MIT’s TESS project will receive $200 million in funding. The TESS project will use an array of wide-field cameras to perform an all-sky survey. It will scan nearby stars for exoplanets. Its primary focus are planets that are similar in size to Earth. TESS will note when these planets transit their host stars from its perspective. George Ricker, a senior research scientist at MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research (MKI), stated,

TESS will carry out the first space-borne all-sky transit survey, covering 400 times as much sky as any previous mission. It will identify thousands of new planets in the solar neighborhood, with a special focus on planets comparable in size to the Earth.

NASA’s second project, NICER, will be mounted onto the International Space Station. It will observe and measure the variability of cosmic X-ray sources, also known as as X-ray timing. The goal for NICER is to allow scientists to better understand neutron stars by exploring the states of matter within the stars and exploring their interior and exterior compositions. The project will be drastically cheaper than the TESS project, costing NASA about $55 million to fund. NICER’s principal investigator is Keith Gendreau of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. TESS’s George Ricker will also be a partner in the NICER Mission.

These projects are part of NASA’s Explorer program. These are frequent, low-cost investigations that are relevant to NASA’s astrophysics and heliophysics programs. The first program launched in 1958, which discovered the Earth’s radiation belts. Over 90 more missions have been launched since then. John Grunsfeld, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Science in Washington stated,

With these missions we will learn about the most extreme states of matter by studying neutron stars, and we will identify many nearby star systems with rocky planets in the habitable zone for further study by telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope.

[via Space.com]

The robot gets its name from its size and the fact that it uses a design that was inspired by protein, which can be considered nature’s shape shifter. Milli-motein was revealed in a paper at the 2012 Intelligent Robots and Systems event. What makes the small robot most remarkabe is it protein-inspired motor, a necessity due to the robot’s small size.

What’s so special about the motor? It’s an electropermanent motor, which “is similar in principle” to electromagnet motors. It is composed of two magnets, one of which is weaker than the other. When operated, the magnetic fields can increase or cancel each other. Essentially, this allows them to be utilized as an electromagent without the hassle of actually having one.

The idea for the robot was conceived by MIT’s Head of Center for Bits and Atoms Neil Gershenfeld, who offerd this statement. “[The robot] is effectively a one-dimensional robot that can be made in a continuous strip, without conventionally moving parts, and then folded into arbitrary shapes” The little copper-esque machine can hold its shape even after the power has been turned off.

[via MIT News]

That sounds awfully weird at first, but there’s actually a rather touching reason for its existence. The idea of this vest – which has been dubbed Like-A-Hug – is to simulate the feeling of receiving a hug from your friends. “The vest inflates when friends ‘Like’ a photo, video, or status update on the wearer’s wall, thereby allowing us to feel the warmth, encouragement, support, or love that we feel when we receive hugs,” designer Melissa Chow writes on her website. Chow developed the vest with Andy Payne and Phil Seaton at the MIT Media Lab.

But wait, because it gets even better – by squeezing and deflating your vest, you can make the vest of the person who Liked your post inflate, essentially giving them a hug back. In addition to giving us a quick breakdown of the vest on her website, Chow also posted a video that takes a look at a world where people regularly exchange hugs via the Like-A-Hug. Check it out below:

Okay, so maybe this isn’t going to be something that catches on with mainstream consumers – having your vest randomly inflate could potentially make for some awkward situations, after all – but we have to admit that the idea of sharing “hugs” with people who are miles away is heartwarming. If this vest eventually makes it to market (what we’re seeing is only a prototype with no promise that it will ever become commercially available), would you consider buying one?

[via Ubergizmo]

Specifically, this gadget is geared toward mapping the inside of buildings. Developed by MIT, the device combines a laser range finder with the depth-perceiving abilities of Kinect to generate maps of an area in real time. The unit also houses a CPU to process and construct the map (in the prototype, the user has a laptop in his backpack constructing the map as he walks around), and the map can be sent back to a remote station so those outside of the building can get an idea of its layout.

Also included in this package is an inertial sensor to compensate for the fact that it’s hard to keep the laser perfectly level while walking, and a barometer to measure changes in air pressure, allowing the gadget’s user to map out multiple floors. This technology was developed for use in emergency situations, with applying it to search and rescue operations specifically mentioned. The prototype seems to be a bit bulky at this early stage, but the developers imagine a finished product that is handheld. Check it out in action in the video posted below.

The US Air Force and the Office of Naval Research helped MIT with the project, which suggests that this device could have some military applications in the future. For now, its simply in its prototype stage, but that doesn’t change the fact that its still a really interesting device. What do you think of this latest MIT creation?

