Topic
National Science Foundation (NSF)
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MIT joins White House supercomputing effort to speed up search for Covid-19 solutions
Consortium includes industry, government, and academic institutions.
March 23, 2020 -
How to get conductive gels to stick when wet
A new way of making polymers adhere to surfaces may enable better biomedical sensors and implants.
March 20, 2020 -
New sensor could help prevent food waste
Monitoring the plant hormone ethylene could reveal when fruits and vegetables are about to spoil.
March 18, 2020 -
Bacterial enzyme could become a new target for antibiotics
Scientists discover the structure of an enzyme, found in the human gut, that breaks down a component of collagen.
March 17, 2020 -
Why are workers getting smaller pieces of the pie?
Market concentration in the form of “superstar” firms has been lowering labor’s share of GDP in recent decades, a new study finds.
March 10, 2020 -
A new model of vision
Computer model of face processing could reveal how the brain produces richly detailed visual representations so quickly.
March 4, 2020 -
President Reif testifies before Congress on U.S. competitiveness
“To stay ahead, the U.S. needs to do more to capitalize on our own strengths,” he tells representatives.
February 27, 2020 -
Using light to put a twist on electrons
Method with polarized light can create and measure nonsymmetrical states in a layered material.
February 26, 2020 -
Instrument may enable mail-in testing to detect heavy metals in water
Whisk-shaped device absorbs trace contaminants, preserves them in dry state that can be shipped to labs for analysis.
February 25, 2020 -
Mirrored chip could enable handheld dark-field microscopes
Simple chip powered by quantum dots allows standard microscopes to visualize difficult-to-image biological organisms.
February 24, 2020 -
Artificial intelligence yields new antibiotic
A deep-learning model identifies a powerful new drug that can kill many species of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
February 20, 2020 -
Correcting the “jitters” in quantum devices
A new study suggests a path to more efficient error correction, which may help make quantum computers and sensors more practical.
February 18, 2020 -
Seeding oceans with iron may not impact climate change
Study finds Earth’s oceans contain just the right amount of iron; adding more may not improve their ability to absorb carbon dioxide.
February 17, 2020 -
Researchers develop a roadmap for growth of new solar cells
Starting with higher-value niche markets and then expanding could help perovskite-based solar panels become competitive with silicon.
February 6, 2020 -
New electrode design may lead to more powerful batteries
An MIT team has devised a lithium metal anode that could improve the longevity and energy density of future batteries.
February 3, 2020 -
Engineers design bionic “heart” for testing prosthetic valves, other cardiac devices
Device made of heart tissue and a robotic pumping system beats like the real thing.
January 29, 2020 -
How strong is your knot?
With help from spaghetti and color-changing fibers, a new mathematical model predicts a knot’s stability.
January 2, 2020 -
Study may explain how infections reduce autism symptoms
An immune molecule sometimes produced during infection can influence the social behavior of mice.
December 18, 2019 -
New health insurance insights
Economists analyze how patients and health care providers value Medicaid.
December 15, 2019 -
New instrument extends LIGO’s reach
Technology “squeezes” out quantum noise so more gravitational wave signals can be detected.
December 5, 2019