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Project Research

lunarNOMAD

The lunar Navigation and Observation Mobile Architecture Design (lunarNOMAD) is a modular inflatable mobile science laboratory. lunarNOMAD …
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Lunar Sandbags

With the growing presence of commercial spaceflight and NASA’s Lunar Artemis program, plans to establish a permanent lunar presence are in …
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Designing for outer space

With NASA planning permanent bases in space and on the moon, MIT students develop prototypes for habitats far from planet Earth.
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Stochastic Self-Assembly via Magnetically Programmed Materials

By Martin NisserThe ability to deploy large space structures is key to enabling long-duration and long-distance space missions, supporting …
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Convergence: Artistic Explorations from Nature to Society Exhibition at NARLabs

Convergence: Artistic Exploration from Nature to SocietyNARLabs, Taipei, Taiwan May 10 - August 10, 2024 Guided by the Taiwa…
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Aerospace Gondola at Venice Biennale Arte 2024

The gondola, a timeless and iconic symbol of Venice and love, embarks on a new journey at the Venice Biennale Arte 2024 (https://www.labien…
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Momo

The Design
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Astronaut Ethnography

Our journeys off-world have taught us just as much about humanity as the harsh environment of space. For the past 20 years, we have had a c…
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Prathima Muniyappa and Alexandra Rieger among 2023 cohort of MIT MAD Design Fellows

The MAD Fellowship is an opportunity for MIT grad students to propose a research-oriented or personal design project.
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The Gist: Signs of life

Director Dava Newman spoke at Notre Dame about space exploration and the need for interdisciplinary research to solve problems on Earth.
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Bio-Digital Wearables for Space Health Enhancement

Living in space could have significant physical and mental impacts on astronauts. Wearables have the potential to play a critical role in m…
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Environment-Vulnerability-Decision-Technology Framework

One of the six research methods used by the Space Enabled research group is creating models of complex systems by drawing on techniques fro…
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Danielle Wood on Bloomberg Markets: The Close

On Bloomberg TV, Professor Danielle Wood talks to Romaine Bostick about the use of satellite data for environmental management.
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Space Sustainability Rating

The Space Sustainability RatingThe Space Sustainability Rating design team—comprised of the World Economic Forum, the European Space Agency…
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Friday Five: Alexis Hope talks about sexual health, bacteria in design + more

For Design Milk’s Friday Five, Media Lab alum Alexis Hope shares the work of five of her favorite designers.
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Research
Mediated Matter

Designing for, with, and by nature
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Candlewax Rockets: A Green Alternative for In-Space Propulsion

The Space Enabled Research Group is exploring the potential of using beeswax and candle wax as potential fuels for satellites in space. Bee…
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Pat Pataranutaporn on exploring the intersection of humans and artificial intelligence

Pat Pataranutaporn discusses the inspiration behind his research at the intersection of biological systems and digital technology.
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Yiyun Zhang Presents at Space4Women Expert Meeting by UNOOSA and CSA

Presenting work at the UN/Canada Space4Women "Building capacity to promote and advance gender equality in the space sector."
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TIME's 200 Best Inventions of 2023: SeedLabs MicroPET

The SeedLabs MicroPET, which began as a Media Lab collaboration, was selected to TIME's 200 Best Inventions of 2023.
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CyberBiome

CyberBiome is a programmable bio-digital organ, a wearable biosynthesis platform for personalized, on-demand production of therapeutics and…
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Influencing human–AI interaction by priming beliefs about AI can increase perceived trustworthiness, empathy, and effectiveness

AbstractAs conversational agents powered by large language models become more human-like, users are starting to view them as companions rat…
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Gridlocked: Inflection Point

On the Gridlocked podcast, Media Lab Director Dava Newman and other experts consider what it will take to secure a clean energy future.
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Peristaltic Suit

​Prolonged exposure to microgravity is known to cause various acute health risks, including muscle atrophy, bone loss, cardiovascular decon…
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Transatlantic connections make the difference for MIT Portugal

Media Lab Director Dava Newman, who previously led the MIT Portugal program, still serves as a principal investigator for flagship projects.
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Summer 2023 recommended reading from MIT

The 2023 MIT recommended summer reading list includes a chapter in "Reclaiming Space" authored by Professor Danielle Wood.
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Build your skills with MIT’s women engineers

Explore MIT Open Learning resources, including interviews with Media Lab Director Dava Newman, Professor Cynthia Breazeal, and more.
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The EBIFA robot (Everything Beautiful Is Far Away)

EBIFA (Everything Beautiful Is Far Away) is a crystalline robotic device that carried a tooth to outer space. EBIFA's form and fu…
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Spatial Flux: Body and architecture in space

Structurally, zero gravity means that we do not have to contend with architecture's greatest arch-nemesis, gravity. This opens up a new wor…
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Telepresent Drawings in Space

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…
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Floral Cosmonauts: Self-assembling silver dendrite networks in microgravity

Biological neuronal networks are highly complex and interconnected with superior information processing capabilities. Such networks have pr…
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Persian Domes for Human Space Exploration on Mars

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…
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A tailored, electronic textile conformable suit for large-scale spatiotemporal physiological sensing in vivo

The rapid advancement of electronic devices and fabrication technologies has further promoted the field of wearables and smart textiles. Ho…
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Public Library Innovation Exchange

Public libraries are one of most trusted public institutions in the U.S. and increasingly provide a broad range of education services, rang…
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TESSERAE: Self-Assembling Space Architecture

