Gesture-based computing on the cheap
With a single piece of inexpensive hardware — a multicolored glove — MIT researchers are making Minority Report-style interfaces more accessible.
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Rivest wins faculty’s Killian Award
MIT encryption pioneer recognized for ‘extraordinary’ contributions in computer science
Machines that learn better
New math will make it much easier to build machine-learning systems that tackle a wider range of problems.
When good enough is better
By exploiting a simple but counterintuitive trick, a new system finds sections of computer programs where accuracy can be traded for speed.
Seeing the forest for the trees
Object recognition systems that break images into ever smaller parts should be much more efficient and may shed light on how the brain works.
Should Google stay in China?
A panel discussion suggests that if the goal is to promote Chinese democracy, a censored Google is better than no Google at all.
Computing, Sudoku-style
Computer scientists generally see computation as something like following a recipe. Alexey Radul sees it as more like a puzzle with interconnecting parts.
A manufacturing renaissance for America?
At an MIT forum, experts examine new ways to pursue a good old idea: making things.
A grand unified theory of AI
A new approach unites two prevailing but often opposed strains in the history of artificial-intelligence research.
Web sites that can take a punch
By preventing web applications from deviating from their normal behavior, a new MIT system can keep them online even during a cyberattack.
Learn 'How to Speak'
Professor Patrick Winston shares tips from his legendary IAP talk, "How to Speak."
Explained: Linear and nonlinear systems
Much scientific research across a range of disciplines tries to find linear approximations of nonlinear behaviors. But what does that mean?
Sketch-interpreting software
A new system that lets people enter data into a tablet computer simply by drawing diagrams on the screen could lead to interactive whiteboards.