When the playroom is the computer
A block-shaped robot that seems to roll onto a computer screen is part of an educational-media system that gets kids out of their chairs.
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Crowds and Clouds: Data, sheep, and collaboration in the works of Aaron Koblin
Delivers Abramowitz Memorial Lecture, hosted by MIT Office of the Arts
How wise are crowds?
By melding economics and engineering, researchers show that as social networks get larger, they usually get better at sorting fact from fiction.
The surprising physics of cats’ drinking
A new study reveals that even the way cats lap up liquid displays the perfect balance for which they’re known.
First heavy ion collisions in the Large Hadron Collider
MIT physicists are leading one of the experiments analyzing new data.
The 6-percent solution
How corporations can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions through better planning.
Social Studies
In MIT's Human Dynamics Lab, Sandy Pentland PhD '82 uses cell phones and wearable sensors to research nonverbal signals, information flow, and the value of face-to-face conversation.
Faster websites, more reliable data
Web servers that store data locally save time on database searches but sometimes serve up obsolete results. A new system solves that problem.
Your vital signs, on camera
MIT team develops system for continuous medical monitoring using widely available video technology.
Multicore may not be so scary
Research suggests that the free operating system Linux will keep up with the addition of more ‘cores,’ or processing units, to computer chips.
A step closer to Big Bang conditions?
More study is needed to confirm the latest findings from the Large Hadron Collider, reported by CERN physicists last week.
A link between air travel and deaths on the ground
Study suggests pollution from airplanes flying at ‘cruise’ altitudes contributes to 8,000 deaths per year globally.
First improvement of fundamental algorithm in 10 years
The max-flow problem, which is ubiquitous in network analysis, scheduling, and logistics, can now be solved more efficiently than ever.
Nuclear-fuel report challenges key assumptions
MIT study finds no shortage of uranium for nuclear energy for decades, but more research is needed to develop improved fuel-cycle options.