Computer science and technology

This diagram shows how an electrical voltage can be used to modify the oxygen concentration, and therefore the phase and structure, of strontium cobaltites. Pumping oxygen in and out transforms the material from the brownmillerite form (left) to the perovskite form (right).

Switchable material could enable new memory chips

Small voltage can flip thin film between two crystal states — one metallic, one semiconducting.

January 20, 2016

In a forest simulation, algorithms segment space into “obstacle-free regions” and then link them together to find a single collision-free route.

Drones dodge obstacles

Motion-planning algorithms allow drones to do donuts, figure-eights in object-filled environments.

January 19, 2016

Engineers at MIT have developed a queuing model that may help air traffic controllers direct departures more efficiently, minimizing runway congestion.

Cutting down runway queues

Model that predicts time from gate departure to takeoff could cut airport congestion, fuel waste.

January 14, 2016

The DriveWell app runs in the background of a smartphone, collecting data on driving behavior. Drivers receive a score on a scale from 1 to 100, a route map, and tips for improvement. Scores can also be used for insurance discounts, or to compete with friends and other drivers worldwide.

Smarter driving, using your phone

App that rates drivers’ behavior yields promising safety results on the road.

January 5, 2016

MIT researchers fed their physics prediction system videos of collisions, shown as screenshots in (a) and (b), which were then converted into simulations generated by the 3-D physics engine, shown in (c) and (d).

Computer model matches humans at predicting how objects move

“3-D physics engine” from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory simulates the human brain to infer physical properties.

January 4, 2016

Researchers have produced a working optoelectronic chip that computes electronically but uses light to move information. The chip has 850 optical components and 70 million transistors, which, while significantly less than the billion-odd transistors of a typical microprocessor, is enough to demonstrate all the functionality that a commercial optical chip would require.

Optoelectronic microprocessors built using existing chip manufacturing

High-performance prototype means chipmakers could now start building optoelectronic chips.

December 23, 2015

Researchers have developed a computational model of visual representation intended to reflect the way the brain works.

Machines that learn like people

Algorithms could learn to recognize objects from a few examples, not millions; may better model human cognition.

December 23, 2015

PANDA is based on the open-source whole-system emulator known as QEMU (Quick Emulator), which uses binary translation to support multiple processor architectures. PANDA supports Windows, Linux, and Android operating systems; can efficiently record and replay whole-system executions; and has a modular software design that allows analysts to implement multiple software-analysis plugins. According to...

MIT Lincoln Laboratory receives three 2015 R&D 100 Awards

Three software products named among 100 most technologically significant innovations of 2015.

December 22, 2015

“In health care, there’s this gigantic world of unstructured data that needs to be translated into useable information,” says Paul Nemirovsky, who co-founded dMetrics with Ariadna Quattoni.

Detecting consumer decisions within messy data

Software analyzes online chatter to predict health care consumers’ behavior.

December 21, 2015

For each image, the MemNet algorithm creates a heat map identifying its most memorable and forgettable regions.

Deep-learning algorithm predicts photos’ memorability at “near-human” levels

Future versions of an algorithm from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab could help with teaching, marketing, and memory improvement.

December 16, 2015

CSAIL shows off demos to 150 high-schoolers for “Hour of Code”

Robots, 3-D printers, and a surprise guest aim to get students excited about computer science.

December 14, 2015

3Q: Scott Aaronson on Google’s new quantum-computing paper

Google experiments suggest that the D-Wave computer exploits quantum phenomena.

December 11, 2015

Gen9's BioFab process, now being used by dozens of researchers and companies, cuts costs and accelerates the creation and testing of genes.

Scaling up synthetic-biology innovation

MIT professor’s startup makes synthesizing genes many times more cost effective.

December 10, 2015

Humans and machines were given an image of a novel character (top) and asked to produce new versions. A machine generated the nine-character grid on the left.

Computer system passes “visual Turing test”

Character-drawing machines can fool human judges.

December 10, 2015

This self-folding microbot was among the many innovations that emerged from CSAIL in 2015.

Data, drones, and 3-D-printed hearts

Looking back on the year that was: Highlights from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab in 2015.

December 8, 2015

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