Solar cell, heal thyself
New self-assembling photovoltaic technology can keep repairing itself to avoid any loss in performance.
Scientist-astronaut and former MIT professor William B. Lenoir dies at 71
An MIT junior faculty member in the 1960s, he later flew on the space shuttle and became a NASA associate administrator.
NASA and MIT inspire girls’ interest in science and engineering
MIT Edgerton Center takes on NASA’s Summer of Innovation with 5 summer programs. Learn more about one of them.
Supercomputing on a cell phone
For complex problems whose form can be anticipated but whose particulars can’t, new software can offer approximate solutions in seconds.
The Salp: Nature’s near-perfect little engine just got better
These efficient organisms may help remove carbon dioxide from the upper ocean
Personal cushion of air
Inspired by seeds, proposed air-bag system would surround astronauts and protect them during bumpy landings
MIT researchers among Technology Review’s annual list of the world’s top young innovators
‘TR35’ to be honored at Technology Review’s EmTech@MIT conference next month.
Sizing samples
Many scientific disciplines use computers to infer patterns in data. But how much data is enough to ensure that the inferences are right?
Roger W. Sudbury, former executive officer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, dies at age 72
A leader in microwave solid-state electronics for radar, he worked at the Laboratory for 41 years and became a trusted adviser and mentor to many.
A better way to grow stem cells
New synthetic surfaces overcome challenges posed by existing methods for cultivating stem cells.
The MIT roots of Google’s new software
Google’s App Inventor, which lets people with no previous programming experience build applications for mobile phones, draws on decades of MIT research.
MIT undergraduate engineering again ranked No. 1
U.S. News and World Report ranks MIT Sloan’s undergraduate program second among peer institutions.
3 questions: P vs. NP
After glancing over a 100-page proof that claimed to solve the biggest problem in computer science, Scott Aaronson bet his house that it was wrong. Why?
A pharmacy on the back of a cell
Drugs encapsulated in new MIT nanoparticles can hitch a ride to tumors on the surface of immune-system cells.
James Keck, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, dies at 86
Worked on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos