MIT

Many have heard of immunosuppressive drugs, which are a type of medication that suppresses the immune system, but lesser-known are immunostimulatory drugs, which stimulate the body's immune system. The latter is a potential solution for treating cancerous tumors, as the drugs trigger the immune system to attack the mutated cells. The problem? Ordinarily, such drugs could also cause the immune system to become overstimulated, attacking healthy cells with serious -- sometimes deadly -- consequences.

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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has shared that some of its engineers are working on a new concept: A flying saucer that could one day explore the moon, some asteroids, and other airless surfaces. According to the report from the MIT News Office, the flying saucer would harness the natural charge of the moon in order to levitate above the ground. Further research into the topic could bring great benefits, as being able to explore the moon and various asteroids without worrying about the state of the surface may be much safer for the rover.

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NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) performs the job of discovering distant planets orbiting other stars extremely well. It has discovered thousands of potential exoplanet candidates, and a number of those have been confirmed to be planets orbiting distant stars. In its latest discovery, TESS has found an exoplanet the size of Mars but similar to the composition of Mercury.

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We all know that it takes the Earth 365 days to orbit the Sun, marking an entire year. In our solar system, a year on other planets varies greatly depending on how close they are to our star. Mercury, which is both the smallest planet and the closest planet to the sun, takes 88 days to orbit the star. By comparison, dwarf planet Pluto takes 248 years to orbit the Sun. MIT astronomers have discovered an exoplanet described as an ultrahot Jupiter that orbits much more quickly and much closer to its host star than Mercury.

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Typically when we talk about autonomous taxis, we are talking about vehicles like cars, SUVs, and buses that can cruise the highways without drivers behind the wheel. MIT has been working on an autonomous taxi that's quite different and very specific to Amsterdam and the city's famous canal system. The autonomous taxis, in this case, are known as Roboats. They are autonomous boats capable of carrying passengers around the city and performing other actions.

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If you ever tried to go to work or school after sleeping only a few hours the night before and had a hard time walking around, there's a reason for that. A new study from MIT has been published showing that sleep deprivation can impact how you walk. According to the MIT study, making up for lost sleep can remedy fatigue-induced clumsiness, even if it's only a few extra hours of sleep on the weekend.

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Researchers working together from MIT and Sweden have developed a new robotic textile that can be woven into clothing. The textile can sense stretching and compression, giving immediate tactile feedback via pressure, lateral stretch, or vibration. Researchers believe the fabric could be used to make garments that singers and athletes can use to improve breath control.

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MIT has developed a new robot that is designed to help users find misplaced items. The robot is called RFusion, and it's comprised of a robotic arm fitted with a camera and radiofrequency antenna attached to its gripping mechanism. The design combines signals from the RF antenna with visual input from the camera attached to the gripping mechanism.

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MIT has revealed a new toolkit that allows users to design and fabricate health and motion sensing devices using electrical impedance tomography. For the design toolkit, MIT researchers worked with scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Artificial Intelligence. The toolkit uses electrical impedance tomography (EIT), which is an imaging technique able to measure and visualize the user's internal conductivity.

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Tesla makes the most popular electric vehicles on the market today. Many of Tesla's vehicles are equipped with its Autopilot driver assistance system, allowing vehicles to drive themselves in some situations. However, Autopilot does not make Tesla's automobiles fully autonomous, and the system requires driver attention.

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Cities of the future may be powered by light-emitting plants rather than street lamps and other sources of lighting. The concept has been presented repeatedly over the past few years, including by a team of engineers at MIT. Those researchers are back with an update on the glowing plant project they introduced back in 2017, revealing their second-generation plants glow more brightly than the first-gen version.

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Researchers at MIT have developed a new way to control magnets made of ferrimagnetic materials. Unlike ferromagnetic materials, in a ferrimagnetic material, some of the atoms are aligned in one direction, with others aligned the opposite way. Therefore, what type of magnetic field is produced by a ferrimagnetic material depends on the balance between the two types of atoms.

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