Stories related to: MIT

The Egyptians may have used concrete to build the pyramids, an MIT professor suggests, and he's using materials available at the time (and students as his slave labor), to test the theory on a small mock-up of a pyramid, reports the Boston Globe. "It could be they used less sweat and more smarts," says Linn Hobbs, a materials science prof, by casting in place blocks on the upper reaches of the pyramids using wooden molds. More »

The MIT scientist whose pioneering of chaos theory revolutionized science, has died at the age of 90, MIT News reports. Meteorologist Edward Lorenz came up with the concept of chaos theory after meticulously analyzing weather data and discovering microscopic differences could have huge effects, leading to his paper "Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?" More »

Sun Microsystems is moving toward connecting computer chips using lasers instead of wires, a move that could make computers 1,000 times faster. The company snagged a $44 million Pentagon contract to continue work that could also mean smaller, more energy-efficient machines. It won’t be easy, though: A Sun researcher told the New York Times the chance of success is 50%. More »

Humans took centuries to discover the other planets in the solar system, but in the 13 years since the first additional planet was identified, planetary scientists have found 277 more worlds orbiting other suns. And those extrasolar planets are just the confirmed ones—many more are suspected, and excitement among scientists is building, reports the Washington Post. More »

Ben Bernanke has the savvy to inject enough liquidity into the US economy to push it through the current credit crisis, says a leading economist who advised the Fed chief's MIT doctoral thesis. “The Fed will get on top of this,” said Stanley Fischer, ahead of this afternoon's meeting in which the board was expected to announce a rate cut of up to 1%. More »

The financial world may be on its ear, but undergraduate business schools are booming as increasing numbers of quality high school grads drive up standards and B-school grads command more on the employment market. Here are the 10 best, as ranked by Business Week: Pennsylvania (Wharton): Can be too competitive. Virginia (McIntire): Intense workload. Notre Dame (Mendoza): Ethics focus draws raves. More »

The moon may have to start earning its keep if NASA gets its way. With the far side of our lunar satellite a perfect environment for delicate, deep-space measurements, two research teams are furiously plotting ways to deploy astronomy equipment there. If astronauts return to the moon after 2019, they might bring new telescopes with them to plant on the lunar surface, reports the Washington Post . More »

Inspired by geckos' sticky feet, MIT scientists have developed a bandage that could soon be used in place of stitches or staples during surgery. The waterproof material, coated with a sugar-based adhesive that has the nano-scale hills and valleys found on lizard feet, is flexible enough to be used on internal organs, MSNBC reports. Live studies have focused on rats, but human application isn't far off. More »

Intel has dropped out of its uneasy partnership with the "One Laptop Per Child" global nonprofit program, designed to put inexpensive computers in the hands of millions of children in developing countries. Intel has been feuding with project founder Nicholas  Negroponte, an MIT professor on leave who developed the inexpensive XO computer that's the program's first machine, reports the Wall Street Journal. More »

Your cell phone knows more than it lets on. Most can tell where they are, for starters, and how close other phones are. Since most of us tote them everywhere, our phones could track or analyze movement patterns for huge populations. “This is obviously sort of useful,” says MIT researcher Sandy Pentland, a pioneer in this new field of “reality mining.” More »

The latest Net sensation doesn’t defend Britney Spears or mimic the history of dance; instead he explains electrostatics, pendulums, and the conservation of energy. Walter Lewin, a 71-year-old MIT physics professor, is one of the first academic superstars of the Internet, bringing educational showmanship—say, demonstrating rockets by riding a tricycle propelled by a fire extinguisher—to a global classroom, the New York Times reports. More »

Green-tech venture capital is still concentrated in coastal urban centers, but middle America is catching up. Silicon Valley, Massachusetts, and Washington state are among the top five hotspots, but so is Texas and the nation's agricultural heartland, reports CNET, which tracked the money fueling startups and university research. More »

Ivy-League-seeking parents beware: admissions officers at top schools around the country are looking for more than just the private-school preppie. While private and prep schools still lead the way, a growing percentage of students at elite universities are public school grads and international scholars, the Wall Street Journal reveals. At Penn, international students compose 13% of the class of 2011. More »

Want to attend Yale for free? Thanks to Apple, you sort of can. Many colleges, including Yale, Stanford and MIT, now offer free lecture downloads through iTunes U. You won’t get a diploma, but thousands of non-traditional learners don’t mind, the LA Times reports. “They thirst for understanding and knowledge,” said one podcasted prof. “Something revolutionary is happening.” More »

One of the most famous buildings on the MIT campus is plagued by design flaws, the school says, and it has sued Frank Gehry, alleging the world-famous architect provided "deficient design services" for the $300 million project. The university paid Gehry $15 million to design the Stata Center, which opened in in 2004—and immediately began to fall apart, MIT charges. More »

Researchers at the MIT Media Lab have created clothing designs that can detect domestic abuse, the Discovery Channel reports. Under the lining of garments equipped with the system, such as a hoodie prototype, is a web of fabric-based pressure sensors that can deliver specific information about the intensity and geography of forces exerted on the wearer's body. More »

A new vehicle suitable for both air and road travel could be available within two years, reports MIT's Technology Review . By recently producing the world's first automated folding wing, Massachusetts company Terrafugia, Inc. came a step closer to creating the Transition, a "light sport aircraft" that works on the ground and in the air. More »

Americans will be asked to buy XO laptops in pairs—one for themselves and one for a child in a developing nation. Organizers of the "One Laptop Per Child" program hope to distribute laptops to millions of Third World schoolchildren this way. The combined cost of the pair of PCs—available in November—is $399, some of which is tax deductible, reports the Wall Street Journal . More »

An MIT student was arrested today at the Boston airport wearing a device that appeared to be a bomb. Police armed with machine guns took her into custody and determined that the circuit board on her chest was harmless. “Thankfully because she followed our instructions, she ended up in our cell instead of a morgue,” said a police spokesman. More »

The hours and dollars spent on SAT writing preparation might be for naught, the Boston Globe reports, as 56% of four-year colleges don’t even use the newest section of the aptitude test. Skeptics find fuel in a study showing that big words were all it took to achieve near-perfect scores. "These aren't higher-level learning measures," one admissions officer says. More »