The launch of the AFFOA headquarters featured demos of two new smart fabrics, including a programmable backpack and fabric that uses LED lights to stream information to the wearer, writes Donna Goodison for the Boston Herald. Prof. Yoel Fink, AFFOA’s CEO, explains that, “the way to changing what fabrics are involves changing what fibers are.”
Boston Globe reporter Hiawatha Bray writes that at the launch of the AFFOA headquarters, researchers unveiled smart fabrics that can send messages, tune in audio signals and more. Bray writes that Prof. Yoel Fink, CEO of AFFOA, explained that “because the new fibers can process data like a computer…engineers will be able to develop an endless array of ways to use it.”
Zeninjor Enwemeka reports for WBUR on the opening of the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) headquarters, during which the center’s first fabric products were unveiled. Enwemeka explains the, “big idea here is to develop fabrics that provide services. The folks at AFFOA think fabrics are the next software.”
In this article and video, CNBC reporter Anmar Frangoul explores Prof. Vladimir Bulović’s work developing ultra-light and thin solar cells that could be used to power electronic devices and could eventually be scaled to power buildings. Bulović explains that over the next decade, “a very significant fraction of the world’s electricity will be provided by solar.”
Reporting for WBUR, Karen Weintraub speaks with Profs. Angela Belcher, Sangeeta Bhatia and Paula Hammond about their work developing tiny tools to target cancer cells. Bhatia explains that their collaboration feels like, “a dream team of people that are interested in nanoscience and nanotechnology and focusing those advances on cancer.”
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.
Clive Cookson of the Financial Times spotlights the work of Institute Professor Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus, who died at 86. Known as the “Queen of Carbon,” Dresselhaus’ research “led the way to round molecules with 60 carbon atoms, known as fullerenes or buckyballs, and ultimately to graphene,” explains Cookson.
Wall Street Journal reporter James Hagerty spotlights Institute Professor Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus’ pioneering work in thermoelectric materials and as an advocate for women in science. Prof. Pablo Jarillo-Herrero says that Dresselhaus, who died on February 20th, was also known for helping struggling students. “She was always able to see the best in you and bring it out.”
MIT researchers have developed a cost-effective, cell analysis method using graphene sheets, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. The new technique could allow “simple sheets of graphene oxide to function as a diagnostics device for medical and biological tests,” Hays explains.
NPR reporter Colin Dwyer writes about the life and work of Institute Professor Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus, who died at 86. Dwyer writes that “during her celebrated career, she sought to prepare a path for potential successors — the female scientists whom she mentored and opened doors for across decades.”
Institute Prof. Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus, known for her work deciphering the secrets of carbon, died at 86, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. Dresselhaus’ granddaughter Leora Cooper, an MIT graduate student, explained that by being a role model for women in STEM, “she encouraged me to not just see the changes that needed to be made, but to start making them.”
Institute Professor Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus, who was known as the “queen of carbon science” and was an advocate for women in STEM, died at 86, reports Mark Anderson for IEEE Spectrum. Dresselhaus “pioneered the study of carbon nanostructures at a time when studying physical and material properties of commonplace atoms like carbon was out of favor.”
In this Wired video, Prof. Anette “Peko” Hosoi explains how she and her team designed a material, inspired by semiaquatic mammals, to help keep surfers warm. “We want to understand the physical mechanisms behind the biological solution and then adapt those mechanisms into engineering design."
MIT researchers have developed a sensor capable of detecting single protein molecules, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. The sensor could be used “to aid efforts to better understand disease and develop drugs. The array could even help scientists engineer human cells to produce therapeutic proteins.”
MIT researchers have created a new strong, yet lightweight material by using a 3-D printer to fuse flakes of graphene into a sponge-like object, reports Nick Kwek for BBC News. “The newfangled product could be used in the construction of airplanes or buildings,” says Kwek.