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Snapshot of a simulation of a nanoparticle coated with a single layer of molecules (thin lines projecting from sphere) composed of a 1:1 mixture of hydrophobic (yellow) and hydrophilic (blue) ligands.

Harnessing nanopatterns

New findings show that tiny textures on a surface can produce big differences in how some materials, and even living cells, behave

September 24, 2009

Digital Democracy

The World Wide Web Consortium weighs in on government transparency

September 24, 2009

A model of the retinal implant: The coil that surrounds the iris receives visual data from a camera mounted on a pair of glasses. The coil sends the images to a chip attached to the side of the eyeball, which processes the data and sends it to electrodes implanted below the retina.

Stimulating sight

Led by electrical engineering professor John Wyatt, team develops retinal implant that could help restore useful level of vision to certain groups of blind people

September 23, 2009

An MIT shuttle bus drives down Vassar Street.

Used frying oil to power MIT shuttles

Student biodiesel group cooks up its first batches of fuel made from recycled oil from campus dining facilities

September 23, 2009

This schematic drawing shows the sensor Manalis and colleagues built to weigh single cells. Cells flow through a channel (dark blue lines) that carries them to the end of a vibrating cantilever and back.

In Profile: Scott Manalis

His technology to weigh single cells led to an unexpected research focus: figuring out how cancerous cells escape normal growth controls.

September 23, 2009

In a wireless network, different transmission frequencies work better for different users. That's because the same transmission reaches each user along several different paths; at one frequency, the signals arriving over different paths might reinforce each other, while at another frequency, they might cancel each other out.

Sharing the air

Unused wireless spectrum is getting scarce; MIT researchers are teaching emerging technologies to coexist in what's left

September 22, 2009

'Genius' grant for MIT economist

Esther Duflo receives MacArthur Fellowship for transformative work on economic development; has brought field experiments to studies of poverty around the world

September 22, 2009

Ricardo Caballero, MIT's Ford International Professor of Economics

Insurance against financial fear

When the economy stumbles, panic can drive matters from bad to worse. Economist Ricardo Caballero has a new plan to keep investment markets free of fear

September 22, 2009

A turning point in the struggle against cancer?

Using new tools, ideas and ways of working, MIT biologists and engineers hope to change paradigm.

September 21, 2009

Carol Livermore, associate professor of mechanical engineering, left, stands with graduate student Frances Hill in Livermore's lab.

Small springs could provide big power

Mechanical engineer Carol Livermore and colleagues find that carbon nanotubes, used as springs, have potential to compete with batteries for energy storage.

September 21, 2009