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Research
Space Enabled

Advancing justice in Earth's complex systems using designs enabled by space
Archived
Project Research

Space Fermentation

This research highlights opportunities to bring the rich culture of Earth-based fermentation practices to space to design beneficial applic…
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Tangible Media

Invent new tangible and embodied interactions that inspire and engage people
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Responsive Environments

Augmenting and mediating human experience, interaction, and perception with sensor networks
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Opera of the Future

Extending expression, learning, and health through innovations in musical composition, performance, and participation
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Fluid Interfaces

Designing Systems for Cognitive Augmentation
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Media Lab Research Theme: Life with AI

Life with AI | Designing the future of smart systems to improve the human experience
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Media Lab Research Theme: Future Worlds

Future Worlds | Design and action for the future we want to live in
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Media Lab Research Theme: Cultivating Creativity

Cultivating Creativity | Catalyzing a global movement enabling everyone to unlock and unleash their individual and collective creativity
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Media Lab Research Theme: Connected Mind + Body

Connected Mind + Body | Revolutionizing the future of mental and physical wellbeing
Project Research

Personalized Performance-Optimization Platform (AttentivU - P-POP)

​The environmental conditions of prolonged spaceflight pose significant psychological risks for astronauts. In particular, crews of future …
Project Research

The Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit

By Rachel BellisleOverview:The Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit (GLCS or “Skinsuit”) is an intravehicular activity suit for astronau…
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Fluid Expressions - Art and Craft in Microgravity

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…
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Research
Space Exploration Initiative

Designing, prototyping, and building the artifacts of our sci-fi space future
Project Research

AstroAnt

"Autonomous operations are critical for the success, safety, and crew survival of NASA deep space missions beyond low Earth orbit, includin…
Post Research

A parabolic roller coaster into the future of space and lunar exploration

Media Lab SEI’s 2024 microgravity flight features 37 parabolas and projects focused on health in space, walking in zero gravity, and more!
Project Research

Capturing the Moon: Assessing virtual reality for remote Lunar geological fieldwork

Cody Paige, MIT AeroAstro Contributors: Ferrous Ward, MIT AeroAstro; Don Derek Haddad, ResEnv; Jess Todd, MIT…
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Project Research

SpaceShoe

With the fast-paced advancements in launch capabilities and space architecture, one can envision the introduction of large-scale structures…
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Project Research

Microgravity Research Flights with the Space Exploration Intiative

The Space Exploration Initiative charters an annual ZERO-G parabolic flight for 10-15 projects and 25 researchers across MIT Media Lab, sev…
Post Research

To Lunar Gravity and Back: What reduced gravity flights can teach us about our future in space

The Space Exploration Initiative’s 2022 microgravity flight features lunar-specific payloads in advance of an upcoming moon mission
Article Research

Life in space: Preparing for an increasingly tangible reality

The Space Exploration Initiative supports research across and beyond MIT in two microgravity flights this spring.
Post Research

Designing humanity’s future in space

The Space Exploration Initiative’s latest research flight explores work and play in zero gravity
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Project Research

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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Project Research

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…
Project Research

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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Space Sustainability Rating

The Space Sustainability RatingThe Space Sustainability Rating design team—comprised of the World Economic Forum, the European Space Agency…
Project Research

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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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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

Interplanetary Gastronomy

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

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

AgriFuge

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

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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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Project Research

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.
Article Research

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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Project Research

Microgravity Extrusion

Traditional additive manufacturing processes, especially those that make use of liquid resin as the feedstock, are constrained by the gravi…
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Article Research

Ariel Ekblaw Wants To Go to Space So We Can Save Earth

Media Lab's Ariel Ekblaw talks to Inverse about the questions and the philosophies that drive her work with SEI and the Aurelia Institute.
Publication Research

AgriFuge: An exploration of controlled irrigation methods for a rotating plant habitat

Somayajulu Dhulipala, Manwei Chan. Agrifuge: An exploration of controlled irrigation methods for a rotating plant habitat. IAC-22, Paris, France. IAC-22,A2,3,4,x69080.
Publication Research

The Astronaut Ethnography Web Project: Insights from first-person accounts of space

S. Sharma, N. Klop-Packel, A. Ekblaw, “The Astronaut Ethnography Web Project: Insights from First-Person Accounts of Space.” AC-22,E1,9,19,x68611, 73rd International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Paris, France, 18-22 September 2022.
Post Research

Space Miso: ISS Mission 2020

New flavors may evolve as earth foods migrate to outer space. A collaboration between Maggie Coblentz at the MIT Media Lab and Joshua Evans…
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Project Research

Scratch in Space

The Scratch Team invited young people from around the world to create Scratch projects designed specifically to be played in zero grav…
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Project Research

Physio FreeFall

This project seeks to examine the effects of altered gravity on an individual’s physiology during parabolic flight. Specifically, we will c…
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Article Research

Robotic cubes shapeshift in outer space

Self-reconfiguring ElectroVoxels use embedded electromagnets to test applications for space exploration.
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Project Research

Gravity Proof: Speculating Cosmic Futures

Gravity Proof is a performance and mission to prepare and cook bread in space. Inspired by ancient recipes and archaeological bread re…
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Post Research

Six suborbital research payloads fly on Blue Origin New Shepard

The projects on board the Media Lab's first suborbital rocket flight
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Project Research

ZG Stardust

How might zero gravity space affect silk spinning, and what benefits might such material properties provide for digital fabrication and add…
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