Research News

MIT software aims to thwart cyber hackers
In response to the chronic cyber threat of hackers, MIT Lincoln Laboratory researchers are developing a software tool to identify the most vulnerable points in a computer network, allowing administrators to focus on those rather than the whole network.
Published on : Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

Model helps computers sort data more like humans
In an advance that may impact the field of artificial intelligence, a new model developed at MIT can help computers recognize patterns the same way that humans do. The model can analyze a set of data and figure out which type of organizational structure best fits it.
Published on : Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

Beyond jewelry: Engineering new uses for gold
The glitter of gold may hold more than just beauty, or so says a team of MIT researchers that is working on ways to use tiny gold rods to fight cancer, deliver drugs and more. But first they must overcome one major difficulty: the rods' surface.
Published on : Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

Call of the wild
What started out as an MIT project aimed at monitoring owls in their natural environment has grown into an international collaboration on how to use widespread networks of citizen-scientists to gain new insights into a wide variety of species.
Published on : Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

MIT zeroes in on Alzheimer's structures
MIT engineers report a new computer-based approach to identifying protein structures key to Alzheimer's disease, an important step toward the development of new drugs that could prevent such structures from forming.
Published on : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

MIT engineers work toward cell-sized batteries
Forget 9-volts, AAs, AAAs or D batteries: The energy for tomorrow's miniature electronic devices could come from MIT-developed microbatteries that are about half the size of a human cell and built with viruses.
Published on : Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

Understanding climate change complacency
Why is the general public not more concerned about the potential consequences of climate change? MIT Professor John Sterman's research suggests that people don't have good mental models for understanding the phenomenon.
Published on : Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

Building microchips from the bottom up
Using a novel system based on molecules that can assemble themselves into precise patterns, MIT researchers have overcome size limitations that would otherwise crimp improvements in data-storage media and electronic microchips.
Published on : Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

MIT solves puzzle of meteorite-asteroid link
Researchers have found why the majority of asteroids that come near Earth are of a type that matches only a fraction of the meteorites that tend to hit our planet: the meteorites come straight in from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Published on : Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

Amid food price spike, Nobel laureate eyes fertilizer
One of the reasons food prices have risen sharply is the cost of fertilizer. MIT Nobelist Richard Schrock is among a handful of researchers pursuing less energy-intensive ways to produce ammonia, the main component of fertilizer.
Published on : Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

Sputnik-era antenna gets 21st century upgrade
A mammoth MIT antenna installed in 1957 as the first radar system to conduct space surveillance (it observed the Sputnik satellite) is poised for many more years of key observations thanks to a recently completed renovation.
Published on : Thu, 7 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

MIT developing super-realistic image system
By producing "6-D" images, an MIT professor and colleagues are creating unusually realistic pictures that not only have a full 3-D appearance, but also respond to their environment, producing natural shadows and highlights.
Published on : Thu, 7 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

Prices of commercial properties decline in Q2
Transaction sale prices of commercial property sold by major institutional investors declined 2.7 percent overall in the second quarter of 2008 with prices for office properties declining 5.5 percent, according to an index from the MIT Center for Real Estate.
Published on : Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST

MIT discovery primed to unleash solar revolution
In a revolutionary leap that could transform solar power from a marginal, boutique alternative into a mainstream energy source, MIT researchers have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing energy for use when the sun doesn't shine.
Published on : Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST