Search Stories

Of the new building MIT President L. Rafael Reif says, "Like the main group buildings at the heart of campus, W97 embodies and encourages MIT’s signature openness, flexibility, and boldness."

MIT Theater Arts: The next act

Performing arts building ushers in a new era of theater at the Institute.

September 5, 2017

MIT engineers have devised a way to automate the process of monitoring neurons in a living brain using a computer algorithm that analyzes microscope images and guides a robotic arm to the target cell. In this image, a pipette guided by a robotic arm approaches a neuron identified with a fluorescent stain.

Robotic system monitors specific neurons

Success rate is comparable to that of highly trained scientists performing the process manually.

August 30, 2017

Danielle Wood spoke at the Media Lab’s space event, Beyond the Cradle, in March. She will join the faculty full-time in January 2018.

Danielle Wood joins Media Lab faculty

MIT alumna is establishing a new research group aimed at harnessing space engineering to improve life on Earth.

August 28, 2017

MIT researchers have developed a system that enables small, safe, aerial drones to read RFID tags in large warehouses at a distance of several meters, while identifying the tags’ locations with an average error of about 19 centimeters.

Drones relay RFID signals for inventory control

System could save retailers billions lost through faulty inventory records.

August 25, 2017

Tuesday night, at the inaugural Play Labs demo event, 13 startups presented products they’ve developed in the accelerator. Afterward, the crowd was treated to live demonstrations of the technologies.

Demo day showcases serious innovation in “playful” tech

Play Labs startups include virtual pets, nausea-reducing virtual reality games, and augmented-reality paintballing.

August 17, 2017

A three-day hackathon on campus brought together students and researchers from MIT and around Boston who developed functional fabric concepts to solve major issues facing soldiers in combat or training, first responders, victims and workers in refugee camps, and many others.

Hacking functional fabrics to aid emergency response

MIT and other innovators design novel solutions for the battlefield, disaster sites, and other dangerous environments.

August 1, 2017

After piloting its smart microgardening system in Boston homes and restaurants, and following a successful Kickstarter campaign last fall, SproutsIO is ramping up production and hitting the shelves in a few months.

SproutsIO aims to power a “Personal Produce” movement

Smart, soil-free microgarden lets users optimize growing conditions while cutting water and resource use.

July 26, 2017

Left to right: LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Media Lab Director Joi Ito joined Disobedience Award finalists Phyllis Young and LaDonna Brave Bull Allard; Betina Kaplan and Lorgia García-Peña; and James Hansen; along with winners Marc Edwards and Mona Hanna-Attisha.

Defiance: Disobedience for the good of all

MIT Media Lab summer event explores responsible dissent, embodied in its new Disobedience Award.

July 25, 2017

Twine has developed a platform that lets users build customized disease-management and care plans on an app, which then sends alerts about when to take medications, tracks the patient’s various health goals, and offers key analytics, among other features.

Coaching platform improves health outcomes, lowers medical costs

New app lets patients work alone or with others to prevent, monitor, and reverse chronic disease.

July 21, 2017

Bettina Arkhurst, MIT senior and RAK Week founder

Spreading kindness far and wide

Senior Bettina Arkhurst, founder of Random Acts of Kindness Week, is making a better world at MIT.

July 19, 2017

A new technique for imaging biopsy samples relies on an approach known as expansion microscopy, in which the researchers expand a tissue sample to 100 times its original volume before imaging it.

Microscopy technique could enable more informative biopsies

Expanding tissue samples before imaging offers detailed information about disease.

July 17, 2017

mPath's MOXO sensor is a wearable that resembles a bulky smartwatch. Placed on the wrist, it wirelessly measures changes in skin conductance (subtle electrical changes across the skin), which reflect sympathetic nervous system activity and physiological arousal. Spikes in conductance can signal stress and frustration, while dips may indicate disinterest or boredom.

Wearable device reveals consumer emotions

Startup’s stress sensor tracks users’ unconscious responses to products and experiences.

July 12, 2017

By comparing 1.6 million pairs of photos taken seven years apart, researchers have now used a new computer vision system to quantify the physical improvement or deterioration of neighborhoods in five American cities, in an attempt to identify factors that predict urban change. Pictured are two street views, with the old photograph on the left and the new photograph on the right.

Why do some neighborhoods improve?

Density of highly educated residents, rather than income or housing costs, predicts revitalization.

July 6, 2017

Graduate student Lucas Mason-Brown is chief technology officer for and co-founder of Data for Black Lives (D4BL), an organization helping scientists use data to fight racial bias in real estate, finance, criminal justice, and other areas.

Lucas Mason-Brown named 2017 Echoing Green Fellow

MIT graduate student in mathematics honored for using equations to boost racial equality.

July 6, 2017

Researchers demonstrate their scanning technique, with a user holding a monopod-mounted Kinect at close range from a T. Rex skull.

Researchers use Kinect to scan T. rex skull

System with $150 worth of hardware offers alternative to 3-D scanners that cost 200 times as much.

July 5, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology - On Campus and Around the world

Browse By

Topics

Departments

Centers, Labs, & Programs

Schools