Reporting for WBUR’s CommonHealth, Carey Goldberg highlights new classroom kits developed by MIT researchers that allow kids to learn and experiment with the building blocks of DNA. "I just think it's really important that microbiology education is accessible for everyone," says graduate student Ally Huang, "and that everyone, regardless of their resources, has access to things like this."
Vox reporter David Roberts writes about a new study by MIT researchers examining what factors contributed to bringing down the cost of solar panels. Roberts writes that the researchers found “policies that create incentives for private investors to develop and deploy solar panels are responsible for well over half of the decline in solar PV costs.”
Prof. Michael Strano speaks about his research on carbon-fixing materials, which are “substances powered by the sun that use atmospheric carbon dioxide to grow and repair themselves, just as plants do,” writes Marlene Cimons for Popular Science. “Making a material that can access the abundant carbon all around us is a significant opportunity for materials science,” said Strano.
A new study by MIT researchers has confirmed that light melts matter differently than heat, writes UPI reporter Brooks Hays. Hays explains that in the future, the researchers “hope to engineer or manipulate the phase change process. The mechanism could be used to power new types of optoelectronic devices, such as a data storage device.”
MIT alumna Rita Baranwal has been nominated for Assistant Secretary of Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, writes Lalit Jha for the Press Trust of India. If approved, Baranwal will be responsible for “nuclear technology research and the development and management of the department's nuclear technology infrastructure.”
A study by MIT researchers demonstrates how air pollution can significantly reduce profits from solar panel installations, reports Avery Thompson for Popular Mechanics. The researchers found that in Delhi, “electricity generation is reduced by more than 10 percent,” Thompson explains, “which translates to a cost of more than $20 million.”
Gizmodo reporter Ryan Mandelbaum writes that by studying ancient quasars, MIT scientists have uncovered evidence supporting quantum entanglement, the concept that two particles can become linked despite their distance in space and time. “We’ve outsourced randomness to the furthest quarters of the universe, tens of billions of light years away,” says Prof. David Kaiser.
Space.com reporter Chelsea Gohd writes that MIT researchers have used the light emitted by two ancient quasars to provide evidence of quantum entanglement, the theory that two particles can become linked across space and time. The researchers used ancient quasars to see if, “the correlation between particles can be explained by classical mechanics stemming from earlier than 600 years ago.”
Writing for Motherboard, Daniel Oberhaus highlights how MIT researchers have used light emitted by quasars billions of years ago to confirm the existence of quantum entanglement. Oberhaus explains that the findings suggest entanglement occurs “because if it didn’t exist the universe would somehow have to have ‘known’ 7.8 billion years ago that these MIT scientists would perform these experiments in 2018.”
Gizmodo reporter Ryan Mandelbaum highlights how MIT researchers used data from the CLAS particle accelerator and detector to determine that neutron stars are heavily influenced by protons. Prof. Or Hen explains that the findings show that, “protons are much more important in determining the properties of neutron stars than we thought.”
In a VICE News Tonight climate segment, MIT postdocs Volodymyr Koman and Seon-Yeong Kwak explain their technique for making plants glow in the dark to a first-grade class in Boston. Following a demonstration mixing plant glucose with the specialized nanoparticles, one student exclaims in disbelief, “no battery or anything!”
MIT researchers have developed “the first artificial system to mimic the way the brain interprets sound – and it rivals humans in its accuracy,” reports Samia Bouzik for NOVA Next. “The research offers a tantalizing new way to study the brain…[and] could boost some neuroscience research into the fast track,” writes Bouzik.
MIT researchers have made improvements to liquid-sodium batteries, potentially paving the way for the battery to be used for renewable energy storage, reports Laney Ruckstuhl for The Boston Globe. “Unlike lithium-ion batteries used in cellphones and laptops, the liquid-sodium batteries won’t lose their capacity quickly.”
Tony Lee of Mashable spotlights the technique developed by MIT researchers that allows plants to glow when inserted with nanoparticles containing luciferase, an enzyme known to make fireflies glow.
Prof. Michael Strano spoke with CNN’s Nicola Davison about his recent work making plants glow. "We're thinking about how we can engineer plants to replace functions of the devices that we encounter every day. The things that we make out of plastic and circuit boards -- can we replace those with a living plant?" said Strano.