MIT researchers have developed a new smart pill that could be used to help doctors track treatment more accurately, and ensure patients stay on their medication schedule, reports Kurt Knutsson for Fox News. “If you or a loved one relies on critical medication, this kind of technology could add an extra layer of safety,” Knuttson explains. “It may reduce guesswork for doctors and ease pressure on patients who manage complex treatment plans.”
In an effort to help medical professionals ensure patients are taking medications as prescribed, researchers at MIT have developed a “drug capsule containing an RFID tag that uses radiofrequency (RF) signals to communicate that it has been swallowed, and then bioresorbs into the body,” reports Tami Freeman for Physics World. “Medication non-adherence remains a major cause of preventable morbidity and cost, but existing ingestible tracking systems rely on non-degradable electronics,” explains Prof. Giovanni Traverso. Our motivation was to create a passive, battery-free adherence sensor that confirms ingestion while fully biodegrading, avoiding long-term safety and environmental concerns associated with persistent electronic devices.”
Interesting Engineering reporter Atharva Gosavi features MIT researchers and their work developing a passive atmospheric water generator. The researchers developed a “passive device that harvests clean drinking water from desert air without electricity,” explains Gosavi. “The window-sized panel uses a hydrogel-desiccant combo absorbing vapor at night and releasing it via sunlight-driven condensation – no batteries, fans, or power needed.” Gosavi adds that the device is a “perfect climate-resilient solution for droughts.”
Researchers at MIT have developed an ingestible “smart pill” that uses radio frequency to communicate from the stomach when patients have taken their medications. “It may sound simple, but the stakes are high,” reports McKenzie Beard for the New York Post. “Studies show that half of all Americans with chronic conditions don’t take their long-term medications as prescribed.”
Researchers at MIT have developed an ingestible pill that “contains a biodegradable radiofrequency antenna” which can be used to monitor patients’ medication intake, reports Nancy Lapid for Reuters. “After [the antenna] sends out the signal that the pill has been consumed, most components break down in the stomach while a tiny radiofrequency chip passes out of the body through the digestive tract,” explains Lapid.
Researchers at MIT have developed an ingestible pill that can communicate from the stomach and could help monitor patients' medication use, reports Prabhat Ranjan Mishra for Interesting Engineering. “After it sends out the signal that the pill has been consumed, most components break down in the stomach while a tiny RF chip passes out of the body through the digestive tract," writes Mishra.
In a roundup of the biggest tech breakthroughs of 2025, Forbes reporter Alex Knapp spotlights how MIT engineers developed magnetic transistors, a “discovery [that] could enable faster and more energy-efficient semiconductors.”
Researchers at MIT have developed microscopic devices that “can travel autonomously through the blood and provide electrical stimulation to precise brain regions,” and could one day be used to treat brain diseases, mental illness, or other parts of the body, reports Zoe Kriegler for Medical Design & Outsourcing. The development of microscopic wireless electronic devices (SWEDs) could “eliminate the need for brain surgery in some cases, decreasing the risk to the patient and the expense of the procedure by hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Kriegler explains.
Prof. Deblina Sarkar speaks with Forbes reporter William A. Haseltine about her work developing “circulatronics,” microscopic electronics devices that could one day be used to help treat brain diseases. “What we have developed are tiny electronic devices that can travel through body fluids and autonomously find their target regions, with no external guidance or imaging,” explains Sarkar. “They provide very precise electrical stimulation of neurons without the need for surgery.”
CNN spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a new ultrasonic device that can extract clean drinking water from moisture in the atmosphere. “This method is much faster, we’re talking minutes instead of hours, compared to the old way,“ CNN explains. The new device “could be a game-changer in desert conditions, and for communities around the world that don’t have reliable access to drinking water.”
Researchers at MIT have developed a new “system that uses a vibrating ceramic ring to produce clean drinking water from humid air in several minutes,” reports Matthew Burgos for DesignBoom. Burgos explains that with the system developed by MIT researchers, "clean water-making can take a few minutes versus the tens of minutes or hours required by thermal designs. In their system, the engineers use ultrasonic waves to shake the water out of the material that can absorb moisture from the air.”
MIT researchers have developed a “printable aluminum alloy that can withstand high temperatures and is five times stronger than traditionally manufactured aluminum,” reports Andrew Corselli for Tech Briefs. “The researchers envision that the new printable aluminum could be made into stronger, more lightweight and temperature-resistant products, such as fan blades in jet engines,” Corselli explains.
Graduate student Chung-Tao (Josh) Chou speaks with Tech Briefs reporter Andrew Corselli about his work developing a magnetic transistor that could lead to more energy-efficient circuits. “People have known about magnets for thousands of years, but there are very limited ways to incorporate magnetism into electronics,” says Chou. “We have shown a new way to efficiently utilize magnetism that opens up a lot of possibilities for future applications and research.”
Researchers at MIT have developed magnetic transistors, “which could enable faster and more energy-efficient semiconductors,” reports Alex Knapp for Forbes. “Researchers have been trying to use magnets this way for years, but the materials used so far haven’t been optimal for computing functions,” explains Knapp. “That changed after experimenting with chromium sulfur bromide, which replaces the silicon in a conventional microchip and enables the transistors to be switched on and off with an electric current.”
Prof. Xuanhe Zhao and his research group have been named one of the winners of the 2025 Gizmodo Science Fair for their work “creating an atmospheric water harvesting device that could improve access to potable water in the most remote, arid regions of the world,” reports Ellyn Lapointe for Gizmodo. “We are truly proud and excited about this work—and about the potential to help people most in need of safe drinking water,” Zhao said.