Content for MIT.Edu

Generating a realistic 3D world

“A new AI-powered, virtual platform uses real-world physics to simulate a rich and interactive audio-visual environment, enabling human and robotic learning, training, and experimental studies. While standing in a kitchen, you push some metal bowls across the counter into …

Technique enables real-time rendering of scenes in 3D

“The new machine-learning system can generate a 3D scene from an image about 15,000 times faster than other methods. Humans are pretty good at looking at a single two-dimensional image and understanding the full three-dimensional scene that it captures …

Tiny machine learning design alleviates a bottleneck in memory usage on internet-of-things devices

“Machine learning provides powerful tools to researchers to identify and predict patterns and behaviors, as well as learn, optimize, and perform tasks. This ranges from applications like vision systems on autonomous vehicles or social robots to smart thermostats to wearable …

An energy-storage solution that flows like soft-serve ice cream

“Researchers make the case for a semisolid electrochemical compound as a cost-efficient, grid-scale battery backup for wind and solar power. Batteries made from an electrically conductive mixture the consistency of molasses could help solve a critical piece of the decarbonization …

Artificial intelligence that understands object relationships

“A new machine-learning model could enable robots to understand interactions in the world in the way humans do. When humans look at a scene, they see objects and the relationships between them. On top of your desk, there might be …

Getting quantum dots to stop blinking

“New approach solves a persistent problem of intermittency that has hindered use of the tiny light emitters for biological imaging or quantum photonics. Quantum dots, discovered in the 1990s, have a wide range of applications and are perhaps best known …

One year on this giant, blistering hot planet is just 16 hours long

“A newly discovered “ultrahot Jupiter” has the shortest orbit of any known gas giant. The hunt for planets beyond our solar system has turned up more than 4,000 far-flung worlds, orbiting stars thousands of light years from Earth. These …

The reasons behind lithium-ion batteries’ rapid cost decline

“A new study finds that investments in R&D on materials and chemistry were key, while economies of scale contributed somewhat less. Lithium-ion batteries, those marvels of lightweight power that have made possible today’s age of handheld electronics and …

Dexterous robotic hands manipulate thousands of objects with ease

“Model-free framework reorients over 2,000 diverse objects with a hand facing both upward and downward, in a step toward more human-like manipulation. At just one year old, a baby is more dexterous than a robot. Sure, machines can do …

Electrochemistry, from batteries to brains

“Professor Bilge Yildiz finds patterns in the behavior of ions across applications. Bilge Yildiz’s research impacts a wide range of technologies. The members of her lab study fuel cells, which convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity (and water). They …