How the brain distinguishes between ambiguous hypotheses
Neural activity patterns can encode competing hypotheses about which landmark will lead to the correct destination.
Animation technique simulates the motion of squishy objects
The approach could help animators to create realistic 3D characters or engineers to design elastic products.
Former MIT researchers advance a new model for innovation
Focused research organizations (FROs) undertake large research efforts and have begun to yield scientific advances.
Different anesthetics, same result: unconsciousness by shifting brainwave phase
MIT study finds an easily measurable brain wave shift may be a universal marker of unconsciousness under anesthesia.
New system enables robots to solve manipulation problems in seconds
Researchers developed an algorithm that lets a robot “think ahead” and consider thousands of potential motion plans simultaneously.
Physicists observe a new form of magnetism for the first time
The magnetic state offers a new route to “spintronic” memory devices that would be faster and more efficient than their electronic counterparts.
Study helps pinpoint areas where microplastics will accumulate
Biofilms deposited by living organisms reduce the accumulation of small particles, while areas of bare sand can be microplastics hotspots.
Study shows making hydrogen with soda cans and seawater is scalable and sustainable
The method’s overall carbon emissions are on par with those of other green hydrogen technologies.
New 3D printing method enables complex designs and creates less waste
MIT engineers developed a technique for making intricate structures with supports that can be dissolved and reused instead of thrown away.
AI stirs up the recipe for concrete in MIT study
With demand for cement alternatives rising, an MIT team uses machine learning to hunt for new ingredients across the scientific literature.
Teaching AI models the broad strokes to sketch more like humans do
SketchAgent, a drawing system developed by MIT CSAIL researchers, sketches up concepts stroke-by-stroke, teaching language models to visually express concepts on their own and collaborate with humans.
3 Questions: How to help students recognize potential bias in their AI datasets
Courses on developing AI models for health care need to focus more on identifying and addressing bias, says Leo Anthony Celi.
Rationale engineering generates a compact new tool for gene therapy
Researchers redesign a compact RNA-guided enzyme from bacteria, making it an efficient editor of human DNA.
A high-fat diet sets off metabolic dysfunction in cells, leading to weight gain
Researchers also found these effects can be reversed by treatment with an antioxidant.
$20 million gift supports theoretical physics research and education at MIT
Gift from the Leinweber Foundation, in addition to a $5 million commitment from the School of Science, will drive discovery, collaboration, and the next generation of physics leaders.