Tiny snails sitting on the ocean floor might seem defenseless against a large, determined predator such as a crab. But evolution has provided one species of sea snail with a unique iron-plated armored shell that resists such attacks. The snail has evolved a tri-layered shell structure consisting of an outer layer embedded with iron sulfide… »
Fusion has been a cherished goal of physicists and energy researchers for more than 50 years, since it offers the possibility of nearly endless supplies of energy with no carbon emissions and far less radioactive waste than that produced by today’s nuclear plants. A new experiment that reproduces the magnetic fields of the Earth and… »
After writing about 3D printers as Mcor Technologies Matrix 3D printer and Festo iFab, and our emphasis of the potential to create similar machines designed meant for other uses beside rapid prototyping, here is a twist from folks in Fluid Interfaces Group (the group that came up with SixthSense). Cornucopia is a personal food factory… »
Most of current touch screen displays uses capacitive sensing, where the proximity of a finger disrupts the electrical connection between sensors in the screen. A competing approach, which uses embedded optical sensors to track the movement of the user’s fingers, is just now coming to market. The researchers at MIT’s Media Lab went a step… »
The AIDA project (Affective, Intelligent Driving Agent), a collaboration between Volkswagen of America and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (SENSEable City Lab and Personal Robots Group of Media Lab), is a platform comprising of a personal robot and an intelligent navigation system that aims to bring more pleasant driving experience. Its developers envision it as… »
Scientists have deciphered the three-dimensional structure of the human genome, paving the way for new insights into genomic function and expanding our understanding of how cellular DNA folds at scales that dwarf the double helix. They used a new technology called Hi-C in order to answer the thorny question of how each of our cells… »
MIT scientists have been working on an answer for a decades-old question of whether it is possible for a gas to show properties similar to a magnet made of iron or nickel. Ferromagnetic materials are those that, below a specific temperature, are strongly magnetized even in the absence of a magnetic field. In common magnets… »
Another great example of bio-mimetic robots is a solution many mariners, oil outfits, and the military have big hopes for. RoboClam, designed at the MIT, is meant to become the first “smart” anchor, a major departure from the prosaic piece of nautical gear that hasn’t changed much in centuries. Its present diminutive size is just… »
