Research

Membrane structures in plant xylem from different species are being investigated for use in water filtration.

J-WAFS Solutions program awards $750,000 in commercialization grants

Four new projects and one renewal receive $150,000 in funding for 2016-2017.

August 12, 2016

Researchers designed and tested several types of optical sensors that could be placed at the tip of an epidural needle and determined that the best is one that relies on Raman spectroscopy. This technique, which uses light to measure energy shifts in molecular vibrations, offers detailed information about the chemical composition of tissue.

Needles that hit the right mark

New sensor could help anesthesiologists place needles for epidurals and other medical procedures.

August 11, 2016

Researchers at MIT have developed a new way of making windows that can switch from transparent to opaque using electrochromic materials. Once the glass is switched from clear to dark, or vice versa, the new system requires little to no power to maintain its new state; unlike other materials, it only needs electricity when it’s time to switch back again.

MIT develops self-shading windows

New system can rapidly switch glass from transparent to dark — and keep it that way without power.

August 11, 2016

An aerial view shows flooded rice fields after Typhoon Haiyan hit Iloilo Province in central Philippines.

Assessing crop damage after extreme weather

New method to track the impact of typhoons and other natural disasters could enable more precise, timely delivery of food aid.

August 10, 2016

Simulations written in Simit, a new programming language, were dozens or even hundreds of times as fast as those written in existing simulation languages. But they required only one-tenth as much code as meticulously hand-optimized simulations that could achieve similar execution speeds.

User-friendly language for programming efficient simulations

New language can speed up computer simulations 200-fold or reduce the code they require by 90 percent.

August 10, 2016

Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Indiana University at Bloomington describe a new system that permits database queries for genome-wide association studies but reduces the chances of privacy compromises to almost zero.

Protecting privacy in genomic databases

System helps ensure databases used in medical research will not leak patients’ personal information.

August 9, 2016

In an invited report and presentation at the White House ahead of the Paris climate negotiations, Jessika Trancik of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society described an analysis that she and her colleagues at MIT and Tsinghua University performed, including results that demonstrate a mutually reinforcing cycle between emissions-reduction policies and technology development.

Reducing emissions, improving technology: A mutually reinforcing cycle

An MIT study on the connection between technology development and emissions-reduction policies informs Paris climate negotiations.

August 8, 2016

Clockwise from top left: Cathy Drennan, professor of chemistry and biology at MIT; Squire Booker, a professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State; Martin McLaughlin ’15; and an image of LipA.

Research by MIT undergrad helps crack chemical mystery

Study finds enzyme “cannibalizes” itself to perform an essential reaction.

August 8, 2016

MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering graduate student Peter Su shows Summer Scholar Ashley Del Valle Morales how to operate a laser and detector system she will use during her summer project under Senior Research Scientist Anuradha Agarwal.

Chemical sensing at telecom wavelengths

Summer Scholar Ashley Del Valle Morales probes new a silicon carbide system in the MIT Microphotonics Center.

August 8, 2016

Toward practical quantum computers

Built-in optics could enable chips that use trapped ions as quantum bits.

August 8, 2016

Neuroscientists have long wondered why the brain has a region exclusively dedicated to reading — a skill that is unique to humans and only developed about 5,400 years ago.

Study finds brain connections key to reading

Pathways that exist before kids learn to read may determine development of brain’s word recognition area.

August 8, 2016

“My lab’s goal is to really provide molecular insight, using NMR spectroscopy to answer a lot of structural, dynamic, and mechanistic questions” about membrane proteins, says Mei Hong, an MIT professor of chemistry.

Analyzing dynamic proteins

Chemistry professor Mei Hong studies the structures of proteins embedded in cell membranes.

August 8, 2016

After the financial-sector crisis in 2007 and 2008, a large portion of investments people had considered safe were suddenly understood to be risky. And yet, the ensuing flight to safe assets, such as U.S. debt, has come with its own cost.

The safety trap

Lack of secure investments is hindering growth globally, research finds.

August 5, 2016

The ability to ferment low-cost feedstocks under nonsterile conditions may enable new classes of biochemicals and biofuels, such as microbial oil produced by the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica (shown here, oil in lipid bodies is stained green and cells walls stained blue).

Microbial engineering technique could reduce contamination in biofermentation plants

Approach could lower cost and eliminate need for antibiotics during biofuel production.

August 4, 2016

A new microfluidic device that replicates the neuromuscular junction — the vital connection where nerve meets muscle — contains a small cluster of neurons (green) and a single muscle fiber (red). A fluorescence image, bottom, shows the motor neurons sending out axons toward a muscle strip over a distance of about 1 millimeter.

Replicating the connection between muscles and nerves

New chip could help test drugs for ALS, other neuromuscular disorders.

August 3, 2016

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J-WAFS Solutions program awards $750,000 in commercialization grants

Needles that hit the right mark

MIT develops self-shading windows

Assessing crop damage after extreme weather

User-friendly language for programming efficient simulations

Protecting privacy in genomic databases

Reducing emissions, improving technology: A mutually reinforcing cycle

Research by MIT undergrad helps crack chemical mystery

Chemical sensing at telecom wavelengths

Toward practical quantum computers

Study finds brain connections key to reading

Analyzing dynamic proteins

The safety trap

Microbial engineering technique could reduce contamination in biofermentation plants

Replicating the connection between muscles and nerves

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Research