Chemistry

Jeremiah Johnson (left) and Tracy Slatyer

Jeremiah Johnson and Tracy Slatyer win 2017 School of Science teaching prizes

Faculty members in chemistry and physics honored for excellence in graduate and undergraduate teaching.

December 1, 2017

Micrographs of a metal surface after impact by metal particles. Craters are formed due to melting of the surface from the impact.

How to get sprayed metal coatings to stick

When spraying metal coatings, melting hurts rather than helps, MIT research reveals.

November 22, 2017

Using a technique called solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, an MIT team found that two cholesterol molecules bind to a flu protein called M2 to sever viral buds from their host cell. The molecular configuration creates an exaggerated wedge shape inside the cell membrane that curves and narrows the neck of the budding virus until the neck breaks.

Cholesterol helps flu virus escape through host cell’s membrane

Study could shed light on how many other proteins bind with membrane cholesterol.

November 20, 2017

The Terzo Millenio, or Third Millennium, concept car from Lamborghini marks an ambitious collaboration between the Italian automaker and researchers at MIT.

MIT researchers collaborate with Lamborghini to develop an electric car of the future

Research from the Dinca and Hart labs, paired with Lamborghini’s “hypercar” concept, will result in the Terzo Millenio, an electric sports car for the third millennium.

November 17, 2017

By organizing pigments on a DNA scaffold, an MIT-led team of researchers has designed a light-harvesting material that closely mimics the structure of naturally occurring photosynthetic structures.

Synthetic circuits can harvest light energy

Novel structures made with DNA scaffolds could be used to create solar-powered materials.

November 13, 2017

Clockwise from top left: Aram Harrow, Benjamin Jones, Scott Kemp, Calvin Leung, Ian Moult, Keith Nelson, Bradley Olsen, Jonathan Loren Ouellet, and Pedro Reis

Twelve from MIT honored by the American Physical Society

Prize winners span six departments in the schools of Science and Engineering.

October 31, 2017

Keith Nelson awarded the Frank Isakson Prize for Optical Effects in Solids

The Izakson Prize is given in recognition of outstanding optical research that leads to breakthroughs in the condensed matter sciences.

October 23, 2017

Members of MIT's panel on the LIGO observation of a merger of neutron stars, (left to right) Anna Frebel, Salvatore Vitale, Nergis Mavalvala, Erik Katsavounidis, and Matthew Evans, pose for a photo at the Oct. 16 event.

MIT researchers discuss the new "multi-messenger" era of astrophysics research

Mavalvala, Evans, Frebel, Katsavounidis, and Vitale discuss the science behind LIGO's observations of a neutron star collision.

October 18, 2017

A new way to harness wasted methane

Approach developed at MIT could help curb needless “flaring” of potent greenhouse gas.

October 17, 2017

Arup K. Chakraborty, the Robert T. Haslam Professor of Chemical Engineering, professor of physics, chemistry, and biological engineering, and a core faculty member at the Institute for Medical Engineering & Science has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine in recognition of his distinguished contributions to medicine and health.

Arup Chakraborty elected to National Academy of Medicine

Recognized for his contributions to health, the distinguished professor is now a member of the national academies of medicine, science, and engineering.

October 16, 2017