Prof. Pulkit Agrawal speaks with Darian Woods and Geoff Brumfiel of NPR’s The Indicator from Planet Money about his work developing a simulator that can be used to train robots. “The power of simulation is that you can collect, you know, very large amounts of data,” explains Agrawal. “For example, in three hours', you know, worth of simulation, we can collect 100 days' worth of data.”
MIT researchers have developed a superconducting circuit that can increase the speed of quantum processing, reports Aamir Khollam for Interesting Engineering. “This device is a superconducting circuit designed to produce extremely strong nonlinear interactions between particles of light (photons) and matter (qubits),” explains Khollam. “This breakthrough could make operations up to 10 times faster, bringing fault-tolerant, real-world quantum computing a major step closer.”
Researchers at MIT believe they have demonstrated the strongest non-linear light-matter coupling in a quantum system, reports Bill Bell for Quantum Campus. “Their novel superconducting circuit architecture showed coupling about an order of magnitude stronger than prior demonstrations,” writes Bill. “It could significantly improve the measurements and error corrections needed to increase the accuracy and reliability of quantum computers.”
Researchers at MIT have developed a “small, hopping robot designed to traverse challenging environments,” reports Emmett Smith for Mashable. “The robot utilizes a spring-loaded leg for propulsion and incorporates flapping wing modules for stability and control,” explains Smith. “This design enables movement across diverse surfaces and the ability to carry loads exceeding its own weight.”
Graduate student Yi-Hsuan (Nemo) Hsiao and City University of Hong Kong Prof. Pakpong Chirarattananon have developed a “hopping robot that can leap over tall obstacles and jump across slanted or uneven surfaces, while using far less energy than an aerial robot,” writes Andrew Corselli for Tech Briefs Magazine. “One of the biggest challenges is our robot is still connected with a power cable,” explains Hsiao. “I think going into power autonomy — which means we carry a battery and a sensor onboard — will be the next step. And this robot has really opened the opportunities for us to do that.”
Anantha Chandrakasan, MIT’s chief innovation and strategy officer and dean of MIT’s School of Engineering, speaks with Boston Globe reporter Jon Chesto about the new MIT-GE Vernova Energy and Climate Alliance. “A great amount of innovation happens in academia. We have a longer view into the future,” says Chandrakasan. He adds that while companies like GE Vernova have “the ability to get products out quickly to scale up, to manufacture, we have the ability to think past the short-term. ... It’s super smart of them to surround themselves with this incredible talent in academia. That will allow us to make the kind of breakthroughs that will keep U.S. competitiveness at its peak.”
“AT MIT innovation ranges from awe-inspiring technology to down-to-earth creativity,” notes Chronicle during a visit to campus to peek behind the scenes at the innovations underway at the Institute. Classes taught by Prof. Erik Demaine are a “mix of rigorous math and creative collaboration,” host Anthony Everett explains, highlighting how Demaine’s work in computational origami has found its way into practical applications in such fields as medicine, architecture and space exploration. “I think origami provides a really powerful tool for making transformable shapes,” Demaine relates.
E&E News reporter Christa Marshall writes that the new MIT-GE Vernova Energy and Climate Alliance will “scale sustainable energy systems across the globe” and advance breakthrough low-carbon technologies.
Prof. Pulkit Agrawal speaks with NPR Short Wave host Regina Barber and science correspondent Geoff Brumfiel about his work developing a new technique that allows robots to train in simulations of scanned home environments. “The power of simulation is that we can collect very large amounts of data,” explains Agrawal. “For example, in three hours' worth of simulation, we can collect 100 days' worth of data.”
Prof. Erik Demaine and his colleagues have solved a longstanding mathematical puzzle called “Dudeney’s dissection,” which involves dissecting an equilateral triangle into the smallest number of pieces that could be rearranged into a square, reports Lyndie Chiou for Scientific American. “Each of those pieces could have arbitrarily many edges to it, and the coordinates of those cuts start at arbitrary points,” says Demaine, of what makes the puzzle so challenging. “You have these continuous parameters where there’s lots and lots of infinities of possible choices that makes it so annoyingly hard. You can’t just brute-force it with a computer.”
[Originally in Spanish] MIT researchers have developed a new technique to educate robots by increasing human input, reports Uriel Bederman for TN Tecno. “We can’t expect non-technical people to collect data and fine-tune a neural network model," explains graduate student Felix Yanwei Wang. "Consumers will expect the robot to work right out of the box, and if it doesn’t, they’ll want an intuitive way to customize it. That’s the challenge we’re addressing in this work."
MIT scientists have developed a new programmable fiber that can be stitched into clothing to help monitor the wearer’s health, reports Stephen Beech for FOX 28 News. “The gear has been tested by U.S. Army and Navy personnel during a month-long winter research mission to the Arctic,” Beech notes.
Prof. Ryan Williams speaks with New Scientist reporter Matthew Sparkes about his finding concerning the relationship between the amount of memory a computation requires and how long it takes, a discovery that has “wowed computer scientists.” Says Williams of the discovery: “It kind of shakes my world view. I’m still just shocked that it even exists.”
Dezeen reporter Rima Sabina Aouf spotlights how MIT researchers have created a “thin and flexible fiber computer and woven it into clothes, suggesting a potential alternative to current wearable electronics.” Prof. Yoek Fink explains: "In the not-too-distant future, fiber computers will allow us to run apps and get valuable health care and safety services from simple everyday apparel.” He adds: "The convergence of classical fibers and fabrics with computation and machine learning has only begun.”
MIT engineers have manufactured a programmable computer fiber that can be woven into clothing and used to help monitor the wearer’s vital signs, reports Jennifer Ouellette for Ars Technica. “The long-term objective is incorporating fiber computers into apparel that can sense and respond to changes in the surrounding environment and individual physiology,” Ouellette notes.