Research

In this series, a 3-D printed multimaterial shape-memory minigripper, consisting of shape-memory hinges and adaptive touching tips, grasps a cap screw.

3-D printed structures “remember” their shapes

Heat-responsive materials may aid in controlled drug delivery and solar panel tracking.

August 26, 2016

Ginkgo Bioworks staff members Ramya Prathuri (left) and Nate Tedford work at the mass spectrometer in the Ginkgo foundry.

Hacking microbes

Startup’s engineered yeast helps clients produce fragrances and flavors more efficiently.

August 25, 2016

MIT researchers have added an extra layer of control to the CRISPR gene-editing approach, by making the system responsive to light.

Using light to control genome editing

New technique offers precise manipulation of when and where genes are targeted.

August 25, 2016

Clownfish fight off predators of anemones that in turn provide habitats for the clownfish, an example of mutualism. But mutualistic relationships aren’t always set in stone; depending on environmental conditions, once-simpatico species can become competitors.

A mutual breakdown

Species relationships devolve from jointly beneficial to competitive in benign environments.

August 24, 2016

New method developed for producing some metals

Using electricity rather than heat can reduce both energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

August 24, 2016

Field test participant Asma Patham uses a water test kit in the Khodiyarnagar neighborhood of Ahmedabad.

MIT-USAID program releases technology evaluation of water test kits

Study of water test kits used in Gujarat, India, assesses suitability, scalability, and sustainability.

August 23, 2016

PhD Ezzeldin Hamed, professor Dina Katabi, and visiting researcher Hariharan Rahul developed MegaMIMO to address spectrum crunch.

Solving network congestion

MegaMIMO system from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab speeds data transfer by coordinating multiple routers at the same time.

August 23, 2016

“You need to have the ability for researchers and engineers to try out thousands of ideas,” says Hari Balakrishnan, the Fujitsu Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. “With this platform, you become constrained not by hardware or technological limitations, but by your creativity. You can innovate much more rapidly.”

Programmable network routers

New design should enable much more flexible traffic management, without sacrificing speed.

August 23, 2016

Lab experiments carried out by an MIT and Oxford University team provide detailed information about how a liquid moves through spaces in a porous material, revealing the key role of a characteristic called wettability.

Study reveals new physics of how fluids flow in porous media

Key flow mechanisms, crucial to carbon sequestration and fuel-cell operation, have been visualized.

August 22, 2016

Researchers have developed a new way of imaging the middle ear using infrared light, which they say could provide much more accurate diagnosis of ear infections.

A new eye on the middle ear

Shortwave infrared instrument from MIT could see deeper, help improve diagnosis of ear infections.

August 22, 2016

MIT graduate student George Ni holds a bubble-wrapped, sponge-like device that soaks up natural sunlight and heats water to boiling temperatures, generating steam through its pores.

Sponge creates steam using ambient sunlight

Bubble-wrapped structure requires no mirrors or lenses to focus the sun’s heat.

August 22, 2016

Michael Floyd, a research scientist in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, says that in developing seismic hazard assessments, it’s important to consider afterslip and slowly creeping faults, which occur often and over long periods of time following the more obvious earthquake.

2014 Napa earthquake continued to creep, weeks after main shock

Continuing seismic activity could pose additional hazards to infrastructure.

August 19, 2016

MIT biological engineers have devised a memory storage system illustrated here as a DNA-embedded meter that is recording the activity of a signaling pathway in a human cell.

Recording analog memories in human cells

Engineers program human cells to store complex histories in their DNA.

August 18, 2016

Inaugural J-PAL Health Care Delivery Innovation Competition winners announced

Four organizations will partner with J-PAL North America to evaluate substance abuse treatment, care integration, social-service delivery, and patient-engagement programs.

August 18, 2016

SolidEnergy Systems' battery (far right) is twice as energy-dense, yet just as safe and long-lasting as the lithium ion batteries used in consumer electronics. The battery uses a lithium metal foil for an anode, which can hold more ions and is several times thinner and lighter than traditional lithium metal, graphite, carbon, or silicon anodes. A novel electrolyte also keeps the battery from heati...

Doubling battery power of consumer electronics

New lithium metal batteries could make smartphones, drones, and electric cars last twice as long.

August 16, 2016

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3-D printed structures “remember” their shapes

Hacking microbes

Using light to control genome editing

A mutual breakdown

New method developed for producing some metals

MIT-USAID program releases technology evaluation of water test kits

Solving network congestion

Programmable network routers

Study reveals new physics of how fluids flow in porous media

A new eye on the middle ear

Sponge creates steam using ambient sunlight

2014 Napa earthquake continued to creep, weeks after main shock

Recording analog memories in human cells

Inaugural J-PAL Health Care Delivery Innovation Competition winners announced

Doubling battery power of consumer electronics

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