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.
Collaborative learning — for robots
Algorithm lets independent agents collectively produce a machine-learning model without aggregating data.
39th MITES class welcomed to MIT
Top high school students from across the country arrive on campus for six-week program
Morphable surfaces could cut air resistance
Adding golf ball-like dimples to surfaces could reduce drag and improve efficiency of vehicles.
Can we see the arrow of time?
Algorithm can determine, with 80 percent accuracy, whether video is running forward or backward.
New ultrastiff, ultralight material developed
Nanostructured material based on repeating microscopic units has record-breaking stiffness at low density.