AI is helping to develop tougher plastics: Using stress-responsive molecules identified by a machine-learning model, chemists created polymers that are more resistant to tearing. This could lead to more durable plastics and cut down on plastic waste.
A new transmitter chip increases the energy efficiency of wireless communications, which could boost the range and battery life of smartphones and other networked devices. “By thinking outside the box, we created a more efficient, intelligent circuit,” Muriel Médard says.
MIT spinout Tissium offers surgeons a new solution for suture-free nerve repair, with flexible polymers that conform to surrounding tissues. “It’s wonderful to see the research we started at MIT reach the point of FDA approval and change people’s lives,” Bob Langer says.
For 20 years, the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams Grant Initiative has inspired high school students across the country by supporting them through an extracurricular invention program that culminates in presentations on MIT’s campus each spring.
Many organizations view AI as a way to achieve productivity gains. But new research reveals a more nuanced reality: At manufacturing firms, introducing AI often leads to a temporary decline in performance, followed by stronger growth output, revenue, and employment.
In a world without MIT, radar wouldn’t have been available to help win World War II. We might not have email, CT scans, time-release drugs, photolithography, or GPS. And we’d lose over 30,000 companies, employing millions of people. Can you imagine?
Since its founding, MIT has been key to helping American science and innovation lead the world. Discoveries that begin here generate jobs and power the economy — and what we create today builds a better tomorrow for all of us.