Research

A strong immune response can be seen in this immunofluorescence image of lung tissue infected with pneumonia where immune cells are stained green and red.

With these nanoparticles, a simple urine test could diagnose bacterial pneumonia

Results could also indicate whether antibiotics have successfully treated the infection.

November 29, 2018

MIT Kavli Institute director Jacqueline Hewitt stands with a prototype of one of the four cameras aboard the Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey (TESS) instrument. Hewitt, who has overseen the TESS mission from NASA proposal to satellite launch in April, will step down as Kavli Institute director in January.

Jacqueline Hewitt to step down as director of the MIT Kavli Institute

Physics professor brought leadership, resources, and an intellectual focus to the MIT astrophysics faculty and research staff during 15 years at the helm.

November 29, 2018

Six days after treatment with IGF-1 carried by dendrimer nanoparticles (blue), the particles have penetrated through the cartilage of the knee joint.

Potential arthritis treatment prevents cartilage breakdown

Injectable material made of nanoscale particles can deliver arthritis drugs throughout cartilage.

November 28, 2018

Two versions of the device designed by MIT researchers, using a strip of metal to block direct sunlight, were built and tested on the roof of an MIT building to confirm that they could provide cooling well below ambient air temperature.

A new way to provide cooling without power

Device developed at MIT could provide refrigeration for off-grid locations.

November 28, 2018

Neurons from 19-month-old mice (bottom row) show much higher rates of oxidative stress than neurons from 9-week-old mice (top row). Lipofuscin, a molecule associated with aging-related oxidative stress, appears red.

Biologists discover an unusual hallmark of aging in neurons

Snippets of RNA that accumulate in brain cells could interfere with normal function.

November 27, 2018

Building the ultimate record of the ocean

Carl Wunsch continues to expand his foundational framework for understanding the behavior of worldwide oceans as a whole.

November 21, 2018

A new MIT plane is propelled via ionic wind. Batteries in the fuselage (tan compartment in front of plane) supply voltage to electrodes (blue/white horizontal lines) strung along the length of the plane, generating a wind of ions that propels the plane forward.

MIT engineers fly first-ever plane with no moving parts

The silent, lightweight aircraft doesn’t depend on fossil fuels.

November 21, 2018

Throughout the MIT Joint Program’s agriculture workshop, attendees from industry, government, and academia engaged in detailed discussions with Joint Program agriculture specialists.

The future of food production amid global change

MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change workshop explores risks and opportunities for the agriculture sector.

November 20, 2018

Photos show a solar installation from 1988 (left) and a present-day version. Though the basic underlying technology is the same, a variety of factors have contributed to a hundredfold decline in costs. Now, researchers have identified the relative importance of these different factors.

Explaining the plummeting cost of solar power

Researchers uncover the factors that have caused photovoltaic module costs to drop by 99 percent.

November 20, 2018

Water droplets are inserted into the microhydraulic actuator, which rotates when voltage is applied to electrodes that pull the droplets in one direction. This disc-shaped actuator's inner diameter is 5 millimeters.

Using electricity and water, a new kind of motor can slide microrobots into motion

Microhydraulic actuators, thinner than one-third the width of human hair, are proving to be the most powerful and efficient motors at the microscale.

November 19, 2018

Neural representations of task rules are maintained in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for planning action.

How the brain switches between different sets of rules

When you slow down after exiting the highway, or hush your voice in the library, you’re using this brain mechanism.

November 19, 2018

The common model of gene regulation imagines the nucleus of the cell as a large space in which molecules involved in DNA transcription float around seemingly at random.

Activating a new understanding of gene regulation

Study reveals the role of the activation domain, a part of transcription factors previously shrouded in mystery.

November 16, 2018

MIT researchers have found that bacteria can affect a bubble’s longevity.

Bursting bubbles launch bacteria from water to air

Study illuminates new mode of bacteria dispersal.

November 15, 2018

MIT Media Lab researchers have developed a wireless system that leverages the cheap RFID tags already on hundreds of billions of products to sense potential food contamination.

Putting food-safety detection in the hands of consumers

Simple, scalable wireless system uses the RFID tags on billions of products to sense contamination.

November 14, 2018

Using a high-resolution system called electron tomography, researchers probed a tiny sample of kerogen to determine its internal structure. At left, the sample as seen from the outside, and at right, the detailed 3-D image of its internal pore structure.

Structure of fossil-fuel source rocks is finally decoded

Detailed 3-D imaging of kerogen, a source of petroleum and natural gas, could improve estimates of recoverable amounts.

November 12, 2018

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology - On Campus and Around the world

Browse By

Topics

Departments

Centers, Labs, & Programs

Schools

Topic