Study: Climate change and air pollution will combine to curb food supplies
Ozone and higher temperatures can combine to reduce crop yields, but effects will vary by region.
Collecting just the right data
When you can’t collect all the data you need, a new algorithm tells you which to target.
Monitoring the rise and fall of the microbiome
Close analysis of bacteria in the human digestive tract reveals links to diet and other lifestyle factors.
Essays in English yield information about other languages
Grammatical habits in written English reveal linguistic features of non-native speakers’ languages.
Building up bamboo
MIT researchers study bamboo for engineered building material, similar to plywood.
Getting a grip on robotic grasp
New wrist-mounted device augments the human hand with two robotic fingers.
No-wait data centers
New system could reduce data-transmission delays across server farms by 99.6 percent.
Getting a charge out of water droplets
Water condensing and jumping from a superhydrophobic surface can be harnessed to produce electricity.
Drone lighting
Autonomous vehicles could automatically assume the right positions for photographic lighting.
Bacteria: A day in the life
MIT study finds ocean bacteria follow predictable patterns of daily activity.
Traffic lights: There’s a better way
MIT researchers develop an improved system for timing of urban lights to minimize commuting times.
Novel bromine battery: Small-scale demo, large-scale promise
Low-cost, high-capacity, rechargeable battery could one day enable widespread adoption of intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind.