‘Cool’ invention wins first place at MADMEC
Thermoelectric bracelet that helps people maintain a comfortable body temperature takes home $10,000 from MIT’s annual materials-science design competition.
Cracked metal, heal thyself
Unexpected result shows that in some cases, pulling apart makes cracks in metal fuse together.
Probing the surface of pyrite
Common mineral gets first detailed examination of its surface electronic properties, thanks to team of MIT researchers.
Faculty highlight: Caroline Ross
New techniques for combining complex oxide thin films promise electrical control of magnetic properties for data storage and computing.
How to make ceramics that bend without breaking
New materials developed at MIT could lead to actuators on a chip and self-deploying medical devices.
Nanoparticle vaccine offers better protection
Particles that deliver vaccines directly to mucosal surfaces could defend against many infectious diseases.
Understanding a new kind of magnetism
Researchers use low-frequency laser pulses to probe the properties of a kind of fluctuating magnetism known as a spin-liquid state.
Water-shedding surfaces can be made to last
New approach to hydrophobic material could benefit power plants, cooling systems.
New materials improve oxygen catalysis
Highly active catalysts could be key to improved energy storage in fuel cells and advanced batteries.
Graphene could yield cheaper optical chips
Researchers show that graphene — atom-thick sheets of carbon — could be used in photodetectors, devices that translate optical signals to electrical.
Developing nanowires for solar cells
Profiling Silvija Gradečak, the Thomas Lord Associate Professor in Materials Science and Engineering
Catalyzing the next generation of batteries
Professor Yang Shao-Horn works at the cutting edge of basic energy science research
A pea-shooter for molecules
Researchers find that tiny molecules passing through nanotubes can be propelled or slowed depending on their size.
The gold standard for cell penetration
Gold nanoparticles with special coatings can deliver drugs or biosensors to a cell’s interior without damaging it.