Fluorescent Filament Makes Object Identification Easier

Four images in as many panes. Top left is a fuchsia bottle with a QR code that only shows up on the smartphone screen held above it. Top right image is A person holding a smartphone over a red wristband. The phone displays a QR code on its screen that it sees but is invisible in the visible wavelengths. Bottom left is a closeup of the red wristband in visible light and the bottom right image is the wristband in IR showing the three QR codes embedded in the object.

QR codes are a handy way to embed information, but they aren’t exactly pretty. New work from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have a new way to …read more Continue reading Fluorescent Filament Makes Object Identification Easier

Quantum rods on DNA scaffolds could boost future VR displays

Move over, quantum dots – quantum rods could be the next big display technology. These tiny sticks could improve 3D displays for VR headsets, and now engineers at MIT have overcome a logistical hurdle by arranging them onto a scaffold made of DNA.Conti… Continue reading Quantum rods on DNA scaffolds could boost future VR displays

Low-cost additive turns concrete slabs into super-fast energy storage

MIT researchers have discovered that when you mix cement and carbon black with water, the resulting concrete self-assembles into an energy-storing supercapacitor that can put out enough juice to power a home or fast-charge electric cars.Continue Readin… Continue reading Low-cost additive turns concrete slabs into super-fast energy storage

Potential CRISPR alternative gene-editing tool occurs naturally in animals

CRISPR-Cas9 has been the household name of genetic engineering tools over the past decade, but there might be other, better ways. MIT scientists have now demonstrated an alternative called Fanzor, which is naturally found in animals so could be a bette… Continue reading Potential CRISPR alternative gene-editing tool occurs naturally in animals

Salt-loaded hydrogel pulls water from the air, even in desert conditions

Researchers have created a superabsorbent hydrogel that can pull moisture from the air in greater quantities than previously reported materials, even in desert conditions. The new material opens the door to creating an effective, sustainable method of … Continue reading Salt-loaded hydrogel pulls water from the air, even in desert conditions

High-speed orbital data link drags space communications out of the ’60s

Finally, a promising upgrade to the antique space radio systems that make orbital data transfer so ridiculously slow. Terran Orbit has set a new record for transmitting at high-speed from space to Earth as NASA’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3 (P… Continue reading High-speed orbital data link drags space communications out of the ’60s