Centimeter-long origami robot
Controlled by magnetic fields, tiny robot climbs inclines, swims, and carries loads twice its weight.
Surfaces get smooth or bumpy on demand
MIT research produces soft material with controllable surface textures that can be varied by squeezing.
Robotics competition generated groundbreaking research
MIT team based robotic control algorithms on cutting-edge theory.
Improving prevention of and responses to flu outbreaks
New research suggests ways to reduce the likelihood that individuals and groups will become infected with influenza.
Longstanding problem put to rest
Proof that a 40-year-old algorithm is the best possible will come as a relief to computer scientists.
Breaking down social networks in a city
New research finds urban social networks are not determined geographically, but socially.
MIT team creates ultracold molecules
At near absolute zero, molecules may start to exhibit exotic states of matter.
Study: Juvenile incarceration yields less schooling, more crime
Teen offenders who serve time finish school less often, become repeat offenders more often.
3 Questions: Economies as computers, products as information
New book argues that economic development is a special case of the growth of information.
Unlocking nanofibers’ potential
Prototype boosts production of versatile fibers fourfold, while cutting energy consumption by 92 percent.
Study: Ocean source of a greenhouse gas has been underestimated
Cycling of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, is more intense than thought, and emissions are increasing.
Vanishing friction
In tuning friction to the point where it disappears, technique could boost development of nanomachines.
DNA breakage underlies both learning, age-related damage
Process that allows brains to learn and remember also leads to degeneration with age.
A check on runaway lake drainage
Draining lakes are unlikely to increase the Greenland ice sheet’s contribution to sea-level rise.
Helping robots handle uncertainty
Algorithm for planning multirobot collaborations makes complex models practical.