David Unger of The Christian Science Monitor speaks with Prof. Donald Sadoway about the future of batteries. Sadoway says he views the battery enterprise "as very socially conscious. It would represent a major step in bringing electricity to those who don’t have reliable access to electricity.”
WGBH reporter Mike Deehan writes that MIT will play a key role in a new public-private partnership aimed at expanding the use of photonics in manufacturing. Prof. Krystyn Van Vliet explains that MIT will coordinate the "education and workforce development program for the entire nation in this area.”
According to Matt Kaplan of The Economist, Professor Ju Li has devised a method of producing lithium-ion batteries using nanoparticles. “If the process of making the nanoparticles can be industrialized," writes Kaplan, "then the lifetimes of lithium-ion batteries might be considerably extended.”
A team led by Prof. Michael Cima is developing an implantable sensor that can monitor a tumor’s response to cancer drugs, writes Eric Levenson for Boston.com. “The sensor would function like a long-term medical biopsy, giving doctors a continuous look at how a tumor is developing,” Levenson explains.
Professor Yet-Ming Chiang’s company 24M has devised a manufacturing process that cuts the cost of producing batteries in half using liquid-battery technology, writes Brooks Hays for UPI. “The new method brings the benefits of liquid technology to big batteries—but without the baggage.”
A team led by Professor Markus Buehler has created a device that can produce spider silk, writes Andrea Alfano for the Tech Times. Buehler explains that silk produced by this new device is, “a lot more modifiable than spider silk,” and could be used to create synthetic organs.
Sarah Lewin writes for Wired about research by Professor Pedro Reis and a team of MIT mathematicians on the formation of wrinkles in materials. “What’s beautiful about this work is the collaboration between experimentalists and theorists,” says Reis. “We challenged them with results we didn’t understand, and they went somewhere new.”
Sindya Bhanoo writes for The New York Times that MIT researchers have discovered how the bombardier beetle produces blasts of a hot, lethal toxin to fend off predators. “The beetle has a really complicated explosion system that’s all connected together,” explains Prof. Christine Ortiz.
MIT researchers have figured out how the bombardier beetle can fire off chemicals when threatened, writes Washington Post reporter Rachel Feltman. Feltman explains that the researchers used “high-speed x-ray imaging” to examine the beetle’s defense mechanisms in action.
By examining X-ray images, MIT researchers have uncovered how bombardier beetles are able to produce “machine-gun style” blasts of chemicals to fend off predators, reports Andy Coghlan for New Scientist. “The researchers were surprised to find that a passive mechanism generates the pulses,” Coghlan explains.
New MIT research offers a detailed look at how the bombardier beetle produces the scalding black liquid it expels as a defense mechanism, writes Brooks Hays for UPI. “The process operates almost like an assembly line of chambers and valves -- chemicals mixed, pressure builds, chemical released in jet-like spray through valve, relax and repeat.”
Lindsay Kalter reports for The Boston Herald that MIT researchers are developing a device that can be implanted into a tumor to help determine the best course of cancer treatment. “We wanted to bring the laboratory into the human body,” says Langer.
In an article for Bloomberg Businessweek about batteries, Christopher Martin highlights how Prof. Donald Sadoway’s liquid metal battery will be deployed this year. The batteries, which are being commercialized by Sadoway’s startup Ambri, will power solar and wind farms and store surplus energy for a power company in Manhattan.
Conor Gaffey writes for Newsweek about new body armor being developed by researchers at MIT and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. The design is based on fish scales and “mimics the overlapping layers of hard scales and soft tissues found in certain fish, using 3D printers,” reports Gaffey.
A team of researchers from MIT and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has designed a flexible body armor inspired by fish scales, reports Kelsey D. Atherton for Popular Science. “The researchers were able to greatly increase the strength of the armor while only modestly reducing its flexibility,” writes Atherton.