Media Lab

Seymour Papert was a world-renowned visionary in education and a founding faculty member of the MIT Media Lab.

Professor Emeritus Seymour Papert, pioneer of constructionist learning, dies at 88

World-renowned mathematician, learning theorist, and educational-technology visionary was a founding faculty member of the MIT Media Lab.

August 1, 2016

The MIT Media Lab held a symposium on July 21 to explore the “fuzzy line” between disobedience that helps society and disobedience that doesn't. Andrew “bunnie” Huang (left) and Edward Snowden presented their technology to turn journalists’ smartphones into “cyber fortresses.”

Forbidden research

MIT Media Lab holds symposium on challenging norms to create positive change.

July 25, 2016

Top row: (l-r) Karole Armitage, Perry Chen, Sheila Hayman. Middle row: (l-r) Keisuke Honda, Masataka Hosoo, Arielle Johnson. Bottom row: (l-r) Alaa Murabit, Madeline Sayet, Céline Semaan Vernon.

2016 MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellows announced

Program blurs the lines between academia and the world.

July 22, 2016

MIT researchers have developed a new way to image proteins and RNA inside neurons of intact brain tissue.

Seeing RNA at the nanoscale

Microscopy technique allows scientists to pinpoint RNA molecules in the brain.

July 4, 2016

A collision event display, generated by the ATLAS experiment

Music of the (data) spheres

A new MIT project taps into particle collisions to generate music and forge harmony between science and art.

June 28, 2016

“Most people want to live in in a world where cars will minimize casualties,” says Iyad Rahwan, an associate professor in the MIT Media Lab and co-author of a new paper outlining the study. “But everybody wants their own car to protect them at all costs.”

Driverless cars: Who gets protected?

Study shows inconsistent public opinion on safety of driverless cars.

June 23, 2016

“It’s very inspiring to see how these [hair-like] structures occur in nature and how they can achieve different functions,” says Jifei Ou, a graduate student in media arts and sciences at MIT. “We’re just trying to think how can we fully utilize the potential of 3-D printing, and create new functional materials whose properties are easily tunable and controllable.” Pictured is an examp...

Need hair? Press “print”

With fur, brushes, and bristles, Media Lab’s technique opens new frontier in 3-D printing.

June 16, 2016

A mild temperature change radically alters the degree to which a solid-fluid mixture bends light.

Mixing solids and liquids enhances optical properties of both

New approach can dramatically change the extent to which optical devices scatter light.

June 9, 2016

The Venice Architecture Biennale, held every two years at the sprawling Arsenale (above) and Giardini grounds on the city’s eastern tip, opens this weekend. This year’s focus on architecture’s ability to address global challenges — including numerous installations and projects from MIT faculty, students, and alumni — may indicate a paradigm shift for architecture, participants say.

MIT at the Venice Biennale

On a global stage, MIT helps steer architecture toward solving worldwide challenges.

May 27, 2016

A committee of MIT faculty and staff, along with representatives from the new Woodrow Wilson Academy of Teaching and Learning, selected three proposals to fund.

Grant funds innovation in teacher education

New program provides funding for three projects working to improve STEM education.

May 3, 2016

"The whole premise of our project is to harness the best science and innovation to bring education to the world’s most underresourced children," Cynthia Breazeal says. Pictured are students in Ethiopia.

Can technology help teach literacy in poor communities?

Project to provide children with tablets loaded with literacy apps reports encouraging results in Africa, U.S.

April 26, 2016

Controlling RNA in living cells

Modular, programmable proteins can be used to track or manipulate gene expression.

April 25, 2016

Dan Dorsch of MIT is the $15,000 Lemelson-MIT “Drive it!” Graduate Winner for his invention, the first lightweight clutchless hybrid transmission for cars.

Collegiate inventors awarded 2016 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize

Students recognized for inventive solutions to challenges in health care, transportation, consumer devices, food, and agriculture.

April 12, 2016

The Amphibian SCUBA diving simulator, a research project from the MIT Media Lab, lets users experience the underwater world through a high presence virtual reality system. The system includes a motion platform, Oculus Rift head-mounted display, snorkel with sensors, leg-motion sensors, and gloves that enable motion detection, temperature simulation, and physical feedback of objects.

Experiencing underwater worlds, virtually

"Amphibian" SCUBA simulator advances the field of virtual reality while exploring the relationship between diving and disability.

April 11, 2016

14 people sit at round table with text on it.

Using new models and big data to better understand financial risk

Bringing together engineers, data theorists, mathematicians, economists, biologists, and policy experts, IDSS is looking at financial risk through a multidisciplinary lens.