Code quest
As a grad student, Robert Gallager, SM ’57, ScD ’60, met one of information theory’s central challenges. But nobody realized it for 30 years.
Search Stories
Solar funnel
New antenna made of carbon nanotubes could make photovoltaic cells more efficient by concentrating solar energy.
Disembodied performance
Tod Machover’s Death and the Powers, which features robots as performers, premieres this month. Is this the future of opera?
Pushing ions through carbon nanotubes
The tiny, multitalented carbon tubes can carry single molecules, one at a time.
Can you find me now?
By demonstrating fundamental limits on their accuracy, MIT researchers show how to improve wireless location-detection systems.
Galileo revisited: How ribbons roll
In a twist on a classic experiment, MIT researchers discover how flexible cylinders behave when rolling down a slope.
More hurricanes in greener seas?
Research suggests ocean color is linked to formation, movement of tropical cyclones
Solar cell, heal thyself
New self-assembling photovoltaic technology can keep repairing itself to avoid any loss in performance.
MIT hosts 28 Amgen Scholars this summer
Undergraduates invited to conduct hands-on research with MIT faculty
Better health through social networking
Research shows how the nature of your social network influences your health behavior.
Toward greener chemistry
Breaking up phosphorus with ultraviolet light may offer a safer, simpler way to build many industrial and household chemicals.
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.
From sponges, a potential cancer drug
MIT chemists have synthesized a family of natural compounds that have shown promise in killing tumor cells.
Personal cushion of air
Inspired by seeds, proposed air-bag system would surround astronauts and protect them during bumpy landings