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ABRACADABRA (A Broadband/Resonant Approach to Cosmic Axion Detection with an Amplifying B-field Ring Apparatus), consists of a series of magnetic coils, wound in the shape of a toroid, or donut, which is then encased in a layer of superconducting metal and kept at temperatures just above absolute zero. The scientists plan to use a highly sensitive magnetometer, placed inside the donut hole, to det...

Team simulates a magnetar to seek dark matter particle

Detecting “axion” particles may solve longstanding problem in particle physics.

October 7, 2016

“We are particularly interested in wetsuits for surfing, where the athlete moves frequently between air and water environments,” says Anette (Peko) Hosoi, a professor of mechanical engineering and associate head of the department at MIT. “We can control the length, spacing, and arrangement of hairs, which allows us to design textures to match certain dive speeds and maximize the wetsuit's dr...

Beaver-inspired wetsuits in the works

Rubbery hair-lined wetsuits may help keep surfers warm.

October 5, 2016

Ocean engineers from MIT, the University of Minnesota at Duluth, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have accurately simulated the motion of internal tides along a shelf break called the Middle Atlantic Bight — a region off the coast of the eastern U.S. that stretches from Cape Cod in Massachusetts to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina.

Researchers find explanation for interacting giant, hidden ocean waves

Better simulations of internal tides may benefit sonar communications, protect offshore structures, and more.

September 28, 2016

This computational illustration shows a graphene network structure below a layer of water.

How to power up graphene implants without frying cells

New analysis finds way to safely conduct heat from graphene to biological tissues.

September 23, 2016

“Learning from this model, we can understand what’s really going on in these superconductors, and what one should do to make higher-temperature superconductors, approaching hopefully room temperature,” says Martin Zwierlein, professor of physics and principal investigator in MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics.

For first time, researchers see individual atoms keep away from each other or bunch up as pairs

Observations of atomic interactions could help pave way to room-temperature superconductors.

September 15, 2016

This artist's depiction shows the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft contacting the asteroid Bennu with its Touch-And-Go Sample Arm. The mission aims to return a sample of Bennu's surface coating to Earth and to return detailed information about the asteroid and its trajectory.

MIT’s REXIS is bound for asteroid Bennu

Instrument will help OSIRIS-REx mission identify locations for collecting an asteroid sample.

September 8, 2016

“The ocean has been the only true sink for anthropogenic emissions since the industrial revolution,” says MIT graduate student Sophie Chu, pictured here. “Right now, it stores about 1/4 to 1/3 of the anthropogenic emissions from the atmosphere. We’re expecting at some point the storage will slow down.”

Study finds increased ocean acidification due to human activities

More anthropogenic carbon in the northeast Pacific means weaker shells for many marine species.

September 7, 2016

“I try to guide my research by ... asking myself the question, ‘What can we do today that will have a lasting impact and be conducive to a sustainable human civilization?’” says Rohit Karnik, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Rohit Karnik seeks sustainable solutions through nanotechnology

Engineer’s designs may help purify water, diagnose disease in remote regions of world.

September 1, 2016

The photograph shows a square-shaped “intruder” plunging through various material, including coarse, salt-like grains (white) and fine sand (blueish green), as well as more viscous (green) and pasty (blue) materials.

Pushing through sand

Simple equation predicts force needed to push objects through granular and pasty materials.

August 29, 2016

In this series, a 3-D printed multimaterial shape-memory minigripper, consisting of shape-memory hinges and adaptive touching tips, grasps a cap screw.

3-D printed structures “remember” their shapes

Heat-responsive materials may aid in controlled drug delivery and solar panel tracking.

August 26, 2016

Clownfish fight off predators of anemones that in turn provide habitats for the clownfish, an example of mutualism. But mutualistic relationships aren’t always set in stone; depending on environmental conditions, once-simpatico species can become competitors.

A mutual breakdown

Species relationships devolve from jointly beneficial to competitive in benign environments.

August 24, 2016

MIT graduate student George Ni holds a bubble-wrapped, sponge-like device that soaks up natural sunlight and heats water to boiling temperatures, generating steam through its pores.

Sponge creates steam using ambient sunlight

Bubble-wrapped structure requires no mirrors or lenses to focus the sun’s heat.

August 22, 2016

Michael Floyd, a research scientist in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, says that in developing seismic hazard assessments, it’s important to consider afterslip and slowly creeping faults, which occur often and over long periods of time following the more obvious earthquake.

2014 Napa earthquake continued to creep, weeks after main shock

Continuing seismic activity could pose additional hazards to infrastructure.

August 19, 2016

Mars’ Valles Marineris canyon, pictured, spans as much as 600 kilometers across and delves as much as 8 kilometers deep. The image was created from over 100 images of Mars taken by Viking Orbiters in the 1970s.

New technique may help detect Martian life

A novel interpretation of Raman spectra will help the 2020 Mars rover select rocks to study for signs of life.

August 15, 2016

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a huge, cubic-kilometer particle detector buried deep under the ice at the South Pole. After analyzing 20,000 neutrinos detected over the span of a year at the observatory, scientists were unable to observe any sign of sterile, or “hidden,” neutrinos.

Neutrino search finds no evidence of “hidden” particle

If discovered, sterile neutrinos may explain dark matter.

August 8, 2016

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