Prof. Moungi Bawendi has been honored as one of the recipients of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the discovery and development of quantum dots, reports Emma Bubola and Katrina Miller for The New York Times. Prof. William Tisdale described Bawendi’s prizewinning results as a “key enabling advance, after which the field of quantum dots exploded.”
The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Prof. Moungi Bawendi, Prof. Louis Brus of Columbia University and Alexei Ekimov of Nanocrystals Technology Inc., for their work in the discovery and development of quantum dots, reports Christian Edwards, Katie Hunt and Ed Upright for CNN. Bawendi “changed the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in what the [Nobel] committee called ‘almost perfect particles,’” they write. “This development allowed dots to be used in applications.”
Science reporter Daniel Clery spotlights Prof. Moungi Bawendi, one of the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the advancement of quantum dots. “The process devised by Bawendi’s team led to the wide commercialization of quantum dots, with many companies competing to produce nanocrystals cheaply,” writes Clery.
Prof. Moungi Bawendi has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for “fundamental discoveries in nanotechnology, particles once considered impossibly small to make,” reports Mark Johnson for The Washington Post. “In 1993, Moungi revolutionized the process, devising a way to create ‘seed,’ or beginner particles that could then be carefully controlled using temperature,” writes Johnson. “The method allowed him to stop the process to achieve particles of just the right size and quality.”
Prof. Moungi Bawendi has been named one of the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the study and development of quantum dots, “tiny molecules that interact with light in unusual ways,” reports Katharine Sanderson for Nature. “I didn’t think it would be me that would get this prize because we’re all working together on this,” says Bawendi. “There’s still a lot of exciting work to be done in this field.”
Prof. Moungi Bawendi, Prof. Louis Brus of Columbia University and Alexei Ekimov of Nanocrystals Technology Inc., have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work in the development of quantum dots, which are “now used to create color in flat screens, light emitting diode (LED) lamps and devices that help surgeons see blood vessels in tumors,” reports Niklas Pollard and Ludwig Burger for Reuters. “In 1993, Bawendi revolutionized the production of quantum dots, made up of clusters ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand atoms,” writes Pollard and Burger.
In an article about how researchers are exploring why ancient Roman and Mayan buildings are still standing, AP reporter Maddie Burakoff highlights how researchers from MIT found that an ancient Roman technique for manufacturing concrete gave the material “self-healing” properties. “We don’t need to make things last quite as long as the Romans did to have an impact,” says Prof. Admir Masic. “If we add 50 or 100 years to concrete’s lifespan, “we will require less demolition, less maintenance and less material in the long run.”
Ubiquitous Energy, an MIT startup, has created a transparent photovoltaic glass coating, called UE Power, that can turn any surface into a tiny solar panel, reports Teodosia Dobriyanova for Mashable. “The company, however, is prioritizing the use of UE Power on windows in an attempt to help buildings reduce their colossal climate footprint,” writes Dobriyanova.
Ginkgo Bioworks, a biotech company founded by Jason Kelly BS ’03, PhD ’08, Reshma Shetty PhD ‘08, Barry Canton PhD ’08, Austin Che PhD ’08 and Professor Tom Knight, is working to develop synthetic fragrances, reports Scott Kirsner for The Boston Globe.
Researchers at MIT have developed a new nanoparticle sensor that can detect cancerous proteins through a simple urine test. “The researchers designed the tests to be done on a strip of paper, similar to the at-home COVID tests everyone became familiar with during the pandemic,” writes Lambert. “They hope to make it as affordable and accessible to as many patients as possible.”
Researchers at the McGovern and Broad Institutes have developed a bacterial "nanosyringe" that can inject large proteins into specific cells in the body, which could lead to safer and more effective treatments for a variety of conditions, including cancer, reports Michael Le Page for New Scientist. “The fact that this can load a diversity of different payloads of different sizes makes it unique amongst protein delivery devices,” says graduate student Joseph Kreitz.
Ingrid Wickelgren at Scientific American highlights a new study from researchers at the McGovern and Broad Institutes, in which they used a bacterial ‘nanosyringe’ to inject large proteins into human cells. “The syringe technology also holds promise for treating cancer because it can be engineered to attach to receptors on certain cancer cells,” writes Wickelgren.
Graduate student Crystal Owens speaks with NPR correspondent Miles Parks about her study which sought to find out the perfect ratio for breaking apart an Oreo cookie. “What we actually found was that all of the results were basically the same,” says Owens. “You can’t do it wrong because there’s no way to do it right.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Aylin Woodward writes about how graduate student Crystal Owens and undergraduate Max Fan set out to solve a cookie conundrum: whether there was a way to twist apart an Oreo and have the filling stick to both wafers. Woodward writes that for Owens, the research “was a fun, easy way to make her regular physics and engineering work more accessible to the general public.”
MIT engineers have developed a new technique that enables bug-sized aerial robots to handle a sizeable amount of damage and still fly, reports Andrew Paul for Popular Science. “The new repair techniques could come in handy when using flying robots for search-and-rescue missions in difficult environments like dense forests or collapsed buildings,” writes Paul.