“Hey, Alexa! Are you trustworthy?”
The more social behaviors a voice-user interface exhibits, the more likely people are to trust it, engage with it, and consider it to be competent.
Pricing carbon, valuing people
New research suggests ways to optimize US climate policy design for a just energy transition.
Synthesis too slow? Let this robot do it.
Tiny Tides is an automated fast-flow instrument that can synthesize peptide-nucleic acids in a single shot.
Overcoming a bottleneck in carbon dioxide conversion
Study reveals why some attempts to convert the greenhouse gas into fuel have failed, and offers possible solutions.
Courtney Lesoon and Elizabeth Yarina win Fulbright-Hays Scholarships
Prestigious grants will support full-time doctoral research abroad for the MIT architecture and urban planning students.
Tackling hard computational problems
David Gamarnik has developed a new tool, the overlap gap property, for understanding computational problems that appear intractable.
In Down syndrome cells, genome-wide disruptions mimic a senescence-like state
Extra chromosome alters chromosomal conformation and DNA accessibility in neural progenitor cells; study establishes senescence as a potentially targetable mechanism for future treatment.
Method for delivering immune system-stimulating drugs may enhance cancer immunotherapy
The targeted approach eliminated tumors in mice, with minimal side effects.
Physicists detect a hybrid particle held together by uniquely intense “glue”
The discovery could offer a route to smaller, faster electronic devices.
A dirt-cheap solution? Common clay materials may help curb methane emissions
With special treatment, minerals called zeolites — commonly found in cat litter — can efficiently remove the greenhouse gas from the air, researchers report.
Seeing the plasma edge of fusion experiments in new ways with artificial intelligence
MIT researchers are testing a simplified turbulence theory’s ability to model complex plasma phenomena using a novel machine-learning technique.
Physicists watch as ultracold atoms form a crystal of quantum tornadoes
The new observations record a key crossover from classical to quantum behavior.
Exploring growth within a confined space
Embedding bacteria in soft material tests researchers’ theories.
Helping to make nuclear fusion a reality
MIT PhD student Rachel Bielajew is taking on plasma turbulence, and helping make a better world — through science and community action.
Predator interactions chiefly determine where Prochlorococcus thrive
New findings may help researchers hone predictions for where phytoplankton will migrate with climate change.