Computer automatically deciphers ancient language
A new system that took a couple hours to decipher much of the ancient language Ugaritic could help improve online translation software.
An Internet 100 times as fast
A new network design that avoids the need to convert optical signals into electrical ones could boost capacity while reducing power consumption.
Slideshow: President Hockfield in China
She meets with leaders of government, business and academia -- as well as MIT alumni -- during stops in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei.
Toward the Semantic Web
A new standard from the World Wide Web Consortium brings the Web a step closer to realizing the vision of its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee.
More is less
Complex computer models can involve thousands of variables. But paradoxically, adding more variables can sometimes make them easier to work with.
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.
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.
Slideshow: Mapping the oil spill
MIT student leads project using balloons and kites to provide aerial documentation of the Gulf oil slick’s extent and effects
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.
In Profile: Missy Cummings
Former U.S. Naval fighter pilot aims to improve how humans and computers interact.
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.