How neurons sense bacteria in the gut
Neural interaction with bacteria has important effects on animal brains. A new study investigates how neurons sense bacteria by revealing, in nematodes, the bacterial signals that a key neuron detects.
Making the case for curiosity-driven science
President Sally Kornbluth spoke in front of a packed crowd about growing challenges to the U.S. research ecosystem as funding for America’s top research universities becomes increasingly strained.
Study: Immigrants help address the US eldercare shortage
Economists find that in metro areas with more immigration, nurses are spending more time with elderly patients.
Solving the “Whac-a-mole dilemma”: A smarter way to debias AI vision models
A new debiasing technique called WRING avoids creating or amplifying biases that can occur with existing debiasing approaches.
The MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab launches to shape the future of AI and quantum computing
Building on a long-standing MIT–IBM collaboration, the new lab will chart the convergence of AI, algorithms, and quantum computing.
MIT engineers’ virtual violin produces realistic sounds
Based on the physics of how the instrument produces sound, the model could help violin makers in the design process.
Enabling privacy-preserving AI training on everyday devices
A new method could bring more accurate and efficient AI models to high-stakes applications like health care and finance, even in under-resourced settings.
With a swipe of a magnet, microscopic “magno-bots” perform complex maneuvers
MIT researchers’ new fabrication technique can produce soft, microscopic structures with magnetically activated moving parts.
Robotically assembled building blocks could make construction more efficient and sustainable
New research suggests constructing a simple building from interlocking subunits should be mechanically feasible and have a much smaller carbon footprint.
Mapping molecular markers of physical fitness
A new study reveals cellular pathways that appear to underlie some differences in physical fitness.
Self-organizing “pencil beam” laser could help scientists design brain-targeted therapies
MIT researchers leveraged a surprise discovery to devise a faster and more precise biomedical imaging technique.
A faster way to estimate AI power consumption
The “EnergAIzer” method generates reliable results in seconds, enabling data center operators to efficiently allocate resources and reduce wasted energy.
New chip can protect wireless biomedical devices from quantum attacks
Ultra-efficient chip design enables extremely strong cryptography algorithms to run on energy-constrained edge devices.
Teaching AI models to say “I’m not sure”
A new training method improves the reliability of AI confidence estimates without sacrificing performance, addressing a root cause of hallucination in reasoning models.