[via MITnews]

Unlike helicopters, which can hover, rotate on the spot, easily travel in three-dimensions and go sideways, planes must keep moving and have reduced flexibility in where they can redirect themselves. MIT’s solution was a custom-designed aircraft with shorter, chunkier wings that combine tight turning, the possibility of relatively low speeds without stalling, and reasonable cargo capabilities for the AI smarts and camera equipment.

Inside, along with the cameras which allow for the bird’s-eye view in the video below, the plane has a laser rangefinder, accelerometers and gyroscopes to track whereabouts in the room it is, what speed it’s traveling, acceleration, and more. At any one moment in time, the plane is figuring out 15 different values, MIT says, and part of what makes the new system special is a duo of algorithms – one fast and rough, the other slow and accurate – to first filter out the most relevant data and then crunch only that.

It’s not all magic, at least not yet. The plane must be preloaded with a high-res digital map of the area, unlike helicopters which are capable of building their own maps. That’s next on the MIT team’s agenda, however, boosting the algorithms and building in more visual information to the other sensors.

Of course, an alternative approach might be pairing the best of helicopters and planes, using both in sequence. An autonomous helicopter could enter an unknown area and quickly gather reconnaissance data of the environment, taking advantage of the flexibility of movement to be more comprehensive, and then be followed by an autonomous plane using that fresh data but bringing greater flight time to the table.

[via Gizmodo]

Let’s talk about space for a moment: today we found out NASA’s plans for observing the weather on the surface of Mars, and Elon Musk seems to think that we’ll have humans on the red planet within 12 years. We also found out why the Curiosity can’t send back better pictures of Mars, so if that has been an annoyance for you, be sure to give that a read. Google has gone to war with piracy, and the FTC has told Facebook that it needs “express consent” before it shares any information on users which would normally be prohibited under its own privacy settings.

Many of you have heard by now that Blizzard’s battle.net servers fell victim to a security breach this week, and we detail what you can do to make sure that you stay protected. Today images of both the new iPhone’s battery and its reported mini dock connector surfaced, as did more Geekbench results for a computer that looks an awful lot like a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Samsung has detailed its new Exynos 5 Dual chipset for smartphones, and Acer expressed concerns over Microsoft making Surface too cheap while unleashing details about its own upcoming Aspire S7 Ultrabook. Speaking of Microsoft, it appears that the company is considering yet another replacement for the Windows 8 Metro branding it can no longer use.

After hearing that Samsung isn’t interested in acquiring RIM, we’re now being told that IBM might be considering a buyout. MIT has developed a new resilient robot that’s the size of an Earthworm (it’s been dubbed the “Meshworm”) and a few new details about the next iteration of Kinect were leaked today. Finally, Rovio has announced that a new pink-feathered fowl will be joining the roster of temperamental birds in the next Angry Birds Seasons update, so watch out for that.

That about does it for the SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up for this Friday, so now all that’s left for you to do is to go out and enjoy the weekend! Have a good one, folks!

This little beast uses muscles along the length of its body to move forward with contraction after contraction. The device uses two main muscle groups to move, one of them being circular muscle fibers that wrap around its body, the other being longitudinal muscle fibers that run along its length. The tubular body is made of a heat-sealed sheet of polymer mesh, the mesh made of interlacing polymer fibers.

With this body, the tube is able to stretch and contract, just like a spring. The artificial muscle that makes it all move is made of a nickel-titanium alloy fabricated into a wire. The wire was wound around the mesh tube, and a small battery and circuit board was fitted within the tube as well. The board tells the battery to generate a current that heats the wire at certain segments along the body.

As each segment is heated to a certain temperature, the wire contracts. When the wire contracts, the tube is squeezed and the robot is propelled forward – into the future! And it’s pretty darn versatile, too.

“You can throw it, and it won’t collapse. Most mechanical parts are rigid and fragile at small scale, but the parts in Meshworms are all fibrous and flexible. The muscles are soft, and the body is soft … we’re starting to show some body-morphing capability.” – Sangbae Kim

Kellar Autumn, professor of biology at Lewis and Clark College, studies the biomechanics of animal motion in designing soft robotics and also had a bit to say about the project and future projects using similar technologies. Specifically endoscopes, implants, and prosthetics are on the docket here with Autumn.

“Even though the robot’s body is much simpler than a real worm — it has only a few segments — it appears to have quite impressive performance. I predict that in the next decade we will see shape-changing artificial muscles in many products, such as mobile phones, portable computers and automobiles.” – Autumn

Researchers at MIT, Harvard University and Seoul National University are currently at work on this project as we speak. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency supported this research as well.

[via MIT]

Existing glasses-free 3D displays have butted up against significant issues which have limited their usefulness in the home environment. Some use cameras to track the user’s eyes and adjust the angle of two slightly offset images being shown through a fresnel lens, such as Toshiba’s F750 3D laptop, but the system only works with a single set of eyes.

