Prof. James Collins has been named one of The Boston Globe’s “2016 Bostonians of the Year” for his work developing a paper-based test that can detect the Zika virus in just a few hours. Neil Swidey notes that Collins also developed a “workflow for how this new platform could be adapted to meet future crises.”
MIT researchers have found that water can stay frozen, even when heated to boiling temperatures, when molecules are placed inside tiny carbon nanotubes, reports Sam Lemonick for Forbes. The researchers hope to use the “ice-filled tubes as wires to move protons,” a key step in creating hydrogen fuel cells.
FOX 25 reporter Elizabeth Hopkins visited the lab of Prof. Michael Strano to learn more about his nanobionic spinach plant research. "What we've done is we've transformed a living plant into a chemical sensor,” Strano says.
Scientists at MIT have developed spinach plants that can detect and alert people about explosives, reports Matthew Gunther for Scientific American. Grad student Min Hao Wong explains that plants are good sensors as “through the transpiration process, plants draw up water and other analytes from the ground, and can accumulate even trace levels of analytes within [their] tissues.”
CBS News reporter Brian Mastroianni writes that MIT researchers have engineered spinach plants to serve as sensors by embedding the leaves with carbon nanotubes. Mastroianni explains that the researchers feel this work shows that “plants could ultimately serve as great collaborators in helping people better understand the environment around them.”
MIT researchers have created bomb-detecting spinach by embedding fluorescent nanoparticles into the plant’s leaves, The Guardian reports. Plants are ideal for this detection system because they “have built-in power sources and are able to move fluids around very efficiently,” explains Prof. Michael Strano.
BBC News reporter Paul Rincon writes that by embedding carbon nanotubes into spinach leaves, MIT researchers have created plants that can detect explosives. “The plants could be used for defense applications, but also to monitor public spaces for terrorism related activities,” explains Prof. Michael Strano.
CBC reporter Nora Young explores how MIT researchers have developed a new material, inspired by beaver fur, that could help keep surfers warm. “In sports technology there's a great need for textiles that have great insulating properties in water, but still let you stay agile and nimble,” explains graduate student Alice Nasto.
MIT researchers have developed a new technique to stop the spread of cancer cells through the body by delivering microRNAs to the site of the primary tumor, reports Hallie Smith for Boston Magazine. The technique “may correct gene disruptions that put a patient at risk of metastatic cancer,” Smith explains.
Edd Gent writes for LiveScience that MIT researchers “have devised a new fabrication process that uses ultraviolet (UV) light to print successive layers of polymers into 3D, Transformer-like structures that ‘remember’ their shapes.”
David Morris writes for Fortune that researchers at the MIT spinoff SolidEnergy Systems are developing a longer-lasting lithium metal battery for smartphones and wearables. Morris writes that the battery has “about double the energy density of today’s standard lithium-ion battery.”
In an article about technologies that can help detect rotten food, Ryan Mandelbaum writes for Popular Science about a sensor developed by MIT researchers “that can detect the chemicals that come off of spoiled meat or rotting fruits.”
A team of scientists, including MIT researchers, has analyzed the measurements made by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and found no evidence of the sterile neutrino, a new type of neutrino, reports Brendan Cole for Wired.
MIT researchers have developed a new lithium-oxygen battery concept that improves energy efficiency and longevity, and could potentially be used in long-distance electric cars and smartphones, reports Ben Woods for Wired. The new approach results in “faster charging and more efficient batteries, due to lower heat wastage,” Woods explains.
MIT researchers have developed a new water-based material that could be used to make artificial skin, long-lasting contact lenses and drug-delivering bandages, writes Jamie Ducharme for Boston Magazine. “It’s interesting to imagine a world where your medicine cabinet is stocked with hydrogel-elastomer hybrids instead of contact lenses and Band-Aids,” writes Ducharme.