MIT
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--MIT civil engineers have for the first time identified what causes the most frequently used building material on earth -- concrete -- to gradually deform, decreasing its durability and shortening the lifespan of infrastructures such as bridges and nuclear waste containment vessels.
For 10 exciting days this October, Perimeter Institute’s 10th anniversary science celebration “Quantum to Cosmos: Ideas for the Future” will take a global audience from the strange subatomic world to the outer frontiers of the universe.
“Ideas developed in the pursuit of pure knowledge have time and again driven fundamental innovation”, says Perimeter Institute Director, Neil Turok.
In today's economy, it's increasingly difficult to elicit donations for charitable causes -- but new research from Dr. Anat Bracha of the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University can provide fundraising organizations with a potent tool.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Countless hours are lost in traffic jams every year. Most frustrating of all are those jams with no apparent cause -- no accident, no stalled vehicle, no lanes closed for construction.
PASADENA, Calif.--Astronomers have found that stars of a recently discovered type, dubbed ultracool subdwarfs, take some pretty wild rides as they orbit around the Milky Way, following paths that are very different from those of typical stars. One of them may actually be a visitor that originated in another galaxy.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--MIT engineers have built a fast, ultra-broadband, low-power radio chip, modeled on the human inner ear, that could enable wireless devices capable of receiving cell phone, Internet, radio and television signals.
Sequence gaps in human chromosome 15 have been closed by the application of 454 technology. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology have described a simple and scalable method for finishing non-structural gaps in genome assemblies.
Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) devices have the potential to revolutionize the world of sensors: motion, chemical, temperature, etc. But taking electromechanical devices from the micro scale down to the nano requires finding a means to dissipate the heat output of this tiny gadgetry.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Tiny fluctuations in a fetus's heartbeat can indicate distress, but currently there is no way to detect such subtle variations except during labor, when it could be too late to prevent serious or even fatal complications.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--MIT and Boston University engineers have designed cells that can count and "remember" cellular events, using simple circuits in which a series of genes are activated in a specific order.
Just as our world buzzes with distractions ? from phone calls to e-mails to tweets ? the neurons in our brain are bombarded with messages. Research has shown that when we pay attention, some of these neurons begin firing in unison, like a chorus rising above the noise.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Over the past few years, MIT engineers have successfully tested robotic devices to help stroke patients learn to control their arms and legs. Now, they're building on that work to help children with cerebral palsy.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Ever since the 1940s, chrome has been used to add a protective coating and shiny luster to a wide range of metal products, from bathroom fixtures to car bumpers.
The most extensive study of pollutants in marine mammals' brains reveals that these animals are exposed to a hazardous cocktail of pesticides such as DDTs and PCBs, as well as emerging contaminants such as brominated flame retardants.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--The most comprehensive modeling yet carried out on the likelihood of how much hotter the Earth's climate will get in this century shows that without rapid and massive action, the problem will be about twice as severe as previously estimated six years ago -- and could be even worse than that.
