MIT researchers have designed a novel flash-storage system that could cut in half the energy and physical space required for one of the most expensive components of data centers: data storage. Data centers are server farms that facilitate communication between users and web services, and are some of the most energy-consuming facilities in the world. […]
Kicking Neural Network Automation into High Gear
A new area in artificial intelligence involves using algorithms to automatically design machine-learning systems known as neural networks, which are more accurate and efficient than those developed by human engineers. But this so-called neural architecture search (NAS) technique is computationally expensive. A state-of-the-art NAS algorithm recently developed by Google to run on a squad of […]
“Particle Robot” Works as a Cluster of Simple Units
Taking a cue from biological cells, researchers from MIT, Columbia University, and elsewhere have developed computationally simple robots that connect in large groups to move around, transport objects, and complete other tasks. This so-called “particle robotics” system — based on a project by MIT, Columbia Engineering, Cornell University, and Harvard University researchers — comprises many individual […]
Achieving Greater Efficiency for Fast Data Center Operations
Today’s data centers eat up and waste a good amount of energy responding to user requests as fast as possible, with only a few microseconds delay. A new system by MIT researchers improves the efficiency of high-speed operations by better assigning time-sensitive data processing across central processing unit (CPU) cores and ensuring hardware runs productively. […]
Fortifying the Future of Cryptography
As a boy growing up in a small South Indian village, Vinod Vaikuntanathan taught himself calculus by reading books his grandfather left lying around the house. Years later in college, he toiled away in the library studying number theory, which deals with the properties and relationships of numbers, primarily positive integers. This field of study […]
Engineers Produce Smallest 3-D Transistor Yet
Researchers from MIT and the University of Colorado have fabricated a 3-D transistor that’s less than half the size of today’s smallest commercial models. To do so, they developed a novel microfabrication technique that modifies semiconductor material atom by atom. The inspiration behind the work was to keep up with Moore’s Law, an observation made […]
A Step Toward Personalized, Automated Smart Homes
Developing automated systems that track occupants and self-adapt to their preferences is a major next step for the future of smart homes. When you walk into a room, for instance, a system could set to your preferred temperature. Or when you sit on the couch, a system could instantly flick the television to your favorite […]
Novel Optics For Ultrafast Cameras Create New Possibilities For Imaging
MIT researchers have developed novel photography optics that capture images based on the timing of reflecting light inside the optics, instead of the traditional approach that relies on the arrangement of optical components. These new principles, the researchers say, open doors to new capabilities for time- or depth-sensitive cameras, which are not possible with conventional […]
On-Chip Optical Filter Processes Wide Range Of Light Wavelengths
MIT researchers have designed an optical filter on a chip that can process optical signals from across an extremely wide spectrum of light at once, something never before available to integrated optics systems that process data using light. The technology may offer greater precision and flexibility for designing optical communication and sensor systems, studying photons […]
Device Allows A Personal Computer To Process Huge Graphs
In data-science parlance, graphs are structures of nodes and connecting lines that are used to map scores of complex data relationships. Analyzing graphs is useful for a broad range of applications, such as ranking webpages, analyzing social networks for political insights, or plotting neuron structures in the brain. Consisting of billions of nodes and lines, […]