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This research highlights opportunities to bring the rich culture of Earth-based fermentation practices to space to design beneficial applic…
Prolonged exposure to microgravity is known to cause various acute health risks, including muscle atrophy, bone loss, cardiovascular decon…
Advancing justice in Earth's complex systems using designs enabled by space
Designing Systems for Cognitive Support
Media Lab Director Dava Newman, who previously led the MIT Portugal program, still serves as a principal investigator for flagship projects.
The 2023 MIT recommended summer reading list includes a chapter in "Reclaiming Space" authored by Professor Danielle Wood.
Explore MIT Open Learning resources, including interviews with Media Lab Director Dava Newman, Professor Cynthia Breazeal, and more.
Space Exploration Initiative
EBIFA (Everything Beautiful Is Far Away) is a crystalline robotic device that carried a tooth to outer space. EBIFA's form and fu…
Structurally, zero gravity means that we do not have to contend with architecture's greatest arch-nemesis, gravity. This opens up a new wor…
This project asks, how can we transmit experiences across space and time? The launching point of the project is to create a drawing that co…
Biological neuronal networks are highly complex and interconnected with superior information processing capabilities. Such networks have pr…
The Lut Desert of Iran is one of the most similar regions to Mars. Close to that area, there are vernacular adobe architectures that are hu…
Connected Mind + Body | Revolutionizing the future of mental and physical wellbeing
Decentralized Society | Architecting the new internet for the good of the people
Life with AI | Designing the future of smart systems to improve the human experience
Future Worlds | Design and action for the future we want to live in
Wax-based hybrid rocket propellants, including paraffin (common candlewax) and beeswax show promise as high-performing hybrid rocket propel…
The rapid advancement of electronic devices and fabrication technologies has further promoted the field of wearables and smart textiles. Ho…
Public libraries are one of most trusted public institutions in the U.S. and increasingly provide a broad range of education services, rang…
Zero Robotics is an educational program that hosts tournaments to teach middle and high school students to write code and program with robo…
Overview: How will we build the coming generations of Space Architecture—the modules, space ships, and space stations that will enscon…
The Space Sustainability RatingThe Space Sustainability Rating design team—comprised of the World Economic Forum, the European Space Agency…
"Autonomous operations are critical for the success, safety, and crew survival of NASA deep space missions beyond low Earth orbit, includin…
We present the "MicroPET" mission, consisting of an autonomous payload for enzymatic reactions and microbial cultivation with fully program…
In recent years, there has been an increase in low-cost and open-source electronic and chemical sensors that hobbyists, concerned citizens,…
In 2015, the director general of the European Space Agency (ESA), Jan Wörner, introduced the concept of the “Moon Village.” Inspired by the…
Climate CubeSat Co-Building (C3) The Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative is driven by an effort to democratize the future…
Overview: The outermost skin of a space-based structure is designed using materials known to protect against the harsh elements of space. S…
A major concern for manned missions is space radiation. Ionizing radiation is known to pose both acute and chronic risks to many organisms,…
SEI Analog Environments StudyProject OverviewThe way humans engage with space has changed rapidly over the past 60 years, moving from a mod…
Building an open, shared, and collaborative future of lunar exploration.Explore the Lunar Open Architecture (LOA) at loa.mit.edu. …
The Interplanetary Gastronomy research aims to address the unique challenges and opportunities associated with eating in s…
When imagining human life in space, how will we express our humanity and creativity in an alien environment? Can the art we make both refle…
By Larissa Zhou and Adam ZacharFood is crucial to maintaining the physical and psychological health of humans in space. Eating food pr…
Rapid prototyping platforms such as 3D printers used for digital fabrication are today able to manufacture custom objects for specific task…
On Earth, morning, noon, and night have their own specific meanings. The feeling of a second or a minute passing by, the shortening of the …
Ever wish you could toss your folded up tent and have it self-assemble mid-air? Well...you can. In a zero gravity environment.Self As…
By Po-Hao ChiHow could microgravity/hypergravity shape our perceptual experience of listening with weightlessness? How can we seek to explo…
The Miniature Optical Steered Antenna for Intersatellite Communications (MOSAIC)By Shreeyam KackerThe Miniature Optical Steered Antenn…
Solid-state microfrabricated devices are in development to replace contemporary heavy mechanical components for use in spacecraft propellan…
How did life originate? Nobody knows. Life might not even be native to our Earth - it might have come from asteroids or the interstellar me…
By Somayajulu Dhulipala and Manwei ChanAs humanity explores deeper into space, long-duration missions will require horticulture activities …
By Nancy Valladares and Rae Yuping HsuThis project is an art performance that seeks to rethink imaginaries of multispecies surviv…
In an interview recorded at VivaTech, Media Lab Director Dava Newman talks about the Media Lab's mission to enhance the human experience.
SpaceHuman is a soft robotics device designed to facilitate the exploration of environments with reduced gravity in a view of democratizati…
Space/Craft explores sculpting in zero gravity. Making artistic works by hand is a fundamentally human act, but how will it transform …
Life on Mars, if it exists, could have been transferred between Earth and Mars due to meteorite impacts. The Search for Extra-Terrestrial G…
A multi-course tasting menu was flown on a zero gravity flight in August 2019. Five specially crafted dishes were consumed…
A molecular gastronomy experiment was flown on a zero gravity flight in August 2019, using spherification techniques to create recipes in z…
Expansion microscopy (ExM) is a new imaging modality developed by MIT Media Lab's Synthetic Neurobiology group. ExM allows biomolecules to …
The widespread synthesis of common organic building blocks in space could have biased life beyond Earth towards chemical similarities to li…
Gravity anchors all existence on Earth.It pulls a chaotic world to one single point in every moment of life. Even though gravity is everywh…
The Orbit Weaver Suit for zero gravity was designed by Media Lab Director's Fellow Andrea Lauer in collaboration with Xi…
We study textiles and nets as a base form for growing infrastructure and allowing reconfigurable sensing on low gravity bodies (for instanc…
Each new technology forces us to confront who we are as humans. As technological innovations in deep space exploration keep advancing…
Today, the environments that humans occupy in space are designed for survival. Humans are carefully shuttled to and from space, and during …
The brain uses space to index, organize, and retrieve memories. However, our sense of space depends on our perception of gravity. We p…
The Space Exploration Initiative charters an annual ZERO-G parabolic flight for 14-15 projects and 25 researchers across MIT Media Lab, sev…
Converting the patterns of nature and the human body into beneficial signals and energy
These five women at the MIT Media Lab are advancing aerospace science and research, driven by a love of our home planet.
Castrol membership supports the AstroAnt Payload Program.
Media Lab Director Dava Newman talks to Leonard David about research that may counteract the effects of microgravity on astronauts' bodies.
On the Gridlocked Podcast, Media Lab Director Dava Newman and other guests discuss the climate emergency, collaboration, and adaptation.
Dr. Ariel Ekblaw, founder of the Media Lab’s Space Exploration Initiative, talks to Wired about the Axiom-2 mission.
Augmenting and mediating human experience, interaction, and perception with sensor networks
Exploring how social networks can influence our lives in business, health, governance, and technology adoption and diffusion
Traditional additive manufacturing processes, especially those that make use of liquid resin as the feedstock, are constrained by the gravi…
By Rachel BellisleOverview:The Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit (GLCS or “Skinsuit”) is an intravehicular activity suit for astronau…
Invent new tangible and embodied interactions that inspire and engage people