mit – Page 5 – Impact Lab

The best economic news in human history

March 19, 2015

Andrew McAfee, the associate director of the Center for Digital Business at the MIT Sloan School of Management has revealed “the best economic news in human history,” claiming that we’re on the brink of the possibility of rising living standards for everyone on earth. He says that technological progress means humanity will soon solve the problem of ‘increasing scarcity’, meaning that there are, in theory, enough goods and wages for everyone in the world. Continue reading… “The best economic news in human history”

Biotech, Nanotechnology, Science & Technology News

Nanodevice can defeat drug resistance and release cancer drugs

March 17, 2015

Developed by MIT researchers a new nanodevice can help overcome cancer cell drug resistance (after chemotherapy) by first blocking the gene that confers drug resistance, then launching a new chemotherapy attack against the disarmed tumors. Continue reading… “Nanodevice can defeat drug resistance and release cancer drugs”

Business, Culture, Economy, government, Human Behavior, Money Talk

Data mining shows global link between wealth and corruption

February 20, 2015

A question that social scientists and economists have long puzzled over, how corruption arises in different cultures and why it is more prevalent in some countries than others. But finding correlations between corruption and other measures of economic or social activity has always been difficult. Continue reading… “Data mining shows global link between wealth and corruption”

Breakthrough Thinking, Energy, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

Liter of Light project helps to illuminate Filipino homes with old plastic bottles

February 16, 2015

Can something as simple as a used plastic bottle filled with water could be the difference between light and darkness for a lot of people? This almost no-cost solution is raising the quality of life of thousands of families in the Philippines with no access to electricity that mostly use very dangerous kerosene lamps indoors. Continue reading… “Liter of Light project helps to illuminate Filipino homes with old plastic bottles”

mobile technology, Science & Technology News, Startup

New battery for portable electronics that lasts twice as long

February 10, 2015

SolidEnergy, a new startup, has developed a new kind of lithium-ion battery that stores far more energy, that could let portable electronics such as smartphones and smart watches last twice as long between charges. Continue reading… “New battery for portable electronics that lasts twice as long”

Brain, Great Videos, Health & Fitness, New Discoveries, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

MIT researchers reveal an interface that allows us to plug our brain into a computer

February 3, 2015

MIT senior, Christina Tringides, holds a sample of the multifunction fiber.

MIT researchers reveal an interface that could make plugging our brain into a computer a reality. Their system uses new fibers less than a width of a hair that could deliver optical signals and drugs directly into the brain, along with electrical readouts to continuously monitor the effects of the various inputs.

Continue reading… “MIT researchers reveal an interface that allows us to plug our brain into a computer”

Analysis, Artificial Intelligence, Big Problems, Brain, Crazy Stuff, Education, Futurist, Hot Issues, New Inventions, Report, Robotics, Robots

Stanford to Research the effects of Artificial Intelligence

January 12, 2015

What will intelligent machines mean for society and the economy in 30, 50 or even 100 years from now?

That’s the question that Stanford University scientists are hoping to take on with a new project, the One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100).

Continue reading… “Stanford to Research the effects of Artificial Intelligence”

Analysis, Business, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

MIT researchers can predict the price of Bitcoin

November 5, 2014

Do you want to know when to sell Bitcoin?

A researcher at MIT has come up with a way to use machine learning to predict the price of the Bitcoin virtual currency. With his system, you could figure out when to sell the remaining Bitcoins you have in order to minimize your loss or maximize your gain. Or you could find out the right time to buy.

Continue reading… “MIT researchers can predict the price of Bitcoin”

Great Videos, Robots, Science & Technology News

MIT cheetah robot can run and jump untethered across grass

September 19, 2014

MIT cheetah robot

Researchers at MIT have developed an algorithm for bounding that they’ve successfully implemented in a robotic cheetah. The robot sprinted up to 10 mph, even continuing to run after clearing a hurdle in experiments done on an indoor track. The MIT researchers estimate that the current version of the robot may eventually reach speeds of up to 30 mph — half the top speed of the natural cheetah, the fastest land animal on Earth. (Videos)

Continue reading… “MIT cheetah robot can run and jump untethered across grass”

Analysis, Great Videos, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

The latest crazy prediction for the future by MIT Media Lab founder

August 13, 2014

Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the MIT Media Lab.

In 1984, Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the MIT Media Lab, delivered his first TED talk and, “with surprising accuracy,” made five predictions for the future. Of course, 30 years ago, naysayers argued sensory computing wasn’t the future; people would never use their fingers as some alternative stylus. (Video)

Continue reading… “The latest crazy prediction for the future by MIT Media Lab founder”

Analysis, Great New Product, Latest Trend, Photo Perspectives, Science & Technology News

15 ‘enchanted objects’ with extraordinary functions

August 13, 2014

David Rose with the Ambient Orb.

David Rose, an Inventor and M.I.T. Media Lab researcher, coined the term “enchanted objects” to describe ordinary objects with extraordinary functions. These objects are not only fun but also may hold the key to a better way for humans to use new technology — as opposed to what Rose considers a bleak future in which every tool will be crammed into a computer screen.

Continue reading… “15 ‘enchanted objects’ with extraordinary functions”

Analysis, Energy, New Discoveries, Science & Technology News, Solar Power

New spongelike material converts solar energy into steam

July 24, 2014

The DLS that consists of a carbon foam supporting an exfoliated graphite layer.

MIT has developed a new material structure that generates steam by soaking up the sun. The structure — a layer of graphite flakes and an underlying carbon foam — is a porous, insulating material structure that floats on water. When sunlight hits the structure’s surface, it creates a hotspot in the graphite, drawing water up through the material’s pores, where it evaporates as steam. The brighter the light, the more steam is generated.

Continue reading… “New spongelike material converts solar energy into steam”