Wireless devices and sensors capable of sending and receiving data may soon be able to also harvest the power they need, right from the air, thanks to the radio waves that already emanate from cellphone and TV towers. To really take advantage of the coming "Internet of Things", a whole lot of sensors and microcomputers will be needed, all of which will require some method of being powered, preferably without needing any cords or wires. And while putting a battery onboard the device is one sol...

The Cogni experiment consists of two parts: The 3D Navigation protocol is geared towards understanding how the human brain represents motion, especially the issue as to whether all three dimensions are represented in the same way or whether the horizontal level is treated differently. This part of the experiment will help better understand what spatial references the brain uses to build a mental representation of the path of motion. We know that detection of symmetries is speedier ...

Researchers are currently working on replicating the conditions inside a mother’s uterus in an artificial one. Benefits to an artificial womb could include allowing premature babies a better chance at survival, enabling women with fertility issues to have children, and making it much easier for transgendered people and gay couples to have children. However, artificial uteruses could lead to overpopulation, as well as missed bonding between mother and child during pregnancy, and they could ent...

July 16, a Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral to the International Space Station carrying a DNA sequencer into space for the first time. While this isn’t big-deal science, no one has ever tried to decode DNA in outer space before. Being able to is something that might come in handy on a Mars mission if a crewmember gets sick or alien mold appears in a spaceship. “Right now we culture stuff and return it to Earth, but if you send people to Mars you aren’t going to...

MIT researchers and colleagues are working to find out whether energy from trees can power a network of sensors to prevent spreading forest fires. Sensor system runs on electricity generated by trees. What they learn also could raise the possibility of using trees as silent sentinels along the nation's borders to detect potential threats such as smuggled radioactive materials. The U.S. Forest Service currently predicts and tracks fires with a variety of tools, including remote automated w...

Tesla Home Battery Powerwall is a home battery that charges using electricity generated from solar panels, or when utility rates are low, and powers your home in the evening. It also fortifies your home against power outages by providing a backup electricity supply. Automated, compact and simple to install, Powerwall offers independence from the utility grid and the security of an emergency backup. Tesla home batteries maximize the usefulness of your solar panels and offer a variety of backup ...

From the Apollo missions through the Space Shuttle Program, NASA has relied on liquid hydrogen as a fuel source for the upper stages of its rocket launches. The reason is simple: Hydrogen is the most efficient propellant there is. Measure for measure, it provides more thrust than any other fuel source. But harnessing that energy requires a great deal of technological know-how on the Agency’s part. For one, keeping hydrogen in its liquid state means maintaining it at a temperature below -423 º...

A regenerative fuel cell or reverse fuel cell (RFC) is a fuel cell run in reverse mode, which consumes electricity and chemical B to produce chemical A. By definition, the process of any fuel cell could be reversed. However, a given device is usually optimized for operating in one mode and may not be built in such a way that it can be operated backwards. Standard fuel cells operated backwards generally do not make very efficient systems unless they are purpose-built to do so as with high-pressur...

There are certain universal patterns in nature that hold true, regardless of objects’ size, species, or surroundings. Take, for instance, the branching fractals seen in both tree limbs and blood vessels, or the surprisingly similar spirals in mollusks and cabbage. Now scientists at MIT and Cambridge University have identified an unexpected shared pattern in the collective movement of bacteria and electrons: As millions of bacteria stream through a microfluidic lattice, they synchronize and swim...

Henry Klassen, M.D., Ph.D., is only about a year from launching a clinical trial for a stem cell treatment to rescue vision in people with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and, potentially, other retinal diseases. At the Foundation’s recent Orange County Innovation Symposium, the University of California (UC), Irvine clinician-researcher reported that he and his colleagues are in the midst of final lab studies with patient-grade cells. Once finished, they’ll request authorization from the U.S. Food and...

Reflection European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang is visible in the reflection of NASA astronaut Danny Olivas's helmet visor during this, the STS-128 mission's third and final spacewalk. Olivas and Fuglesang deployed the Payload Attachment System, replaced the Rate Gyro Assembly #2, installed two GPS antennae and worked to prepare for the installation of Node 3 next year. Work Is a Spacewalk During the STS-131 mission's first spacewalk, astronauts Ri...

Ikea created a collection that make charging a lot more available, yet a lot less obvious. Ikea calls these products as wireless charger furniture, because that’s what they are: a range of products that make it possible to charge your smartphone, without messy cables. From charging pads to furniture with built-in charging spots, you have a greater choice of where to charge. How does it work? Many smartphones support the wireless charging standard (Qi), but sometimes it needs to be activated in...

Millions of people worldwide need glasses or contact lenses to see or read properly. We introduce a computational display technology that predistorts the presented content for an observer, so that the target image is perceived without the need for eyewear. By designing optics in concert with prefiltering algorithms, the proposed display architecture achieves significantly higher resolution and contrast than prior approaches to vision-correcting image display. We demonstrate that inexpensive ligh...

