CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Lip reading is a critical means of communication for many deaf people, but it has a drawback: Certain consonants (for example, p and b) can be nearly impossible to distinguish by sight alone. Tactile devices, which translate sound waves…

--Plasma thruster is small, runs on inexpensive gases CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Satellites orbiting the Earth must occasionally be nudged to stay on the correct path. MIT scientists are developing a new rocket that could make this and other spacecraft maneuvers much less…

WASHINGTON -- NASA is asking the public to help name the International Space Station's next module - a control tower for robotics in space and the world's ultimate observation deck. Eight refrigerator-sized racks in the Node 3 module will provide…

Gamma-rays flares from SGR J1550-5418 may arise when the magnetars surface suddenly cracks, releasing energy stored within its powerful magnetic field. Photo Credit:NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using NASAs Swift satellite and Fermi Gamma-ray Space…

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- During a review of space shuttle Discoverys readiness for flight, NASA managers decided Tuesday to plan a launch no earlier than Feb. 19. The new planning date is pending additional analysis and particle impact testing associated…

Photo courtesy/ISRO/NASA/JHUAPL/LPI/Cornell University/Smithsonian This image is a Mini-RF synthetic aperture radar (SAR) strip overlain on an Earth-based, Arecibo Observatory radar telescope image. Taken Nov. 17, 2008, the south-polar SAR strip shows a part of the moon never seen before: a…

WASHINGTON -- A NASA-funded study describes how extreme solar eruptions could have severe consequences for communications, power grids and other technology on Earth. The National Academy of Sciences in Washington conducted the study. The resulting report provides some of the…

SAN FRANCISCO -- Researchers using a powerful instrument aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have found a long sought-after mineral on the Martian surface and, with it, unexpected clues to the Red Planet's watery past. Surveying intact bedrock layers with the…

The United States faces the potential for abrupt climate change in the 21st century that could pose clear risks to society in terms of our ability to adapt. Abrupt changes can occur over decades or less, persist for decades more,…

MIT computer modeling finds leveling land can help control diseases spread CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Modifying the environment by using everything from shovels and plows to plant-derived pesticides may be as important as mosquito nets and vaccinations in the fight against malaria,…

The combined global land and ocean surface average temperature for October 2008 was the second warmest since records began in 1880, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAAs National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. Temperature Highlights * The combined…

Study sees challenges for integrating new neurons into brain Deborah Halber, News Office Correspondent Using adult stem cells to replace neurons lost because of brain damage and disease could be more difficult than previously thought, according to MIT researchers, because…