People with a fear of social situations are often labelled as loners and ostracised, but in reality social phobias are incredibly common. For example, how many of us get anxious about speaking in front of a large crowd? And to help people over come these fears, researchers at MIT have developed an interactive program that coaches people through social interactions, which boosts their confidence. Read More >>

At the Google I/O after-party the other night, there was one bartender in particular that stood out. It wasn't the drink he made, or the friendly chatter. It was more than he weighed several tonnes and could break you with the flick of the wrist. Meet the Makr Shakr. Read More >>

For all of their advanced technologies, modern satellites still rely on low-bandwidth radio transmitters to communicate with ground control. But they could soon be upgraded to beyond broadband speeds once NASA's new laser-based communication system prototype gets off the ground. Read More >>

Most of the post-processing done by a camera is handled by software that MIT researchers believe could be a lot smarter, faster, and user-friendly. So they're developing a single chip that can handle these operations with remarkable efficiency. Read More >>

The Internet is dealing with the suicide of gifted programmer and activist Aaron Swartz in a variety of ways — but Anonymous is responding with what it does best. Two of MIT's sites have been hacked into memorials. Read More >>

This polymer film is expanding and contracting like a muscle, and looks pretty alive doing it, but the energy is coming from water vapor, not black magic. Go figure. Read More >>

The idea of transformers is cool even when they just turn from one thing to another, so how much cooler would they be if they could form into anything? That's the goal MIT aims to achieve with their tiny reconfigurable chain links that could be the Swiss Army knife of robotics. Read More >>

Drivers beware: new research from MIT's Age Lab suggests that a badly chosen typeface for your dashboard can worsen distraction and increase your chance of crashing. Read More >>

After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it seemed everyone was on the brink of discovering the definitive method for separating oil from water. Hair. Straw. Sand. A lot of suggestions were thrown out there by the happy-to-help public. Read More >>

Remember the Chibikart—that awesome, Mario-inspired go-kart built by MIT student Charles Guan? We loved it in an only-an-MIT-student-could-come-up-with-something-this-sweet sort of way. Luckily for us, Guan has just polished off the finishing touches on a newer, more accessible design that he says can be built even by those of us without a tricked out makerspace and the perks of being an MIT genius. He calls it, rather aptly, the Democratic People's Republic of Chibikart. Read More >>

Tired of having to deal with people's arses being shoved in its face, the Wild Chair has developed a set of spiky quills, like a porcupine, allowing it to finally fight back against aggressive sitters. Read More >>

Until we can activate our computers by simply addressing them (think more "Scotty to the Enterprise computer" than "Samuel L Jackson to Siri"), we'll just have to rely on MIT Media Lab's new floating-point system to talk to the machines. Read More >>

In the short video above you'll see water bouncing off the surface of glass without leaving a trace behind. And this new advanced glass could be the future of everything from eyeglasses to camera lenses to solar panels. Read More >>

In 1972, The Limits to Growth modeled the effects of unlimited human expansion on the planet's finite resources. Now, 30 years later, the predicted models are still a near match with reality. Read More >>

That favourite childhood memory of yours — you know, the one that still seems like just yesterday, the one that you can still smell and taste — may actually be the result of a select few neurons firing deep within your brain. Read More >>