Nanoscience and nanotechnology

Prof. Moungi Bawendi, a recipient of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, speaks with Nobel Prize Conversations host Adam Smith about the joys of visualizing quantum mechanics, the inspiration for his Nobel-prize winning work and his love of music. “Being in a place like MIT and being exposed to engineering and other scientific fields and medicine across the river and Harvard Medical School and a lot of startups around here, you really are exposed to so many things that are so interesting and I love that,” says Bawendi. “Those things give me ideas of how to go back to the lab and take different directions.” 

MIT scientists have discovered that metals become harder when heated under certain conditions, reports Isabelle Dume for Physics World.  In an interview, Prof. Christopher Schuch says by bombarding metals with tiny bits of sapphire small enough to avoid shock waves, “the result is a clean and quantitative set of data that clearly reveals the counterintuitive ‘hotter-is-stronger’ effect.”

Prof. Sara Seager, Prof. Robert Langer and Prof. Nancy Kanwisher have been awarded the 2024 Kavli Prize for their work in the three award categories: astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience, respectively, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes. According to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, this award honors scientists with outstanding research “that has broadened our understanding of the big, the small and the complex,” writes Nietzel. 

A new study by MIT engineers finds that heating metals can sometimes make them stronger, a “surprising phenomenon [that] could lead to a better understanding of important industrial processes and make for tougher aircraft,” reports Karmela Padavic-Callaghan for New Scientist. “It was just so unexpected or backwards of what you might conventionally see,” explains graduate student Ian Dowding. 

MIT physicists have “successfully placed two dysprosium atoms only 50 nanometers apart—10 times closer than previous studies—using ‘optical tweezers,’” reports Darren Orf for Popular Mechanics. Utilizing this technique can allow scientists to “better understand quantum phenomena such as superconductivity and superradiance,” explains Orf. 

MIT researchers have uncovered the “photomolecular effect,” a process “that demonstrates for the first time that water can evaporate with no source of heat using light alone,” reports Anthony Cuthbertson for The Independent. The “discovery could impact everything from climate change calculations to weather forecasts, while also opening up new practical applications for things like energy and clean water production,” writes Cuthbertson.

Researchers at MIT have discovered that “light in the visible spectrum is enough to knock water molecules loose at the surface where it meets air and send them floating away,” reports Michael Franco for New Atlas. “While the distinction between light-caused evaporation and heat-caused evaporation might not seem like a big one, the researchers say it could not only have a big impact on the way future evaporative projects are executed, but that it could also explain a long-standing discrepancy involving clouds,” writes Franco.

Interesting Engineering reporter Rizwan Choudhury spotlights a new study by MIT researchers that finds light can cause evaporation of water from a surface without the need for heat. The photomolecular effect “presents exciting practical possibilities,” writes Choudhury. “Solar desalination systems and industrial drying processes are prime candidates for harnessing this effect. Since drying consumes significant industrial energy, optimizing this process using light holds immense promise.”

Writing for MIT Technology Review, Georgina Gustin chronicles the research journey of Polina Anikeeva, the MIT scientist and engineer who developed flexible brain probes to stimulate neurons and potentially treat neurological disorders. In 2017, Anikeeva became fascinated by the hypothesis that Parkinson’s might be linked to pathogens in the digestive system. Today she and her team use specialized devices to explore the brain-gut connection. “This is a new frontier,” Anikeeva says. 

Prof. Gregory Rutledge speaks with The Ringer reporter Claire McNear about the science behind nanofibers and whether it's possible to create ultrathin and ultrastrong nanofibers that are invisible to the human eye, as shown in the science fiction series “3 Body Problem.” Rutledge explains that: “Given that a human hair is about 50 micrometers in diameter, a fiber 100 times smaller would be about 500 nanometers in diameter. Such fibers are routinely made by electrospinning, as well as by a couple of other technologies. Metal wires can also be drawn that small.”

TechCrunch reporter Haje Jan Kamps spotlights AgZen, an MIT startup that has developed a new tool that optimizes the use of pesticides to avoid over application. “The real winner in all of this may prove to be public health and the environment,” writes Jan Kamps. “By reducing foliar pesticide usage by 30% to 50%, AgZen’s technology might help mitigate [environmental] impacts, aligning with the critical need for improved spray efficiency highlighted in recent reports.”

A more than $40 million investment to add advanced nano-fabrication equipment and capabilities to MIT.nano will significantly expand the center’s nanofabrication capabilities, reports Jon Chesto for The Boston Globe. The new equipment, which will also be available to scientists outside MIT, will allow “startups and students access to wafer-making equipment used by larger companies. These tools will allow its researchers to make prototypes of an array of microelectronic devices.”

Researchers from MIT have developed, “nanoelectronics they hope can one day enter the brain and treat conditions like Alzheimer’s by monitoring some of these brain patterns,” reports Elizabeth Hlavinka for Salon. “Their device, which they call Cell Rover, serves as a sort of antenna that can help external devices monitor cells.”

During a visit to MIT, National Defense Magazine reporter Sean Carberry met with Prof. John Joannopoulos to learn about how researchers at the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) “are conducting serious research on nanotechnology that could have a big impact on the battlefield.” Carberry notes that ISN researchers conduct fundamental research and have transitioned “numerous technologies ranging from ‘nanostructure amplifying fluorescent polymers for ultra-sensitive explosive detection’ to photonic crystals that enable thermal photovoltaic power generation in a small device that could replace heavy batteries carried by troops.” 

MIT researchers have developed a, “new laser-based technique that could speed up the discovery of promising metamaterials for real-world applications,” reports Andrew Corselli for Tech Briefs. The technique “offers a safe, reliable, and high-throughput way to dynamically characterize microscale metamaterials, for the first time,” reports Corselli.