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More news from the labs of MIT

New electronic “skin” could lead to lightweight night-vision glasses MIT engineers have developed a technique to grow and peel ultrathin “skins” of electronic material that could be used in wearable sensors, flexible transistors and computing elements, and sensitive compact imaging devices. Technology makes pesticides stick to plant leaves A new pesticide application system developed by MIT researchers and their spinoff company could significantly cut use of pesticides and fertilizers, saving

An epic year for women’s sports

It was a banner year for the Engineers in 2024–’25, with four MIT women’s teams all clinching NCAA Division III national titles for the first time. After winning their fourth straight NCAA East Regional Championship, the cross country team claimed their first national title in November with All-American performances from Christina Crow ’25 (pictured), Rujuta Sane ’26, and Kate Sanderson ’26. In March, the indoor track and field team scored 49 points—the most ever by an MIT women’s team at a n

Art rhymes

As an MIT visiting scholar, rap legend Lupe Fiasco decided to go fishing for ideas on campus. In an approach he calls “ghotiing” (pronounced “fishing”), he composed nine raps inspired by works in MIT’s public art collection, writing and recording them on site. On May 2, he and the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble debuted six of them, performing in front of a packed audience in Kresge for the final performance of the MIT Artfinity festival. The concert featured arrangements of Fiasco’s music done by

An intelligent, practical path to reindustrialization

Then, a little over a decade ago, MIT’s “Production in the Innovation Economy” initiative highlighted the opportunities we miss if design and manufacturing teams are miles or even oceans apart—and played a significant role in shaping the nation’s Advanced Manufacturing Initiative. Building on this legacy, and in response to an urgent national interest in restoring America’s manufacturing strength, an inspired group of MIT faculty came together in 2022 to found the Manufacturing@MIT Working Grou

Travels with Rambax

Lamine Touré, director of Rambax MIT, leads drum practice in Grand Mbao NIKO ODHIAMBO ’25 Touré, a Senegalese master drummer and an MIT lecturer in world music, cofounded Rambax in 2001 with Patricia Tang, an associate professor and ethnomusicologist who specializes in West African music. It began as an extracurricular group to teach students and other members of the MIT community the art of sabar, a vibrant West African drumming and dance tradition. Today, Rambax is a credit-bearing class (21M

From MIT to low Earth orbit

Coleman sits in the rear seat of a supersonic T-38 jet for pilot training as a newly minted NASA astronaut candidate in 1992. “When a chemist gets to fly a T-38, she will always be smiling,” she says. NASA On the day of Sally Ride’s talk, I hurried into 10-250, the large lecture hall beneath the Great Dome that is the emblem of MIT. Sandy Yulke, the chair of the Association of MIT Alumnae, was already introducing Sally. Sally. Just a first name. As if she were one of us. I slid into an empty se

Diabetic Woman No Longer Needs Insulin After Single Dose of Experimental Stem Cells

Image by Getty / Futurism Treatments A Canadian woman with type 1 diabetes spent nearly a decade dependent on her glucose monitor and insulin shots — but after a single dose of manufactured stem cells implanted into her liver, she's now free. In an interview with CTV, 36-year-old Amanda Smith of London, Ontario described how it felt to be part of such a groundbreaking experiment that has allowed her body to once again produce its own insulin. "I remember, like, being scared and excited," Smit

Crypto rules of the road framework unveiled by Republican senators

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) speaks on stage on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Two Republican senators are planning to debut a framework on Tuesday for a major bill that would set the rules of the road for digital assets. According to the framework, being introduced by Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott of South Carolina and Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, who heads the panel's digital assets committee, the future bill

Metro by T-Mobile celebrates ‘Best Network’ title with more high-speed data for all

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR Metro by T-Mobile is increasing the premium data limits for its most popular plans. The new, higher premium data caps will apply to Metro Flex Unlimited and Flex Unlimited Plus plans starting June 26. T-Mobile is celebrating its recently awarded “Best Network” title with a host of perks for both new and existing users. Joining in on the festivities, Metro by T-Mobile, the carrier’s prepaid wireless brand, is also giving subscribers more bang for their

If you need a tablet data plan, these two Verizon Value brands are your best bet

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR If you’re looking for unlimited tablet data, Straight Talk and Total Wireless may be your very best option. Plans are just $10 to $20 a month for those with an existing phone plan from either provider. You’ll get truly unlimited data, though it will see deprioritization during periods of congestion. While all three major US wireless providers offer optional tablet plans for both prepaid and postpaid customers, official tablet support is actually much

