Computer science and technology

Sizing samplesMany scientific disciplines use computers to infer patterns in data. But how much data is enough to ensure that the inferences are right?

15 MIT students awarded DOE-funded Science Graduate FellowshipsAmong 150 students nationwide awarded fellowships in program's first year

RNA offers a safer way to reprogram cellsNew technique holds promise to revert cells to an immature state that can develop into any cell type.

3 Questions: Nicholas Roy on deploying drones in U.S. skiesMIT robotics expert discusses the logistical hurdles of regulating unmanned aircraft for civilian use.

Rick Cory named Boeing Engineering Student of the Year

A plane that lands like a birdAn innovative control system allows a foam glider to touch down on a perch or a wire like a pet parakeet.

Computer automatically deciphers ancient languageA new system that took a couple hours to decipher much of the ancient language Ugaritic could help improve online translation software.

An Internet 100 times as fastA new network design that avoids the need to convert optical signals into electrical ones could boost capacity while reducing power consumption.

Slideshow: President Hockfield in ChinaShe meets with leaders of government, business and academia -- as well as MIT alumni -- during stops in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei.

Toward the Semantic WebA new standard from the World Wide Web Consortium brings the Web a step closer to realizing the vision of its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee.

More is lessComplex computer models can involve thousands of variables. But paradoxically, adding more variables can sometimes make them easier to work with.

Gesture-based computing on the cheapWith a single piece of inexpensive hardware — a multicolored glove — MIT researchers are making Minority Report-style interfaces more accessible.

Rivest wins faculty’s Killian AwardMIT encryption pioneer recognized for ‘extraordinary’ contributions in computer science

Machines that learn betterNew math will make it much easier to build machine-learning systems that tackle a wider range of problems.

Slideshow: Mapping the oil spillMIT student leads project using balloons and kites to provide aerial documentation of the Gulf oil slick’s extent and effects

When good enough is betterBy exploiting a simple but counterintuitive trick, a new system finds sections of computer programs where accuracy can be traded for speed.

Seeing the forest for the treesObject recognition systems that break images into ever smaller parts should be much more efficient and may shed light on how the brain works.

EECS Masterworks 2010: A sweet serving of wits, work and wonder

In Profile: Missy CummingsFormer U.S. Naval fighter pilot aims to improve how humans and computers interact.

A grand unified theory of AIA new approach unites two prevailing but often opposed strains in the history of artificial-intelligence research.

Web sites that can take a punchBy preventing web applications from deviating from their normal behavior, a new MIT system can keep them online even during a cyberattack.

Self-assembling computer chipsMolecules that arrange themselves into predictable patterns on silicon chips could lead to microprocessors with much smaller circuit elements.

Explained: Linear and nonlinear systemsMuch scientific research across a range of disciplines tries to find linear approximations of nonlinear behaviors. But what does that mean?

Cell-inspired electronicsBy mimicking cells, MIT researcher designs electronic circuits for ultra-low-power and biomedical applications.

Picture-driven computingNew research could enable computer programming based on screen shots, not just code

Straining forwardNanowires made of ‘strained silicon’ — silicon whose atoms have been pried slightly apart — show how to keep increases in computer power coming.

Driven to abstraction

Putting the squeeze on dataIn work that could make it easier to handle huge data sets, MIT researchers improve data compression's fidelity without sacrificing speed