3 Questions: Steven Spear on Toyota’s troubles
With the vaunted Japanese automaker recalling millions of cars, the MIT senior lecturer explains what went wrong
The power of ‘random’
A ‘seemingly loopy’ technique that MIT researchers helped develop could dramatically improve the efficiency of communications networks.
Awards and Honors: February 5, 2010
Faculty awarded early career grants; win investment research prize
3 Questions: David Mindell on Obama’s NASA proposal
MIT space researcher predicts that if adopted, Obama’s proposed budget and policy will lead to more joint human-robotic space exploration
First germanium laser
New results from MIT’s Electronic Materials Research Group bring us closer to computers that use light instead of electricity to move data.
Powering cube satellites
An electric propulsion technology for miniature satellites aims to give them more mobility — and may eventually allow them to take on deep-space missions.
CRTs going down the tubes? Hardly
Surprisingly, old-style television sets and computer screens are still in demand — to make new TV sets
Engineering a new way to study hepatitis C
Tissue engineers have successfully infected liver cells in the laboratory, allowing a better way to test new drugs.
Nonlinear thinker
With techniques for translating complicated equations into ‘sums of squares,’ Pablo Parrilo helps make sense of previously insoluble problems.
Iron-plated snail could inspire new armor
Analysis of unique deep-sea mollusk offers insights into design of armor for soldiers and vehicles.
Jack Wozencraft, information theorist at MIT, 1925-2009
Jack Wozencraft, considered one of the pioneers of coding theory in the nascent field of information theory, died peacefully August 31, 2009.