Building machines that better understand human goals
A new algorithm capable of inferring goals and plans could help machines better adapt to the imperfect nature of human planning.
“SCOUT” helps researchers find, quantify significant differences among organoids
Unbiased, high-throughput analysis pipeline improves utility of “minibrains” for understanding development and diseases such as Zika infection.
An LED that can be integrated directly into computer chips
The advance could cut production costs and reduce the size of microelectronics for sensing and communication.
Model could help determine quarantine measures needed to reduce Covid-19’s spread
A key finding: Early reopening last spring led to a dramatic drop in “quarantine strength” in southern and west-central U.S. states.
SMART researchers engineer a plant-based sensor to monitor arsenic levels in soil
Nanoscale devices integrated into the leaves of living plants can detect the toxic heavy metal in real time.
A cool advance in thermoelectric conversion
A quantum effect in topological semimetals demonstrated by MIT researchers could allow for the utilization of an untapped energy source.
3 Questions: Phillip Sharp on the discoveries that enabled mRNA vaccines for Covid-19
Curiosity-driven basic science in the 1970s laid the groundwork for today’s leading vaccines against the novel coronavirus.
SMART researchers use lysins to selectively target bacteria
The discovery can help to cure bacterial infections without inducing resistance or causing harm to good bacteria.
One more clue to brain changes in Huntington’s disease
Opioid receptor MOR1 changes discovered in neurodegenerative disease model.
Automating material-matching for movies and video games
Animators spend hours adding textures to objects. A new machine-learning system simplifies the process.
Researchers find a better way to design metal alloys
System uses machine learning to analyze boundaries between crystal grains, allowing for selection of desired properties in a new metal.
A better kind of cybersecurity strategy
New model shows why countries that retaliate too much against online attacks make things worse for themselves.
A technique to sift out the universe’s first gravitational waves
Identifying primordial ripples would be key to understanding the conditions of the early universe.
MISTI pilots conversations in energy
The MISTI Career Conversations: Energy program serves as an innovative pivot from international internships to a virtual seminar series.
When playing favorites can hurt growth
Study finds China’s industrial-park policy is better for productivity when political connections are not a factor.