Alex Wissner-Gross of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US and Cameron Freer from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, have now put together a mathematical model that ties this causal entropy idea - evident in a range of recent studies - into a single framework.

BBC: Entropy law linked to intelligence, say researchers

Now based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, Professor Berners-Lee invented the web's address system and layout in Switzerland in 1990, revolutionising communication through the internet.

BBC: Web mastermind honoured

"We are getting a look at the everyday life of a supermassive black hole like never before, " said Frederick Baganoff of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US, who presented the new data on behalf of an international team at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle.

BBC: Black hole 'on a diet'

Work on the machine was carried out by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University in the US, and Seoul National University in South Korea.

BBC: Pentagon helps build Meshworm reconnaissance robot

It is hoped the e-university will meet the challenge of US universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford in California, which offer virtual degrees.

BBC: Universities told to catch the e-wave

All but three of the UK's top universities achieved higher citation rates than last year, though they still trail the big US institutions like Harvard, Stanford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

BBC: 'Research key' to universities leading global rankings

The rival edX online university project on the US east coast has been funded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard and is not for profit.

BBC: Online university giant gets bigger

The spaceman was born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea and completed much of his education in England (Harrow and Cambridge University) before moving to the US, where he did a PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

BBC: 'UK spaceman' Nicholas Patrick honoured