Hard Tech

Collage of a close-up human eye and abstract digital graphics symbolizing artificial vision with lines and light effects on a vibrant orange and black background.
Brain
Brain implant for “artificial vision” is still working after 2 years
A new type of brain implant technology has given a man with total blindness a kind of “artificial vision.”
Kristin Houser
Two men standing near a computer monitor, with one man wearing an EEG cap and pointing at the screen and the other looking at him
Brain
“Universal” BCI lets anyone play games with their minds
A specially trained “decoder” slashes the time it takes a brain-computer interface (BCI) to read a user’s mind.
Kristin Houser
A person holding a complex, 3d-printed metamaterial with a lattice structure
Engineering
3D-printed “metamaterial” is stronger than anything in nature
Australian scientists used an advanced 3D printing technique to create a super strong, super lightweight new “metamaterial.”
Kristin Houser
An image of a colorful square in the sky.
Series| Hard Reset
This device is 1,000 times more efficient than your computer
In partnership with BetterHelp
golden silk fibers produced by transgenic silkworms wrapped around black cylinders
Bionics
Adding spider DNA to silkworms creates silk stronger than Kevlar
Jonny Thomson
A pickup truck is parked in a rocky area.
Entertainment
Watch how video games are approaching perfect photorealism
Stephen Johnson
A group of white lights on a pole next to a body of water.
Engineering
Device offers long-distance, low-power underwater communication
Adam Zewe | MIT News Office
A tan box with a black hose attached to it
Military
The US military just got its hands on a mini laser weapon
Kristin Houser
A man in a lab holding a smart contact lens in front of the camera
Batteries
New battery charged by tears will power smart contact lenses
Kristin Houser
An illustration of a laser with a red light coming out of it.
Engineering
Arrays of quantum rods could enhance TVs or virtual reality devices
Anne Trafton | MIT News Office
A woman with wires connected to a port in her head looks at a screen with a face on it
Neuroscience
Paralyzed woman able to speak again, thanks to brain-avatar interface
Kristin Houser
A man in a room with a lot of lights.
Computer Science
Is quantum computing hype or almost here?
Adam Frank
An image of a pink box with arrows pointing in different directions.
Computer Science
Simple superconducting device could dramatically cut energy use in computing
Elizabeth Thomson | Materials Research Laboratory