National Science Foundation (NSF)

Virion hikers with varying levels of fitness, illustrated here as preparedness, attempt to climb Folded Peak While some virions are too unfit to hit the trail (red), some are sufficiently fit to reach the summit without help from the park chaperones (blue). Other virions (yellow) are able to reach the summit by hijacking the park chaperones, which are also assisting certain host proteins, and so...

Biochemists discover mechanism that helps flu viruses evolve

Influenza viruses can hijack host cellular machinery to help mutated viral proteins fold and function.

September 26, 2017

Researchers found that babies who watched an adult struggle to complete tasks before succeeding tried harder at their own difficult task, compared to babies who saw an adult succeed without effort.

Babies can learn that hard work pays off

Study finds infants try harder after seeing adults struggle to achieve a goal.

September 21, 2017

In this diagram, the atomic lattice of a crystal of barium oxide is depicted, with atoms of oxygen and barium represented by red and gray spheres. A neutral oxygen vacancy, a place where an oxygen atom should appear in the lattice but is instead replaced by two electrons, is represented by the yellow shape, which depicts the charge density of those electrons. At left, the crystal is seen with no e...

New analysis explains role of defects in metal oxides

Harnessing these imperfections could have implications for computer memory and energy conversion.

September 21, 2017

“This is not saying that disaster occurs the next day,” says Professor Daniel Rothman about his new study. “It’s saying that, if left unchecked, the carbon cycle would move into a realm which would be no longer stable, and would behave in a way that would be difficult to predict. In the geologic past, this type of behavior is associated with mass extinction.”

Mathematics predicts a sixth mass extinction

By 2100, oceans may hold enough carbon to launch mass extermination of species in future millennia.

September 20, 2017

MIT researchers have found that languages tend to divide the "warm" part of the color spectrum into more color words than the "cooler" regions, which makes communication of warmer colors more consistent. From left to right, this chart shows the order of most to least efficiently communicated colors, in English, Spanish, and Tsimane' languages.

Analyzing the language of color

Cognitive scientists find that people can more easily communicate warmer colors than cool ones.

September 18, 2017

This schematic shows a microfluidic device that uses sound waves to separate exosomes (pink spheres) from other components of blood.

Blood testing via sound waves may replace some tissue biopsies

Microfluidic device uses acoustics to quickly analyze blood for signatures of cancer and other diseases.

September 18, 2017

ComText allows robots to understand contextual commands such as, “Pick up the box I put down.”

Robot learns to follow orders like Alexa

ComText, from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, allows robots to understand contextual commands.

August 30, 2017

Scientists in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) have for the first time determined the strength of the stratosphere’s circulation, based on observations of key chemicals traveling within this atmospheric layer.

Strength of global stratospheric circulation measured for first time

Estimate will help gauge hang time of greenhouse gases, water vapor, and ozone in upper atmosphere.

August 28, 2017

Researchers have come up with a new approach to network monitoring that provides great flexibility in data collection while keeping both the circuit complexity of the router and the number of external analytic servers low.

Monitoring network traffic more efficiently

Programming language plus simple circuit design could let routers report on their own operation.

August 23, 2017

Interactive Robogami enables the fabrication of a wide range of robot designs.

Custom robots in a matter of minutes

CSAIL’s “Interactive Robogami” lets you design and 3-D print origami-inspired robots from 2-D designs.

August 23, 2017

New findings suggest the ancient Earth harbored a mantle that was much more efficient at drawing down pieces of the planet’s crust.

Ancient Earth’s hot interior created “graveyard” of continental slabs

Higher mantle temperatures caused subducting tectonic plates to sink much further than they do today.

August 22, 2017

Using machine learning to improve patient care

New CSAIL research employs many types of medical data, including electronic health records, to predict outcomes in hospitals.

August 21, 2017

The Millstone Hill radar facility at MIT Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts

Investigating space weather effects of the 2017 solar eclipse

Atmospheric scientists at the MIT Haystack Observatory will study North American eclipse effects on space weather with radar and navigational satellites.

August 17, 2017

This series of photographs shows the chemical reaction that occurs during the charging of a lithium oxygen battery using lithium iodide as an additive.

Researchers clarify mystery about proposed battery material

Study explains conflicting results from other experiments, may lead to batteries with more energy per pound.

August 15, 2017

In experiments, Pensieve could stream video with 10 to 30 percent less rebuffering than other approaches, and at levels that users rated 10 to 25 percent higher on key “quality of experience” metrics.

High-quality online video with less rebuffering

CSAIL’s machine-learning system enables smoother streaming that can better adapt to different network conditions.

August 14, 2017

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