• The Civil-Military Divide over Artificial Intelligence

    What factors influence how comfortable and uncomfortable software engineers feel with potential applications of AI for the U.S. military? Is there a correlation between the degree of trust that software engineers have in societal institutions—specifically, in DoD—and their perception of the acceptability of building AI applications for DoD? Do software engineers perceive the countries that DoD has identified as strategic competitors as a meaningful threat to the United States? What types of news media and other sources of information are software engineers relying on to inform them about events related to DoD?

  • AI and Policing: What a Queensland Case Study Tells Us

    Law enforcement agencies consider artificial intelligence a force multiplier because it can rapidly process more data than human brains and yield insights to help solve complex analytical problems. Our limited understanding of how AI algorithms make decisions and produce their insights, however, presents a significant challenge to ethically and safely implementing AI policing solutions.

  • Electric Flying Boat Could Transform Traveling

    A Norwegian company is now developing a small electric seaplane that can transform passenger traffic on a large scale. With this seaplane you will be able to take off from Trondheim Fjord or Flesland Airport in Bergen, Norway, and land in the Geiranger Fjord one hour later.

  • Emerging Hydrogen Storage Technology to Increase Energy Resilience

    With the rise in renewable energy as well as increasing uncertainty associated with outages due to power surges and extreme weather events, energy storage plays a key role in ensuring reliable power supply to critical infrastructure such as healthcare facilities, data centers, and telecommunications. New study assesses cost competitiveness of metal-organic framework materials to store hydrogen for large-scale backup power applications.

  • Developing New Vaccine Against Three Biothreat Pathogens

    Scientists are seeking to develop a multi-pathogen vaccine that will protect against three bacterial biothreat pathogens.

  • The Future of Nuclear Waste: What’s the Plan and Can It Be Safe?

    The UK is planning to significantly expand its nuclear capability — from approximately 8 gigawatts (GW) today to 24GW by 2050, which would meet around 25% of the forecast UK energy demand — in an effort to decrease its reliance on carbon-based fossil fuels. New reactors will inevitably mean more radioactive waste. Above-ground nuclear waste storage isn’t a feasible long term plan. What are the alternatives?

  • Boosting Efforts to Predict Harmful Solar Weather Events

    When big blasts of energy from the sun envelop the Earth, they can very strong: a 2015 event so weakened Earth’s protective magnetic field that it penetrated to the atmosphere, posing a threat to everything from circling space station astronauts to delicate electronics and communication systems.

  • The Movement to Ban Government Use of Face Recognition

    Our faces are unique identifiers that can’t be left at home, or replaced like a stolen ID or compromised password. Facial recognition technology facilitates covert mass surveillance of the places we frequent, people we associate with, and, purportedly, our emotional state. Communities across the country are fighting back.

  • Guidance for Holistic Home and Community Wildfire Protection

    Once they have a foothold, severe wildfires can quickly overwhelm a community, particularly one that is densely packed. To shield houses against such a fierce threat, a thorough defense is key.

  • How Our Bushfire-Proof House Design Could Help People Flee Rather Than Risk Fighting the Flames

    Building houses better at withstanding the impacts of climate change is one way we can protect ourselves in the face of future catastrophic conditions. I’m part of a research team that developed a novel, bushfire-resistant house design, which won an international award last month.

  • A Cyber Security Intrusion Detection System for Industrial Control Systems

    Researchers have developed technology to help government and industry detect cyber threats to industrial networks used in critical infrastructure and manufacturing systems.

  • Ensuring Human Control over AI-Infused Systems

    Human control over technology was a concern thousands of years ago when early humans sought to ensure safe use of fire. Later, control over horse-drawn wagons and eventually steam engines led to debates about how to make the most of their benefits while limiting dangers. Now questions of control are central in the design of AI-infused technologies, for which some advocates envision full machine autonomy while others promote human autonomy.

  • 2022 Water Innovation Prizes Announced

    MIT’s Water Innovation Prize helps translate water-related research and ideas into businesses and impact. Each year, student-led finalist teams pitch their innovations to students, faculty, investors, and people working in various water-related industries.

  • Comparing Geologic Repository Assessment Tools

    A computer modeling system is designed to answer critical safety assessment questions about future disposal options for spent nuclear fuel deep underground and the system of tunnels, containers and possible concrete-like barriers used to keep the radioactive material contained far from the surface and water sources.

  • What Choices Does the World Need to Make to Keep Global Warming Below 2 C?

    A new modeling strategy, which explores hundreds of potential future development pathways, provides new insights on the energy and technology choices needed for the world to meet that target.