Mechanical engineering

The Economist describes how the Atlantic Razor clam’s digging capabilities inspired Professor Amos Winter to develop a new robot that can dig 20 centimeters into the sea floor in just 20 seconds.

MIT researchers are developing a new more economic and efficient method to filter bacteria from water, reports Yao-Hua Law for Reuters. The new technique could help provide clean water to people in developing countries.  

Writing for Scientific American, Geoffrey Giller explores a new device developed by MIT researchers that combines elements of both photovoltaic cells and solar-thermal thermal systems to generate power from the sun.

NPR’s Joe Palca reports on MIT Professor Rohit Karnik’s work to develop a cheap and effective way to filter water. Karnik’s new solution is a filter made from a pinewood branch peeled of its bark.

Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson writes that Professor Rohit Karnik has developed a, “promising next-generation water filter that might be effective, cheap, and biodegradable.”

“Now, researchers at MIT, in Cambridge, Mass., and the Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie (UPMC), in Paris, are teasing out the physics of curly hair,” writes Denise Chow of new MIT research to understand why and how hair curls.

“The function of xylem's filtration formed the basis of a paper published this week by a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” Jason Tetro writes of Rohit Karnik’s work with water filtration in the Huffington Post. “The premise was that xylem could help to filter water and make it safe to drink.”

Amanda Schaffer reports on Professor Linda Griffith’s work with endometriosis in The New Yorker, explaining how Griffith, “analyzed how a whole network of cells and molecules interacts in some patients to cause inflammation, which triggers pain and may also spur the disease’s progression.”

Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson writes about how MIT researchers have created a toolset to predict how hair curls. Findings could be used to create realistic animated characters, as well as in the telecommunications, medical, or oil and gas industries.

The Financial Times explores new MIT research into the mechanics behind underwater or “internal waves.” Through their work, which could prove useful in climate modeling, researchers found that ocean ridges and channels cause the gigantic waves to form.

Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson examines a study led by MIT bioengineer Linda Griffith. The study is a first step in providing a more informed way of classifying endometriosis a disease which Griffith herself suffers from.