Physicists magnetize a material with light
The technique provides researchers with a powerful tool for controlling magnetism, and could help in designing faster, smaller, more energy-efficient memory chips.
How humans continuously adapt while walking stably
Research could help improve motor rehabilitation programs and assistive robot control.
Miracle, or marginal gain?
Industrial policy is said to have sparked huge growth in East Asia. Two MIT economists say the numbers tell a more complex story.
MIT spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems unveils plans for the world’s first fusion power plant
The company has announced that it will build the first grid-scale fusion power plant in Chesterfield County, Virginia.
MIT researchers introduce Boltz-1, a fully open-source model for predicting biomolecular structures
With models like AlphaFold3 limited to academic research, the team built an equivalent alternative, to encourage innovation more broadly.
Aurora mapping across North America
Haystack Observatory researchers and citizen scientists team up to map the aurora.
A new method to detect dehydration in plants
Sensors developed by SMART researchers are capable of detecting pH changes in plant xylem enable farmers to detect drought stress up to 48 hours before visible physical symptoms manifest.
Study reveals AI chatbots can detect race, but racial bias reduces response empathy
Researchers at MIT, NYU, and UCLA develop an approach to help evaluate whether large language models like GPT-4 are equitable enough to be clinically viable for mental health support.
New climate chemistry model finds “non-negligible” impacts of potential hydrogen fuel leakage
MIT study confirms the climate impacts of hydrogen, recommends leak prevention be a priority as infrastructure for handling this clean-burning fuel is built.
Teaching a robot its limits, to complete open-ended tasks safely
The “PRoC3S” method helps an LLM create a viable action plan by testing each step in a simulation. This strategy could eventually aid in-home robots to complete more ambiguous chore requests.
Enabling a circular economy in the built environment
A better understanding of construction industry stakeholders’ motivations can lead to greater adoption of circular practices.
Noninvasive imaging method can penetrate deeper into living tissue
Using high-powered lasers, this new method could help biologists study the body’s immune responses and develop new medicines.
Researchers reduce bias in AI models while preserving or improving accuracy
A new technique identifies and removes the training examples that contribute most to a machine-learning model’s failures.
Cellular traffic congestion in chronic diseases suggests new therapeutic targets
Chronic diseases like diabetes are prevalent, costly, and challenging to treat. A common denominator driving them may be a promising new therapeutic target.
Revisiting reinforcement learning
A detailed new look at dopamine signaling suggests neuroscientists’ model of reinforcement learning may need to be revised.