How “blue” and “green” appeared in a language that didn’t have words for them
People of a remote Amazonian society who learned Spanish as a second language began to interpret colors in a new way, an MIT study has found.
MIT scientists receive NIH BRAIN Initiative grants
BRAIN CONNECTS supports McGovern Institute and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences research aimed at mapping the brain’s connections.
In a surprising finding, light can make water evaporate without heat
A newly identified process could explain a variety of natural phenomena and enable new approaches to desalination.
Light-activated muscle grafts show promise in aiding muscle recovery post-trauma
Actuating grafts appears to turn on cell signals related to the growth of new blood vessels and nerves, a promising finding for restoring mobility in muscle lost through disease or trauma.
Engineers develop an efficient process to make fuel from carbon dioxide
The approach directly converts the greenhouse gas into formate, a solid fuel that can be stored indefinitely and could be used to heat homes or power industries.
New techniques efficiently accelerate sparse tensors for massive AI models
Complimentary approaches — “HighLight” and “Tailors and Swiftiles” — could boost the performance of demanding machine-learning tasks.
Accelerating AI tasks while preserving data security
The SecureLoop search tool efficiently identifies secure designs for hardware that can boost the performance of complex AI tasks, while requiring less energy.
The brain may learn about the world the same way some computational models do
Two studies find “self-supervised” models, which learn about their environment from unlabeled data, can show activity patterns similar to those of the mammalian brain.
3 Questions: A roadmap toward circularity in the footwear industry
Coauthors of a “Footwear Manifesto” report discuss survey findings that point to industry collaboration as a path to reducing waste in shoe manufacturing.
Making genetic prediction models more inclusive
MIT computer scientists developed a way to calculate polygenic scores that makes them more accurate for people across diverse ancestries.
How adults understand what kids are saying
It’s not easy to parse young children’s words, but adults’ beliefs about what children want to communicate helps make it possible, a new study finds.
Shape-shifting fiber can produce morphing fabrics
The low-cost FibeRobo, which is compatible with existing textile manufacturing techniques, could be used in adaptive performance wear or compression garments.
Bright flash leads astronomers to a heavy-metal factory 900 million light years away
Using multiple observatories, astronomers directly detect tellurium in two merging neutron stars.
Wobbly gel mat trains muscle cells to work together
The vibrating platform could be useful for growing artificial muscles to power soft robots and testing therapies for neuromuscular diseases.