CNBC reporter Andrew Zaleski writes that MIT researchers have developed a neuromorphic chip design that could help advance the development of computers that operate like humans. The design could “lead to processors capable of carrying out machine learning tasks with dramatically lower energy demands,” Zaleski explains.
Researchers at the Tangible Media Group have developed “programmable droplets” of water that can be used to communicate words. “One potential application is a mirror that, when steamed, allows someone to display a message from a smartphone” writes Jesus Diaz for Co.Design. “The larger idea is to provoke surprise and delight, the way only the natural world can.”
Researchers at MIT have developed a “kirigami” film, based off of the ancient paper-folding technique of the same name, that can be used for bandaging tricky areas like the knee or elbow, writes David Grossman for Popular Mechanics. “We are the first group to find, with a systematic mechanism study, that a kirigami design can improve a material’s adhesion,” says postdoc and lead researcher Ruike Zhao.
A new paper from graduate students in EECS details a newly-developed chip that allows neural networks to function offline, while drastically reducing power usage. “That means smartphones and even appliances and smaller Internet of Things devices could run neural networks locally” writes Eric Mack for Forbes.
MIT researchers have designed a new chip to enhance the functionality of neural networks while simultaneously reducing the consumption of power, writes Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch. “The basic concept involves simplifying the chip design so that shuttling of data between different processors on the same chip is taken out of the equation,” he explains.
MIT researchers have designed a new chip that could advance the development of computers that operate like the human brain, reports James Vincent for The Verge. The development could, “lead to processors that run machine learning tasks with lower energy demands — up to 1,000 times less. This would enable us to give more devices AI abilities like voice and image recognition.”
Bloomberg News reporters Tim Loh and Patrick Martin feature Prof. Jeffrey Grossman’s work turning coal into thin strips of durable film that can conduct electricity. “You can get them up to like 300 Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit),” Grossman explains. “That is by far much, much better than other kinds of thin-film heaters.’’
IEEE Spectrum reporter Dexter Johnson writes that MIT researchers have developed a technique for producing cheaper semiconductor wafers using graphene. The method could “make the use of exotic semiconductors more accessible to industries by preparing semiconductor thin films without the high cost of using bulk wafers.”
MIT researchers have developed a new low-power chip that could make voice control practical for simple electronic devices, reports Tim Moynihan for Wired. While other speech-processing platforms use the cloud to process voice commands, “the MIT chip handles much more of that processing itself.”
TechCrunch reporter Brian Heater writes that MIT researchers have developed a speech recognition chip that uses a fraction of the power of existing technologies. “The chip is essentially designed to be always on in a low-power mode, switching over when voice is detected, thus making it ideal for technologies like wearable devices,” Heater explains.
MIT researchers have found that water can stay frozen, even when heated to boiling temperatures, when molecules are placed inside tiny carbon nanotubes, reports Sam Lemonick for Forbes. The researchers hope to use the “ice-filled tubes as wires to move protons,” a key step in creating hydrogen fuel cells.
MIT researchers have developed a stretchy, biocompatible material that could be implanted in a patient’s body and used to stimulate cells or detect disease, according to FOX News. The hydrogel “could bend and twist in a patient’s body without breaking down.”
In this video, BBC World News reporter Adam Shaw learns about the stretchy, water-based hydrogel MIT researchers developed that could be used as a smart bandage to sense temperatures and deliver medication. “This is a new way to think about this interface between the human body and electronic devices,” explains Prof. Xuanhe Zhao.
The PBS NewsHour highlights how one organization used tracking technology developed by Prof. Carlo Ratti to learn what happens to recycled electronic waste. “Tracking is really the first step in order to design a better system,” Ratti said. “One of the surprising things we discovered is how far waste travels.”
In this video, Bloomberg News reporter Sam Grobart examines the new hydrogel developed by MIT researchers that can bend and twist without breaking, and could be used to deliver medicines and monitor our health. Grobart explains that the hydrogel “could be a building block of the medicine of the future.”