River erosion can shape fish evolution, study suggests
The new findings could explain biodiversity hotspots in tectonically quiet regions.
Helping robots handle fluids
Researchers create a new simulation tool for robots to manipulate complex fluids in a step toward helping them more effortlessly assist with daily tasks.
Researchers 3D print a miniature vacuum pump
The device would be a key component of a portable mass spectrometer that could help monitor pollutants, perform medical diagnoses in remote areas, or test Martian soil.
Peter Baddoo, Department of Mathematics instructor, dies at 29
Baddoo was a respected and admired scholar, teacher, mentor, and colleague.
How to push, wiggle, or drill an object through granular material
A method for quickly predicting the forces needed to push objects through "flowable media" could help engineers drive robots or anchor ships.
Moving water and earth
A new understanding of how particle shape controls grain flow could help engineers manage river restoration and coastal erosion.
Computational system streamlines the design of fluidic devices
This computational tool can generate an optimal design for a complex fluidic device such as a combustion engine or a hydraulic pump.
Keeping indoor humidity levels at a “sweet spot” may reduce spread of Covid-19
A new study links very dry and very humid indoor environments with worse Covid-19 outcomes.
Small eddies play a big role in feeding ocean microbes
Swirling waters replenish nutrients in open ocean, a new study finds, and could mitigate some climate change effects.
Ocean scientists measure sediment plume stirred up by deep-sea-mining vehicle
A new field study reveals a previously unobserved fluid dynamic process that is key to assessing impact of deep-sea mining operations.
Physicists see electron whirlpools for the first time
Long predicted but never observed, this fluid-like electron behavior could be leveraged for low-power next-generation electronics.
Engineers use artificial intelligence to capture the complexity of breaking waves
Their model’s predictions should help researchers improve ocean climate simulations and hone the design of offshore structures.
MIT engineers introduce the Oreometer
Mechanical engineers put an Oreo’s cream filling through a battery of tests to understand what happens when two wafers are twisted apart.
Professor Emeritus Peter Griffith, a pioneer in heat transfer and fluid mechanics, dies at 94
Longtime professor of mechanical engineering influenced nuclear reactor design and shaped thermodynamics education at MIT.
Computing for ocean environments
MIT ocean and mechanical engineers are using advances in scientific computing to address the ocean’s many challenges, and seize its opportunities.