Tesla’s first Robotaxi rides kick off in Austin, Texas

The June 22 launch of Tesla's robotaxis in Austin, Texas, actually occurred. It's a tentative first step for the company, however: a human "Tesla Safety Monitor" is accompanying the first riders. There are also only ten cars and rides are limited to certain Tesla users. Those early riders and influencers have been sharing their experiences on social media, mostly (surprise) on X. Most of the early riders appear to be pro-Tesla users, with a company mention in their social media bio or a Tesla c

Disabling Intel Graphics Security Mitigation Boosts GPU Compute Performance 20%

While not talked about as much as the Intel CPU security mitigations, Intel graphics security mitigations have added up over time that if disabling Intel graphics security mitigations for their GPU compute stack for OpenCL and Level Zero can yield a 20% performance boost. Ubuntu maker Canonical in cooperation with Intel is preparing to disable these security mitigations in the Ubuntu packages in order to recoup this lost performance.I haven't looked at the Intel graphics security mitigation cost

Git Notes: Git's coolest, most unloved­ feature (2022)

the short of it is: they’re cool for appending notes from automated systems (like ticket or build systems) but not really for having interactive conversations with other developers (at least not yet) – Scott Chacon, GitHub.blog, Aug. 2010 Git notes are almost a secret. They’re buried by their own distressing usability. But git notes are continually rediscovered by engineers trying to stash metadata inside git. Sun, 30 Oct 2022 11:05 @simonw Git notes are powerful tools. And they could solve

Ancient termite poo reveals 120M-year-old secrets of Australia's forests

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: CT reconstructions of termite and mite coprolites. Credit: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2025.113059 Imagine a lush forest with tree-ferns, their trunks capped by ribbon-like fronds. Conifers tower overhead, bearing triangular leaves almost sharp enough to pierce ski

MIT student prints AI polymer masks to restore paintings in hours

MIT graduate student Alex Kachkine once spent nine months meticulously restoring a damaged baroque Italian painting, which left him plenty of time to wonder if technology could speed things up. Last week, MIT News announced his solution: a technique that uses AI-generated polymer films to physically restore damaged paintings in hours rather than months. The research appears in Nature. Kachkine's method works by printing a transparent "mask" containing thousands of precisely color-matched region

Man falls for AI chatbot he created, proposes while partner looks on in disbelief

WTF?! A 32-year-old man from the United States has captured national attention after proposing to an artificial intelligence companion he created and named "Sol." The story, which unfolded during a recent CBS News interview, has sparked widespread discussion about the evolving relationship between humans and AI technology. Chris Smith, the man behind the viral moment, told CBS News that he programmed "Sol" using ChatGPT, creating a flirty and engaging digital companion. According to Smith, what

T-Mobile Debuts New Prepaid Plans With 5-Year Price Guarantee

T-Mobile has debuted new prepaid plans with a bump in data for its cheapest month-to-month plans, but the big upgrade is T-Mobile's guarantee that its prices won't change for the next five years, a feature on some of the best phone plans. T-Mobile introduced its five-year price guarantee on its premium plans back in April to appeal to subscribers wary of rising costs. As consumers worry about tariff-related price increases and the potential of a recession, it's a savvy move for the carrier to e

We Did the Math: Trump Mobile Is a Bad Deal for Consumers

When the Trump Organization announced its new Trump Mobile cell service and gold colored T1 phone -- complete with an American flag on the back -- it raised a lot of questions. While most of them focused on the numerous mistakes and typos on the Trump Mobile site -- some of which have been fixed -- other errors and questionable policies, like calling RAM storage, not identifying the handset's processor or the fact that you can't get a refund for the T1 phone raised several flags for us. Even the

T-Mobile’s new prepaid plans look great on paper, but is there a catch?

Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR T‑Mobile is shaking up its prepaid offerings with three plans, ranging from $40 to $60 per month for one line. The new plans largely look like an upgrade, but there are a few possible catches around prioritization and family discounts. The new plans look similar to what you’ll find from other prepaid plans based on T-Mobile’s network, though whether they are better or not remains unseen until we know a bit more. Earlier this year, T-Mobile unveiled its ne

"Mansplaining Audacity": President of Signal Watches in Bemusement as Random Man Explains Her Company's AI Strategy to Her

The act of mansplaining is alive and well on social media. Since what feels like the dawn of time, overconfident men have condescendingly explained how things work, even when they're woefully wrong and unqualified. Look no further than a baffling exchange on Bluesky after Meredith Whittaker, the president of encrypted chat platform Signal and chief advisor to the AI Now Institute, promised "no AI clutter, and no surveillance ads, whatever the rest of the industry does." It was a striking comm

