Items tagged with mit
MIT has created a new AI that we sincerely hope never escapes into the wild because this IS how you get Skynet. This AI is called Norman and it is a psychopath. How did Norman turn into a psycho? All the image data MIT fed Norman came from what it calls "an infamous subreddit" that the researchers refuse to name specifically due to its graphic content. However, the team does say that this subreddit is "dedicated to documenting and observing the disturbing reality of death." The goal with Norman was to prove that when people say that an AI can be biased and unfair, the fault isn't the algorithm...
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Are you one of those people that is constantly being criticized for mumbling or speaking too softly; so much so that no one can clearly understand what you're saying? That may not be a problem for a new communication device from MIT called the AlterEgo. AlterEgo is a rather odd-looking wearable device that mounts to your head and wraps around the back of your neck. Electrodes mounted on the device are than able to identify neuromuscular signals in the jaw and face to read a human's subvocalization. Subvocalization refers to the muscular movements that are made when we almost imperceptibly say words...
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MIT is poised to make a massive investment into the future of nuclear fusion power. This move is significant because fusion power is potentially inexhaustible and produces zero carbon emissions. Fusion power could quite literally change the world as we know it today. MIT has announced a new collaboration with a private company called Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) that will see $50 million poured into the creation of a working fusion power plant. MIT and CFS want to perform rapid, staged research that will lead to a new generation of fusion experiments and ultimately power plants based on advancement...
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Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have announced a new power generating device that is able to use temperature fluctuations to create electricity. The technology is based on principals of thermoelectric devices able to generate power when one side of the device is a different temperature than the other. The device the MIT team has created doesn't require two different temperature inputs at the same time, rather this device harnesses changes in ambient temperature to create electric power as a virtually perpetual renewable energy source. MIT's Thermal Resonator - Virtually...
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Most consumers do not own a 3D printer, though perhaps one day that will change. For now, 3D printing at home remains a niche obsession, however the barriers of entry have started to come down with some models focusing on ease-of-use and others aiming for relatively low price points. Some combine both. One thing that probably has to change, however, is the speed at which 3D printers operate. Well, a team of engineers at MIT are on it, with a 3D printer that can print in minutes what would take most 3D printers hours. The system they developed is based on fused deposition modeling (FDM), which is...
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One of the challenges that exists for self-driving cars is being able to anticipate the unseen, such as a child running out from behind a tree and into the road. But what if there were cameras mounted to the car that could somehow see hidden objects? Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have developed a clever algorithm that allows cameras to detect people and objects hidden behind corners. The implication of this technology extends beyond autonomous vehicles and into a wide range of fields, including emergency...
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Remember when a 1TB hard drive seemed enormous? There was also a time when the idea of having even 8GB of memory in our personal computers seemed like extreme overkill. Today, that's basically the starting point for most PCs. As time goes on, and tech improves, even today's storage types and sizes are bound to seem hilariously lacking. For storage and memory companies, the challenge is to shrink dies ever smaller, or increase the amount of data that can be crammed into mechanical storage. Both methods need to continue progressing at a smooth enough rate so as to not bottleneck the other. Just as...
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It seems as though a new, promising battery tech that will boost the runtimes of our mobile devices is always just around the corner. Numerous companies and research labs make wide-eyed promises that seem unbelievable, and of course, they never deliver. However, one company, SolidEnergy, thinks that it has cracked the code when it comes to delivering longer-running batteries. And the company promises to market its batteries by the end of this year… if all goes according to plan. SolidEnergy is an MIT spinoff and says that its lithium-metal batteries can have up to double the energy capacity of...
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Researchers at MIT have taken the concept of a temporary tattoo and launched it into the technology age. Using a process that creates conductive circuit designs that can be easily transferred to the surface of human skin, in addition to surface-mounted microcontrollers or LEDs, the researchers have developed user interfaces and simple displays that can be installed on human skin as wearable technology. The team at MIT is calling it DuoSkin. An NFC Capable DuoSkin Device There are three main steps in the process of creating a functional DuoSkin tattoo. First, graphic design software is used to sketch...
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If augmented reality was an unknown to the world last month, it certainly isn't now, thanks to the insane popularity of Pokemon GO. That game has been responsible for opening many eyes to AR, and now, we've been seeing many comments floating about of how AR could prove more successful than VR. That's hard to argue, given everyone has a smartphone, but very few own a VR headset (which in itself will change once prices cater to the mainstream better). Well, hot on the heels of Pokemon GO's success comes MIT with one of the coolest AR projects we've ever seen. If not the coolest. The technology is...
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It's been a long time since webpages consisted of simple text. Today's webpages are far more complex with audio, video, fancy graphics, JavaScript, and everything else that goes into making an enticing portal. Browser makers have done an overall good job of keeping up with the times, but researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) say they've come up with a way to turbo charge page load times by 34 percent. Their framework for faster load times is called "Polaris," not to be confused with AMD's forthcoming GPU architecture (they're two completely separate...
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Could we soon see “Real Steel” or “Pacific Rim” come to life? It sure does at least look somewhat plausible, as MIT researchers have developed HERMES, an advanced robot that is capable of manipulating objects and environments in nearly the same way as humans do. But this isn’t just a project design of a robot only mimicking the actions of its human controller; it can also learn and make precise movements that weren’t possible with prior robots, thanks to its impressive sensor suite. The HERMES robot is controlled by a human operator who wears a remote controller exoskeleton. Movements carried out...
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Researchers at MIT have come up with a new network design that exploits cheap, power-efficient flash memory without sacrificing the speed that supercomputing applications enjoy from Random Access Memory (RAM). What's appealing about the development is that flash memory is about ten times less expensive than RAM and consumes about a tenth as much power. The downside is that flash memory is only about a tenth as fast, though by utilizing MIT's new system, several common big data applications could use flash memory just as efficiently as conventional RAM. Not only that, the researchers presented evidence...
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Developing an application isn't a cake walk, although it can seem like one if all we're talking about is getting a program up and running. Perhaps the biggest chore with developing an app is securing it tight, analyzing the code until you arrive at Eye Strain City. Security is king. It's also time-consuming. MIT knows this reality all too well, so it's decided to do something to help ease the pain. The result is a system called CodePhage, one that takes advantage of other applications to help bolster the security in its own. I wouldn't blame you if you thought that such mechanics were impossible,...
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