A refined approach to Virtual Reality! Introducing the first adjustable VR lens that caters to the individual's visual comfort. The Nunulo VR solves the problem of motion sickness and eye strain that is common among the first generation of virtual reality headsets. The cardboard frame houses two precision-engineered lenses that users can adjust to accommodate their unique visual parameters. Even users who wear glasses can see images in clear focus, thanks to the Nunulo VR. ...

Dedicated to working Institute-wide to improve the productivity, accessibility, and sustainability of the world's water and food systems, the Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS) coordinates the efforts of MIT's faculty, labs, and centers to work towards solutions for water and food security that are environmentally benign and energy-efficient.  J-WAFS supports technology innovation and basic research activities by motivating, accelerating, and coordinating research in w...

Picture preparing a bowl full of a sweet, gelatin dessert. The gelatin powder is mixed with hot water, and then the mixture is cooled in a refrigerator until it sets. It is now a gel. If that wiggly gel were placed in an oven and all of the moisture dried out of it, all that would be left would be a pile of powder. But imagine if the dried gelatin maintained its shape, even after the liquid had been removed. The structure of the gel would remain, but it would be extremely light due to low den...

The human body is incredibly complex. Every part of us—from our bones to our blood cells—is subject to a host of chemical reactions and molecular interactions that, without our conscious effort, keep us alive. But what happens to these processes when we leave the planet? In Earth orbit and beyond, where gravity is counteracted by a constant state of freefall and cosmic radiation intensifies, the molecular inner-workings of the human body may change.  To find out how, NASA has entered a rea...

Machine learning is a subfield of computer science (more particularly soft computing) that evolved from the study of pattern recognition and computational learning theory in artificial intelligence. In 1959, Arthur Samuel defined machine learning as a "Field of study that gives computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed". Machine learning explores the study and construction of algorithms that can learn from and make predictions on data. Such algorithms operate by building...

Imagine a world where your house is attuned to your needs. It knows exactly what temperature you find comfortable and automatically adjusts the thermostat. It knows your schedule, so the heating or cooling shuts down to save energy when you leave for the day. Forgot to bring a grocery list to the store? No problem, an app will let you take a peek inside your fridge. As you head home, preheat the oven for dinner with your smartphone. While cooking, your oven can weigh your cut of meat and recomme...

Caterpillar and NASA both continuously work to develop next-generation technologies. Both are also home to some of the greatest engineering minds on the planet, so joining forces in collaborative research was a logical step.  This collaboration delivers value to Caterpillar customers here on Earth and to NASA’s future space explorers. Caterpillar’s relationship with NASA began about a decade ago. In January 2004, the federal government announced a new program to develop technologies that woul...

Time Management Strategies Creating and setting goals gives you a plan for achieving academic success. Setting Goals Goals are deciding what we want to achieve. I want to have a 3.5 GPA at the end of this semester. I want to join an on-campus group to meet new people. Goals involve a plan to get what we want. I will write out a study schedule to follow for each week of the semester. I will talk to other students to see what interest groups are on campus. Goals should be re...

The Grant Study is part of the Study of Adult Development at Harvard Medical School. It is a 75-year longitudinal study of 268 physically- and mentally-healthy Harvard college sophomores from the classes of 1939–1944. It has run in tandem with a study called "The Glueck Study," which included a second cohort of 456 disadvantaged nondelinquent inner-city youths who grew up in Boston neighborhoods between 1940 and 1945. The subjects were all male and of American nationality. The men continue to be...

Researchers at Clemson University have been working for several years on the relationship between the number of bites you take and caloric intake. They designed and have run extensive studies with a bite-counting wristband that they now sell as a separate business. https://youtu.be/G8BfxRz-J8I The Bite Counter is a watch that also counts bites based on pattern recognition of wrist movements. The Bite Counter comes with PC software for configuring the device and connects via a micro USB por...

Israeli medical device maker Brainsway has developed a helmet-like device that uses Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Deep TMS) to treat a variety of brain-related disorders. Deep TMS is a noninvasive procedure that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate nerve cells in the brain. The pulses are sent through an electromagnetic coil (H-coil) placed near the patient's scalp in the area a therapist wants to treat for 20 minutes at a time. According to the company, the treatment has no side effects. P...

Google’s DeepMind is initiating a new research project to aid doctors spot the early signs of sight-threatening diseases. The team uses machine learning to analyze more than a million eye scans and thereby creating algorithms that can detect early symptoms that humans might miss. The research project is DeepMind’s second collaboration with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). https://youtu.be/d58_mb95oVY Moorfields Eye Hospital in London will partner with Google and DeepMind for a fi...