For the first time, MIT researchers have shown they can genetically engineer viruses to build both the positively and negatively charged ends of a lithium-ion battery. Angela Belcher, the MIT materials scientist who led the research team said “The new virus-produced batteries have the same energy capacity and power performance as state-of-the-art rechargeable batteries being ... »
Many plants are heliotropic, gradually tilting towards the sun to optimize solar energy capture. Current sun-tracking solar panels involve the use of motors and electronic control systems, but we believe a biomimetic heliotropic solar panel can be created with the use of alternative materials and designs. Practically, the heliotropic solar panel could be useful in ... »
Imagine overturning a container of nuts and bolts, then looking through the resulting pile for a particular item or spreading photographs out on a tabletop and then beginning to sort them into piles. The Nintendo Wii remote control and Microsoft’s Surface multi-touch display have begun to change the way we interact with computers, but even ... »
Remember the futuristic sci-fi computer interfaces where you operate devices with the use of your hand gestures? Although still a prototype, the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT’s Media Lab unveiled the SixthSense, a wearable, gesture-driven computing platform that can continually augment the physical world with digital information.”We’re trying to make it possible to have access ... »
Sociable humanoid robots pose a dramatic and intriguing shift in the way one thinks about control of autonomous robots. A new range of application domains are driving the development of robots that can interact and cooperate with people, and play a part in our daily lives. One of the pioneers in the mentioned domain was ... »
Personal robots are an emerging technology with the potential to have a significant positive impact across broad applications in the public sector including eldercare, healthcare, education, and beyond. MDS (Mobile Dexterous Social) Robot is designed and built within the collaboration of the MIT Media Lab’s Personal Robots Group, UMASS Amherst’s Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics, Xitome ... »
