshaping computer-aided design

CSAIL’s InstantCAD allows manufacturers to simulate, optimize CAD designs in real-time.

July 24, 2017

MIT engineers have designed a gel-like material that can be coated onto standard plastic or rubber devices, providing a softer, more slippery exterior that can significantly ease a patient’s discomfort during surgery.

New gel coatings may lead to better catheters and condoms

Bonded layers of rubber and hydrogel yield tough, slippery, and impermeable coatings.

July 18, 2017

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