Alternative approaches use multiple lenses to increase the number of simultaneously supported viewers, but generally require those people be in specific positions in relation to the screen in order for the effect to work. Holograms, meanwhile, are considerably more expensive than most current high-end displays.

What MIT has done is use straightforward, inexpensive LCD panels paired with clever processing. The system is similar to that used by the Nintendo 3DS, but uses three panels which collectively filter the light so that it changes depending on the angle of viewing. One technical requirement for smooth video is the refresh rate, which needs to be 360Hz – most high-end panels run at 240Hz at present, though going 50-percent faster shouldn’t present manufacturers with too great a challenge.

The prototype can create a glasses-free 3D viewing angle of 20-degrees, but a special two-panel version with a special lens sheet in-between that has been boosted to 50-degrees. Heavy-duty graphics processing is required to manage the data feed, but the latest high-end video cards are capable of that. More details in the video below.

The surface of this glass is comprised of nanoscale cones, about 1,000 times to 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. The nano-structure is etched into the glass that then goes through a vapor deposition process. It creates air pockets on the surface that minimize the amount of contact between the glass and the water droplets.

The droplets then roll off or bounce off without adhering to the surface. The difference can be seen in the image above, which shows a blue-dyed water droplet sitting on this nano-structured glass (left) versus the droplet on a regular piece of flat glass (right). A Phantom high-speed camera was used to record water dropping onto this new glass surface, showing the droplets form almost perfect beads in the video below.

[via PopSci]

The project, called “An Expedition in Computing Printable Programmable Machines,” has recently received funding through a $10 million National Science Foundation grant. The MIT researchers will collaborate with Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania in the 5-year project, which hopes to deliver this on-demand robot printing capability by 2017.

Although there are plenty of 3D-printing setups these days, none of the existing systems can take into account specified functional needs to produce a robot to fulfill those needs, said MIT robotics engineer Daniela Rus.

Currently, the project is in its very early stages with only two prototype designs in the form of small insect-like helper robots. One is a 6-legged robot that can check your basement for gas leaks, while the other is a gripper claw that may be helpful for people with disabilities. They cost about $100 each and take 70 minutes to build.

Eventually you’ll be able to select and customize from numerous robot templates using a software program and then go to a store after 24 hours to pick up the finished 3D-printed robot. Rus calls this an initiative to “democratize access to robots.”

[via Wired]

The corner peeking camera is now being shown off in action as a bulky prototype. The camera is able to see what’s around the corner by firing 50 different femtosecond laser pulses 60 different times at various spots on a wall. The special imaging sensor collects the scattered light that is reflected back and processes that reflected light using special algorithms. Those algorithms are able to re-create the scene based on how long it took the photons from the laser pulses to return.

Right now the process of reconstructing the image of what’s around the corner takes a few minutes. The MIT researchers are hoping they can reduce that to 10 seconds. A reduction in processing time to 10 seconds would certainly make the camera more usable for military and police work, but a lot can change in 10 seconds. Still, a camera that can see what’s around the corner without actually having to view it is very impressive.

[via Petapixel]

A sonic boom is created when air starts to build up at the front of the plane, and when it hits supersonic speeds, the increase in air pressure creates two shock waves, creating the sonic boom. Original calculations by German engineer Adolf Busemann found that by employing a triangular wing design instead, the sonic boom can be cancelled out. The problem there is that the design creates a very narrow feed through which air can flow, which results in no lift. So while the design works well at supersonic speeds, it would never be able to overcome the drag to get to that point.

Researchers at MIT and Standford ran computer simulations to find the best shape at different speeds, correlating all the information to find the perfect shape for each wing. Eventually they found a design that not only could achieve the necessary supersonic speeds, but reduce drag by 50% over the Concorde, requiring less fuel to boot.

The design isn’t final, though, as a 3D model needs to be created to test other attibutes that may be affected during flight. Ultimately the design may lead to the creation of a supersonic plane that would be far cheaper, and also able to fly over land.

[via PhysOrg]

Normally a laser is shot through an ordinary piece of fibre, follows the path of the cable, and is received on the other end. MIT have modified their own fibre to include a drop of fluid in the core: when the laser hits the fluid, it is refracted in all possible directions, creating a 360 degree laser beam.

Liquid crystal also comes into play, with four layers being wrapped around the fibre core. Transparency can then be obtained by varying the voltage applied through the layers, and since it can be done on a “pixel” basis, the laser can emerge at any point along the fibre. ExtremeTech explains how the technology could be applied to a 3D display: thanks to the large amount of control over the laser light, viewers could potentially see different images depending on where they’re sitting in relation to the display.

The other application of the technology could be used to fight cancer. Right now, a method called photodynamic therapy is one of the only ways to effectively fight cancer without being invasive or toxic. This new laser could be inserted into the body and give surgeons extremely fine and accurate controls.