Q&A: A new initiative to help strengthen democracy

In the United States and around the world, democracy is under threat. Anti-democratic attitudes have become more prevalent, partisan polarization is growing, misinformation is omnipresent, and politicians and citizens sometimes question the integrity of elections. ...

AI simulation gives people a glimpse of their potential future self

Have you ever wanted to travel through time to see what your future self might be like? Now, thanks to the power of generative AI, you can. Researchers from MIT and elsewhere created a system that enables users to have an online, text-based conversation with an...

AI pareidolia: Can machines spot faces in inanimate objects?

In 1994, Florida jewelry designer Diana Duyser discovered what she believed to be the Virgin Mary’s image in a grilled cheese sandwich, which she preserved and later auctioned for $28,000. But how much do we really understand about pareidolia, the phenomenon of seeing...

Helping robots zero in on the objects that matter

Imagine having to straighten up a messy kitchen, starting with a counter littered with sauce packets. If your goal is to wipe the counter clean, you might sweep up the packets as a group. If, however, you wanted to first pick out the mustard packets before throwing...

MIT launches new Music Technology and Computation Graduate Program

A new, multidisciplinary MIT graduate program in music technology and computation will feature faculty, labs, and curricula from across the Institute. The program is a collaboration between the Music and Theater Arts Section in the School of Humanities, Arts, and...

Fifteen Lincoln Laboratory technologies receive 2024 R&D 100 Awards

Fifteen technologies developed either wholly or in part by MIT Lincoln Laboratory have been named recipients of 2024 R&D 100 Awards. The awards are given by R&D World, an online publication that serves research scientists and engineers worldwide. Dubbed the...

Accelerating particle size distribution estimation

The pharmaceutical manufacturing industry has long struggled with the issue of monitoring the characteristics of a drying mixture, a critical step in producing medication and chemical compounds. At present, there are two noninvasive characterization approaches that...

AI model can reveal the structures of crystalline materials

For more than 100 years, scientists have been using X-ray crystallography to determine the structure of crystalline materials such as metals, rocks, and ceramics. This technique works best when the crystal is intact, but in many cases, scientists have only a powdered...