Researchers at MIT have developed a new self-assembling battery material that could help combat growing concerns about EV battery waste, reports Grace Snelling for Fast Company. The new method “makes it much easier to separate [battery] component parts, leaving them ready for recycling,” writes Snelling.
Prof. Emeritus Rainer Weiss, a “renowned experimental physicist” who was “integral in confirming the existence of tiny ripples in spacetime called ‘gravitational waves,’” has died, reports Robert Lea for Space.com. “Remarkably, in confirming the existence of gravitational waves, Weiss both proved Einstein right and wrong at the same time,” writes Lea. “Einstein had been convinced that these ripples in spacetime were so faint that no apparatus on Earth could ever be sensitive enough to detect them, showing just how revolutionary LIGO was.”
Tri-City Herald reporter Annette Cary memorializes the life and legacy of MIT Prof. Emeritus Rainer Weiss, a “renowned experimental physicist and Nobel laureate,” who was “key to [the] world’s first gravitational wave discovery.” At the opening ceremony in June 2022 for the LIGO Exploration Center in Hanford, Washington, Weiss relayed how life is more interesting if you have a deeper understanding of the world around you and “how science does its tricks.”
Physics World reporter Michael Banks chronicles the life and work of MIT Prof. Emeritus and gravitational wave pioneer Rainer Weiss. “Weiss came up with the idea of detecting gravitational waves by measuring changes in distance as tiny as 10–18 m via an interferometer several kilometers long,” writes Banks. “His proposal eventually led to the formation of the twin Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), which first detected such waves in 2015.”
In a video for CNN, graduate student Alex Kachkine explains his work developing a method using AI to create a reversible polymer film that could be used to restore damaged oil paintings, making the process faster than manual restoration. Kachkine explains that he hopes his work helps “get more paintings out of storage and into public view as there are many paintings that are damaged that I would love to see and it’s a real shame that there aren’t the resources necessary to restore them.”
Graduate student Alex Kachkine speaks with New York Times reporter Ephrat Livni about his work creating a new AI technique for restoring paintings, and how his research on microchips helped inspire the development. Microchips “require very high degrees of precision,” Kachkine explains. “And it turns out a lot of the techniques we use to achieve that level of precision are applicable to art restoration.” Kachkine adds that he hopes conservators will be able to “leverage the benefits” of the techniques he gleaned from engineering to preserve “really valuable cultural heritage.”
MIT researchers have developed a new method to fortify foods and beverages as part of an effort to combat global malnutrition, reports Insha Naureen for Food Ingredients First. “The innovation offers a potential solution to the global malnutrition crisis due to iron deficiency, which can lead to anemia, impaired brain development in children, and increased infant mortality,” Naureen explains. “Beyond iron and iodine, this platform can also deliver multiple micronutrients or bioactive compounds in a single formulation, enabling targeted nutritional strategies,” explains Ana Jaklenec, a principal investigator at the Koch Institute.
Researchers at MIT have developed a new nutrient fortification process “to deliver essential nutrients such as iron and iodine in foods and drinks,” reports Ben Cornwell for New Food Magazine. “With around two billion people worldwide suffering from iron deficiency, which can lead to anemia, impaired brain development in children and higher infant mortality, this solution from MIT could address a major global issue,” writes Cornwell.
Graduate student Alex Kachkine has developed a new technique that “uses AI-generated polymer films to physically restore damaged paintings in hours,” reports Benj Edwards for Ars Technica. “Kachkine's method works by printing a transparent ‘mask’ containing thousands of precisely color-matched regions that conservators can apply directly to an original artwork,” explains Edwards. “Unlike traditional restoration, which permanently alters the painting, these masks can reportedly be removed whenever needed. So it's a reversible process that does not permanently change a painting.”
Guardian reporter Ian Sample highlights how graduate student Alex Kachkine has developed a new approach to restoring age-damaged artwork in hours. “The technique draws on artificial intelligence and other computer tools to create a digital reconstruction of the damaged painting,” explains Sample. “This is then printed on to a transparent polymer sheet that is carefully laid over the work.”
Graduate student Alex Kachkine speaks with Nature reporter Amanda Heidt about his work developing a new restoration method for restoring damaged artwork. The method uses “digital tools to create a ‘mask’ of pigments that can be printed and varnished onto damaged paintings,” explains Heidt. The method “reduces both the cost and time associated with art restoration and could one day give new life to many of the paintings held in institutional collections — perhaps as many as 70% — that remain hidden from public view owing to damage.”
Nature spotlights graduate student Alex Kachkine – an engineer, art collector and art conservator – on his quest to develop a new AI-powered, art restoration method, reports Geoff Marsh for Nature. “My hope is that conservators around the planet will be able to use these techniques to restore paintings that have never been seen by the general public,” says Kachkine. “Many institutions have paintings that arrived at them a century ago, have never been shown because they are so damaged and there are no resources to restore them. And hopefully this technique means we will be able to see more of those publicly.”
Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang and his colleagues have developed a sodium-air fuel cell that “packs three to four times more energy per pound than common lithium-ion batteries,” reports Aaron Pressman for The Boston Globe, which could serve as “a potentially groundbreaking clean power source for airplanes.” Pressman adds that: “Ultimately, a sodium-air fuel cell could power a regional jet carrying 50 to 100 passengers on flights as long as 300 miles.”
Prof. Carlos Portela and postdoc James Surjadi speaks with TechBriefs reporter Andrew Corselli about their work developing a new metamaterial that is both strong and stretchy. “We have demonstrated the concept with these polymeric materials and, from here, we see a couple of opportunities,” Surjadi explains. “One is extending this to more brittle material systems. The real dream will be to be able to do this with glasses, other ceramics, or even metals — things that normally we don't expect to deform a lot before they break. Brittle materials are the perfect candidates for us to try to make into woven-type architectures.”
Researchers at MIT have developed a new technique to fabricate “a metamaterial that is both stretchy and strong,” reports Alex Knapp for Forbes. The researchers also discovered that their new fabrication technique can be applied to the development of new materials, Knapp explains, adding that: “future research will be directed toward developing stretchy glass, ceramics and textiles.”