Research

Device enables direct communication among multiple quantum processors

Device enables direct communication among multiple quantum processors Quantum computers have the potential to solve complex problems that would be impossible for the most powerful classical supercomputer to crack.Just like a classical computer has separate, yet interconnected, components that must work together, such as a memory chip and ...

AI tool generates high-quality images faster than state-of-the-art approaches

AI tool generates high-quality images faster than state-of-the-art approaches The ability to generate high-quality images quickly is crucial for producing realistic simulated environments that can be used to train self-driving cars to avoid unpredictable hazards, making them safer on real streets.But the generative artificial intelligence techniques increasingly being used ...

3D printing approach strings together dynamic objects for you

3D printing approach strings together dynamic objects for you It’s difficult to build devices that replicate the fluid, precise motion of humans, but that might change if we could pull a few (literal) strings.At least, that’s the idea behind “cable-driven” mechanisms in which running a string through an object ...

To the brain, Esperanto and Klingon appear the same as English or Mandarin

To the brain, Esperanto and Klingon appear the same as English or Mandarin Within the human brain, a network of regions has evolved to process language. These regions are consistently activated whenever people listen to their native language or any language in which they are proficient.A new study by MIT researchers finds that ...

New platform lets anyone rapidly prototype large, sturdy interactive structures

New platform lets anyone rapidly prototype large, sturdy interactive structures Prototyping large structures with integrated electronics, like a chair that can monitor someone’s sitting posture, is typically a laborious and wasteful process.One might need to fabricate multiple versions of the chair structure via 3D printing and laser cutting, generating a ...

Artificial muscle flexes in multiple directions, offering a path to soft, wiggly robots

Artificial muscle flexes in multiple directions, offering a path to soft, wiggly robots We move thanks to coordination among many skeletal muscle fibers, all twitching and pulling in sync. While some muscles align in one direction, others form intricate patterns, helping parts of the body move in multiple ways.In recent years, scientists and ...

Evidence that 40Hz gamma stimulation promotes brain health is expanding

Evidence that 40Hz gamma stimulation promotes brain health is expanding A decade after scientists in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT first began testing whether sensory stimulation of the brain’s 40Hz “gamma” frequency rhythms could treat Alzheimer’s disease in mice, a growing evidence base supporting the idea ...

When did human language emerge?

When did human language emerge? It is a deep question, from deep in our history: When did human language as we know it emerge? A new survey of genomic evidence suggests our unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago. Subsequently, language might ...

High-performance computing, with much less code

High-performance computing, with much less code Many companies invest heavily in hiring talent to create the high-performance library code that underpins modern artificial intelligence systems. NVIDIA, for instance, developed some of the most advanced high-performance computing (HPC) libraries, creating a competitive moat that has proven difficult ...

MIT engineers turn skin cells directly into neurons for cell therapy

MIT engineers turn skin cells directly into neurons for cell therapy Converting one type of cell to another — for example, a skin cell to a neuron — can be done through a process that requires the skin cell to be induced into a “pluripotent” stem cell, then differentiated into a ...

Want to climb the leadership ladder? Try debate training

Want to climb the leadership ladder? Try debate training For those looking to climb the corporate ladder in the U.S., here’s an idea you might not have considered: debate training.According to a new research paper, people who learn the basics of debate are more likely to advance to leadership ...

How nature organizes itself, from brain cells to ecosystems

How nature organizes itself, from brain cells to ecosystems Look around, and you’ll see it everywhere: the way trees form branches, the way cities divide into neighborhoods, the way the brain organizes into regions. Nature loves modularity — a limited number of self-contained units that combine in different ways ...

Study: Climate change will reduce the number of satellites that can safely orbit in space

Study: Climate change will reduce the number of satellites that can safely orbit in space MIT aerospace engineers have found that greenhouse gas emissions are changing the environment of near-Earth space in ways that, over time, will reduce the number of satellites that can sustainably operate there.In a study appearing today in Nature Sustainability, the ...

Study: Tuberculosis relies on protective genes during airborne transmission

Study: Tuberculosis relies on protective genes during airborne transmission Tuberculosis lives and thrives in the lungs. When the bacteria that cause the disease are coughed into the air, they are thrust into a comparatively hostile environment, with drastic changes to their surrounding pH and chemistry. How these bacteria survive ...

Robotic helper making mistakes? Just nudge it in the right direction

Robotic helper making mistakes? Just nudge it in the right direction Imagine that a robot is helping you clean the dishes. You ask it to grab a soapy bowl out of the sink, but its gripper slightly misses the mark.Using a new framework developed by MIT and NVIDIA researchers, you could ...

Knitted microtissue can accelerate healing

Knitted microtissue can accelerate healing Treating severe or chronic injury to soft tissues such as skin and muscle is a challenge in health care. Current treatment methods can be costly and ineffective, and the frequency of chronic wounds in general from conditions such as diabetes ...

Study: The ozone hole is healing, thanks to global reduction of CFCs

Study: The ozone hole is healing, thanks to global reduction of CFCs A new MIT-led study confirms that the Antarctic ozone layer is healing, as a direct result of global efforts to reduce ozone-depleting substances.Scientists including the MIT team have observed signs of ozone recovery in the past. But the new study is ...

Study suggests new molecular strategy for treating fragile X syndrome

Study suggests new molecular strategy for treating fragile X syndrome Building on more than two decades of research, a study by MIT neuroscientists at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory reports a new way to treat pathology and symptoms of fragile X syndrome, the most common genetically-caused autism spectrum ...

Letterlocking: A new look at a centuries-old practice

Letterlocking: A new look at a centuries-old practice For as long as people have been communicating through writing, they have found ways to keep their messages private. Before the invention of the gummed envelope in 1830, securing correspondence involved letterlocking, an ingenious process of folding a flat sheet ...

Designing better ways to deliver drugs

Designing better ways to deliver drugs When Louis DeRidder was 12 years old, he had a medical emergency that nearly cost him his life. The terrifying experience gave him a close-up look at medical care and made him eager to learn more.“You can’t always pinpoint exactly ...

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