AI makes huge progress predicting how proteins fold – one of biology's greatest challenges – promising rapid drug development
Scientists in an artificial intelligence lab have made a breakthrough in solving the problem of how proteins fold into their final three-dimensional shape. The work could speed up creation of drugs.
Dec. 2, 2020 • ~11 min
protein biology deepmind amino-acids chess go protein-design
Cities need to embrace the darkness of the night sky – here’s why
Dark skies have value. They are a profoundly wonderful yet highly threatened natural asset.
Nov. 11, 2020 • ~8 min
cities light interdisciplinarity design lighting night-sky darkness
Electronic design tool morphs interactive objects
MorphSensor lets users digitally model an object’s form and electronic function in one integrated space.
Oct. 22, 2020 • ~5 min
electronics manufacturing 3-d-printing research sensors design mechanical-engineering electrical-engineering-computer-science-eecs computer-science-and-artificial-intelligence-laboratory-csail national-science-foundation-nsf mit-schwarzman-college-of-computing
Designing batteries for easier recycling could avert a looming e-waste crisis
Batteries power much of modern life, from electric and hybrid cars to computers, medical devices and cellphones. But unless they're made easier and cheaper to recycle, a battery waste crisis looms.
Oct. 22, 2020 • ~10 min
chemistry electronics recycling materials-science electric-vehicles renewable-energy toxic-waste batteries energy-storage municipal-solid-waste e-waste green-design lithium-batteries
House plants were our link with nature in lockdown – now they could change how we relate to the natural world
House plants enrich our domestic lives in ways we often fail to notice. But lockdown may have changed all that.
Oct. 19, 2020 • ~7 min
nature plants lockdown home interior-design botanical indoor-ecology
Less scatterbrained scatterplots
Large datasets are difficult to depict as scatterplots — but that may change with a new CSAIL project for creating interactive visualizations.
Oct. 7, 2020 • ~3 min
data data-visualization research design electrical-engineering-computer-science-eecs computer-science-and-artificial-intelligence-laboratory-csail science-communications mit-schwarzman-college-of-computing
Making the most of a tree epidemic
With trees infested by the emerald ash borer deemed essentially worthless, a team of designers wanted to see if the decaying wood could be repurposed as a building material.
Aug. 4, 2020 • ~7 min
architecture carbon construction trees design ash
Algorithm finds hidden connections between paintings at the Met
A team from MIT helped create an image retrieval system to find the closest matches of paintings from different artists and cultures.
July 29, 2020 • ~8 min
machine-learning arts research design school-of-engineering electrical-engineering-computer-science-eecs algorithms computer-science-and-artificial-intelligence-laboratory-csail mit-schwarzman-college-of-computing
Algorithms are designing better buildings
Algorithms can now work out the best ways to lay out rooms, construct buildings and even change them over time to meet user needs.
June 18, 2020 • ~7 min
algorithm buildings design construction-industry building-design architeture
Autonomous cars could revolutionise transport for disabled people – if we change the way we design
Driverless cars could revolutionise transport for disabled people – so why aren't more companies including them in the design process?
May 20, 2020 • ~6 min
driverless-cars automotive-industry autonomous-vehicles people-with-disabilites car-design
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