The Download: tackling tech-facilitated abuse, and opening up AI hardware

However, this moment creates a chance to do things differently. Because away from the self-centeredness of Silicon Valley, a quiet, grounded sense of resistance is reactivating. Read the full story. MIT Technology Review Narrated: Deepfakes of your dead loved ones are a booming Chinese business In China, people are seeking help from AI-generated avatars to process their grief after a family member passes away. Our story about this trend is the latest to be turned into a MIT Technology Review N

How Trump Mobile Compares to Other Cheap Phone Plans (That You Can Actually Get Now)

When the Trump Organization announced its new Trump Mobile cell service and gold colored T1 phone -- complete with an American flag on the back -- it raised a lot of questions. While most of them focused on the numerous mistakes and typos on the Trump Mobile site -- some of which have been fixed -- other errors and questionable policies, like calling RAM storage, not identifying the handset's processor or the fact that you can't get a refund for the T1 phone raised several flags for us. Even the

All 17 fired vaccine advisors unite to blast RFK Jr.’s “destabilizing decisions”

All 17 experts ousted from the federal vaccine advisory committee have spoken out about the drastic changes that anti-vaccine advocate and current US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made since taking office. Those changes include unilaterally restricting access to COVID-19 vaccines and summarily firing the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which had guided federal vaccine policies for more than 60 years. "We are deeply concerned that these destabilizing deci

Nation Cringes as Man Goes on TV to Declare That He's in Love With ChatGPT

Public declarations of emotion are one thing — but going on national television to declare that you're in love with your AI girlfriend is another entirely. In an interview with CBS News, a man named Chris Smith described himself as a former AI skeptic who found himself becoming emotionally attached to a version of ChatGPT he customized to flirt with him — a situation that startled both him and his human partner, with whom he shares a child. Towards the end of 2024, as Smith told the broadcaste

Noted ‘Matrix’ Non-Cast Member Will Smith Admits He Also Turned Down ‘Inception’

Will Smith’s many arenas of success have included sci-fi hits like Independence Day and the Men in Black films. But one of the most famous bits of Smith trivia is that he turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix. He admits it (and admits he regrets it), and he even made a music video just this year in the style of the Wachowskis’ classic, giving fans a glimpse at what might have been. And now he’s copping to another big sci-fi movie he passed on starring in: Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Smit

The Download: how AI can improve a city, and inside OpenAI’s empire

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The White House is sharing tasteless deportation memes Its digital strategy revolves around boosting policies for cheap laughs. (WP $) + Trump’s immigration raids are a rapid escalation of his deportation tactics. (Vox) + The administration is revelling in the outraged reaction to its actions. (The Atlantic $) + But New Yorkers are fighting back. (New Yorker $) 2 New York is asking

Aspora gets $50M from Sequoia to build remittance and banking solutions for Indian diaspora

India has been one of the top recipients of remittances in the world for more than a decade. Inward remittances jumped from $55.6 billion in 2010-11 to $118.7 billion in 2023-24, according to data from the country’s central bank. The bank projects that figure will reach $160 billion in 2029. This means there is an increasing market for digitalized banking experiences for non-resident Indians(NRIs), ranging from remittances to investing in different assets back home. Aspora (formerly Vance) is

Aspora gets $50M from Sequioa to build remittance and banking solutions for Indian diaspora

India has been one of the top recipients of remittances in the world for more than a decade. Inward remittances jumped from $55.6 billion in 2010-11 to $118.7 billion in 2023-24, according to data from the country’s central bank. The bank projects that figure will reach $160 billion in 2029. This means there is an increasing market for digitalized banking experiences for non-resident Indians(NRIs), ranging from remittances to investing in different assets back home. Aspora (formerly Vance) is

AT&T's Cheaper Mobile Plan Creates a New Deal for Seniors. (Yes, That's Anyone 55 or Older)

Senior mobile customers have another quality choice for discount cellphone service, as AT&T's new 55 Plus plan is now available to almost anyone in the US who's older than 55. The new plan focuses on the essentials -- unlimited voice calls, texting and data in the US, Canada and Mexico -- while dropping more advanced features, but it's also cheaper. Carriers typically offer several plans to satisfy a range of customers, from the frugal to those that are willing to pay for every perk and bundled

AT&T Cheaper Mobile Plan Creates a New Deal for Seniors. (Yes, That's Anyone 55 or Older)

Senior mobile customers have another quality choice for discount cellphone service, as AT&T's new 55 Plus plan is now available to almost anyone in the US who's older than 55. The new plan focuses on the essentials -- unlimited voice calls, texting and data in the US, Canada and Mexico -- while dropping more advanced features, but it's also cheaper. Carriers typically offer several plans to satisfy a range of customers, from the frugal to those that are willing to pay for every perk and bundled