New way to make batteries safer
Coating prevents electrical current from damaging the digestive tract after battery ingestion.
Catching air
Jimmy Gasore is working on Africa’s first high-frequency climate observatory in his native Rwanda.
Stretching oxides to modulate electrochemical properties
Grad students Lixin Sun and Qiyang Lu are developing techniques for applying strain to materials to accelerate oxygen-reduction reactions for applications in solid-oxide fuel cells.
Raising cryptography’s standards
Calculating encryption schemes’ theoretical security guarantees eases comparison, improvement.
Harnessing error-prone chips
New system would allow programmers to easily trade computational accuracy for energy savings.
Beating battery drain
Startup’s power-conserving chip may increase smartphone battery life, save energy in cell towers.
Better chemotherapy through targeted delivery
New approach could kill tumor cells in the brain more effectively and avoid side effects.
A double-edged sword
An enzyme key to DNA repair can worsen tissue damage caused by stroke and organ transplantation.
Microscopic “walkers” find their way across cell surfaces
Technology could provide a way to deliver probes or drugs to cell structures without outside guidance.
Fast modeling of cancer mutations
New genome-editing technique enables rapid analysis of genes mutated in tumors.
Said and Done for October 2014
Digest of the MIT humanities, arts, and social sciences features a Nobel Prize, a new professorship in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, three new SHASS websites, and more.
Getting the salt out
Study shows electrodialysis can provide cost-effective treatment of salty water from fracked wells.
Why sign rights treaties?
Study: Autocratic leaders who sign human-rights treaties seek political gain, not material benefits.