Overview: How will we build the coming generations of Space Architecture—the modules, space ships, and space stations that will enscon…
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Envirome Monitoring with CRISPR Biosensors

In recent years, there has been an increase in low-cost and open-source electronic and chemical sensors that hobbyists, concerned citizens,…
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Moon Village

In 2015, the director general of the European Space Agency (ESA), Jan Wörner, introduced the concept of the “Moon Village.” Inspired by the…
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Climate CubeSat Co-Building Outreach Program (C3)

Climate CubeSat Co-Building (C3) The Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative is driven by an effort to democratize the future…
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Space Fabrics: resilient electronic textiles for distributed sensing in low Earth orbit

Overview: The outermost skin of a space-based structure is designed using materials known to protect against the harsh elements of space. S…
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Radiofungi: Biological Pigments for Radioprotection

A major concern for manned missions is space radiation. Ionizing radiation is known to pose both acute and chronic risks to many organisms,…
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SEI Analog Environments Study: Adaptation, Collaboration, and Resilience in Extreme Environments

SEI Analog Environments StudyProject OverviewThe way humans engage with space has changed rapidly over the past 60 years, moving from a mod…
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Lunar Open Architecture

Building an open, shared, and collaborative future of lunar exploration.Explore the Lunar Open Architecture (LOA) at loa.mit.edu. …
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Interplanetary Gastronomy

The  Interplanetary Gastronomy research  aims to address the unique challenges and opportunities associated with eating in s…
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H0TP0T

By Larissa Zhou and Adam ZacharFood is crucial to maintaining the physical and psychological health of humans in space. Eating food pr…
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Reconfigurable space structures

Rapid prototyping platforms such as 3D printers used for digital fabrication are today able to manufacture custom objects for specific task…
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Zenolith - An Interplanetary Time Device

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 …
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Self Assembling Space Frames

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…
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Harmony in Precarity

By Po-Hao ChiHow could microgravity/hypergravity shape our perceptual experience of listening with weightlessness? How can we seek to explo…
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Miniature Optical Steered Antenna for Intersatellite Communication (MOSAIC)

The Miniature Optical Steered Antenna for Intersatellite Communications (MOSAIC)By Shreeyam KackerThe Miniature Optical Steered Antenn…
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Moving Liquids With No Moving Parts

Solid-state microfrabricated devices are in development to replace contemporary heavy mechanical components for use in spacecraft propellan…
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Ø-scillation: oscillating chemistry in zero gravity and beyond

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…
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AgriFuge

By Somayajulu Dhulipala and Manwei ChanAs humanity explores deeper into space, long-duration missions will require horticulture activities …
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Panspermia

By Nancy Valladares and Rae Yuping HsuThis project is an art performance that seeks to rethink imaginaries of multispecies surviv…
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Dava Newman on the Selected podcast

In an interview recorded at VivaTech, Media Lab Director Dava Newman talks about the Media Lab's mission to enhance the human experience.
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SpaceHuman 2.0

SpaceHuman is a soft robotics device designed to facilitate the exploration of environments with reduced gravity in a view of democratizati…
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Space/Craft

Space/Craft explores sculpting in zero gravity. Making artistic works by hand is a fundamentally human act, but how will it transform …
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ELI: Electronic Life-detection Instrument

Life on Mars, if it exists, could have been transferred between Earth and Mars due to meteorite impacts. The Search for Extra-Terrestrial G…
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Tasting Menu in Zero G

 A multi-course tasting menu was flown on a zero gravity flight in August 2019.  Five specially crafted dishes were consumed…
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Molecular Gastronomy in Zero G

A molecular gastronomy experiment was flown on a zero gravity flight in August 2019, using spherification techniques to create recipes in z…
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Nanoscale Imaging of Biomolecules in Zero G

Expansion microscopy (ExM) is a new imaging modality developed by MIT Media Lab's Synthetic Neurobiology group. ExM allows biomolecules to …
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Search for Extra-Terrestrial Genomes (SETG)

The widespread synthesis of common organic building blocks in space could have biased life beyond Earth towards chemical similarities to li…
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Orbit Weaver

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…
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Orbit Weaver Suit

​​​​​​​​​The Orbit Weaver Suit for zero gravity was designed by Media Lab Director's Fellow Andrea Lauer in collaboration with Xi…
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Space Webs as Infrastructure for distributed sensor networks and other infrastructure on low gravity bodies

We study textiles and nets as a base form for growing infrastructure and allowing reconfigurable sensing on low gravity bodies (for instanc…
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Smells for Space: Olfactory Timecapsule for Earthly Memories

Each new technology forces us to confront who we are as humans.  As technological innovations in deep space exploration keep advancing…
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The Telemetron

Today, the environments that humans occupy in space are designed for survival. Humans are carefully shuttled to and from space, and during …
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VR Maze in Zero Gravity

The brain uses space to index, organize, and retrieve memories. However, our sense of space depends on our perception of gravity. We p…
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Article Research

Feet on Earth, head in the stars

These five women at the MIT Media Lab are advancing aerospace science and research, driven by a love of our home planet.
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Gravity of the Situation: Time for the "G-whiz" factor?

Media Lab Director Dava Newman talks to Leonard David about research that may counteract the effects of microgravity on astronauts' bodies.
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Gridlocked: Spaceship Earth

On the Gridlocked Podcast, Media Lab Director Dava Newman and other guests discuss the climate emergency, collaboration, and adaptation.
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Axiom’s second flight paves the way for a commercial space station

Dr. Ariel Ekblaw, founder of the Media Lab’s Space Exploration Initiative, talks to Wired about the Axiom-2 mission.