News & Stories

Advancing international trade research and finding community

The sense of support and community was palpable when Sojun Park, a postdoc at the Center for International Studies (CIS), delivered a recent presentation on The Global Diffusion of AI Technologies and Its Political Drivers. The event, part of the CIS Global Research and Policy Seminar, filled the venue with audience members from across MIT. […]

Improving cartilage repair through cell therapy

Researchers have developed a new method for monitoring iron flux — the movement and rate at which cells take in, store, use and release iron — in stem cells known as mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). The system can provide insights within a minute about a cell’s ability to grow cartilage tissue for cartilage repair. The […]

A neural blueprint for human-like intelligence in soft robots

A new artificial intelligence control system enables soft robotic arms to learn a wide repertoire of motions and tasks once, then adjust to new scenarios on the fly, without needing retraining or sacrificing functionality. This breakthrough brings soft robotics closer to human-like adaptability for real-world applications, such as in assistive robotics, rehabilitation robots, and wearable […]

SMART launches new Wearable Imaging for Transforming Elderly Care research group

What if ultrasound imaging is no longer confined to hospitals? Patients with chronic conditions, such as hypertension and heart failure, could be monitored continuously in real-time at home or on the move, giving health care practitioners ongoing clinical insights instead of the occasional snapshots — a scan here and a check-up there. This shift from […]

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam of Singapore visits MIT

President Tharman Shanmugaratnam of the Republic of Singapore visited MIT on Tuesday, meeting campus leaders while receiving the Miriam Pozen Prize and delivering a lecture on fiscal policy at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “We really have to re-orient fiscal policy and develop new fiscal compacts,” said Tharman in his remarks, referring to the […]

First-of-its-kind device profiles newborns’ immune function

Researchers from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, along with colleagues from KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), have developed a first-of-its-kind device to profile the immune function of newborns. Using a single drop of blood, the BiophysicaL Immune Profiling for Infants (BLIPI) system provides real-time insights into newborns’ immune responses, enabling […]

Universal nanosensor unlocks the secrets to plant growth

Researchers from the Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) interdisciplinary research group within the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology have developed the world’s first near-infrared fluorescent nanosensor capable of real-time, nondestructive, and species-agnostic detection of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) — the primary bioactive auxin hormone that controls the way plants develop, grow, and respond […]

A new technology for extending the shelf life of produce

We’ve all felt the sting of guilt when fruit and vegetables go bad before we could eat them. Now, researchers from MIT and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) have shown they can extend the shelf life of harvested plants by injecting them with melatonin using biodegradable microneedles. That’s a big deal because […]

Will the vegetables of the future be fortified using tiny needles?

When farmers apply pesticides to their crops, 30 to 50 percent of the chemicals end up in the air or soil instead of on the plants. Now, a team of researchers from MIT and Singapore has developed a much more precise way to deliver substances to plants: tiny needles made of silk. In a study […]

Novel method detects microbial contamination in cell cultures

Researchers from the Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine (CAMP) interdisciplinary research group of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore, in collaboration with MIT, A*STAR Skin Research Labs, and the National University of Singapore, have developed a novel method that can quickly and automatically detect and monitor microbial contamination in […]