Mechanical engineering

NuTonomy, an MIT startup, will soon start testing self-driving cars in Boston’s Seaport District and Fort Point areas, writes Doug Newcomb for Forbes.  

Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Akst writes about a new solar-powered, water-harvesting device developed by MIT researchers. The device is “about the size of a Kleenex box [and] can suck lifesaving amounts of water out of the air even in extremely arid places.”

IEEE Spectrum reporter Dexter Johnson writes that MIT researchers have developed a technique for producing cheaper semiconductor wafers using graphene. The method could “make the use of exotic semiconductors more accessible to industries by preparing semiconductor thin films without the high cost of using bulk wafers.”

CNN reporter Kaya Yurieff writes that MIT researchers have created a device that can harvest drinking water from the air, even in desert climates. “I'm most excited about being able to realize a functioning device in these remote areas and to be able to provide clean water to all the people who need it," says Prof. Evelyn Wang. 

In an article published by Scientific American, Amin Al-Habaibeh writes about a device developed by MIT researchers that can extract drinking water from the atmosphere. Al-Habaibeh notes that the device’s ability to harvest water in dry regions, only using solar power, makes it a “particularly promising technology for harvesting water in arid or desert regions of the world.”

MIT researchers have developed a device that draws water from the air using solar power, writes David Morris for Fortune. The device could serve as a possible solution for regions facing issues with water access, and “could unleash massive growth in regions where it’s still a problem, both at home and abroad,” concludes Morris.

Joe Palca of NPR reports on a device developed by researchers from MIT and the University of California at Berkeley that uses a new technique to extract water from the air. Palca explains that the device uses “less power and works in drier environments,” than other technologies designed to turn water vapor into drinking water. 

STAT reporter Eric Boodman writes that MIT researchers have engineered living materials that glow when they detect certain chemicals. Boodman notes that the researchers hope the living sensors “could at some point be used to pick up dangerous toxins or the chemical signs of disease.”

A device co-developed by Prof. Evelyn Wang can remove water vapor from the air, producing almost 3 liters of water a day, writes Robert Service for Science. The device could eventually be used to provide homes in the driest parts of the world with “a solar-powered appliance capable of delivering all the water they need, offering relief to billions of people.”

Prof. Evelyn Wang and her colleagues have developed a device that can remove water from the air, writes Sam Lemonick for Forbes. “The technology could be a boon to people living in arid regions or places where there is extreme drought,” writes Lemonick. 

Newsweek reporter Hannah Osborne writes that researchers from MIT and the University of California at Berkeley have developed a device that can extract drinking water from the air using power generated by sunlight. “Because this device is passive you can really reach out to remote areas that don’t have infrastructure,” explains Prof. Evelyn Wang. 

Louis Columbus of Forbes writes about MIT Technology Review’s 2017 list of technological breakthroughs, which features several innovations from MIT researchers. Featured MIT research includes a new solar cell design that could double the efficiency of conventional solar cells, and the Cell Atlas, an initiative to catalog every cell type in the human body. 

Amit Kumar, a research scientist at MIT and director of strategy and impact for the MIT Energy Club, speaks with Marshall Brennan of Nature Chemistry’s “Sceptical Chymist” blog. Kumar notes that he hopes his research will “help provide environmentally sound and sustainable solutions to the pressing need for clean water and energy.”

New Scientist reporter Sam Wong writes that MIT researchers used high-speed cameras to examine how raindrops can spread soil bacteria. “The researchers estimate that a single raindrop can transfer 0.01 per cent of bacteria on the soil surface into the air, and up to a quarter of bacteria emitted from the land might become airborne in this way.” 

Using high-speed cameras and fluorescent dye, MIT researchers have uncovered how rain drops can spread soil bacteria, reports Rae Ellen Bichell for NPR. The researchers found that in a few microseconds “a single raindrop can create hundreds of tiny airborne droplets, each one carrying as many as several thousand live bacteria.”