“Solar-powered benches, called Soofas, will pop up in Boston parks over the next week,” writes Joey Cosco for Slate about a project by Changing Environments out of the MIT Media Lab. The benches collect environmental data and allow users to charge their mobile devices.
“Soofas are the creation of Changing Environments, an MIT Media Lab spin-out co-founded by three women in their early thirties—a designer, an electrical engineer, and a marketing expert,” writes Caroline Winter of Bloomberg Businessweek about new smart, solar-powered benches in Cambridge and Boston.
ABC News reports on the new smart benches created by Changing Environments, a spinoff from the MIT Media Lab. The ‘Soofas’ will be placed in various locations throughout Boston and Cambridge and allow users to charge phones and download environmental data.
“The high-tech benches were invented by MIT Media Lab spinoff Changing Environments,” writes Meghan Irons of The Boston Globe about new solar-powered “smart benches” coming to Boston. “Your cellphone doesn't just make phone calls, why should our benches just be seats?” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh says of the project.
Writing for Forbes, Neil Kane writes about new technology developed by MIT researchers that allows for solar energy to be captured when the sun is shining and stored for later use.
Atlantic reporter Todd Woody writes about how MIT researchers have developed a way to store solar energy in molecules. The energy inside the molecules can be stored forever and endlessly re-used so that solar power can be accessed even when the sun is not shining, Woody explains.
Boston.com reporter Matt Rocheleau reports on how Professor Jeffrey Grossman and postdoctoral associate Timothy Kucharski have developed a new material that can produce solar power for times when the sun is not shining.
The Guardian reports on new MIT research that shows that adding carbon nanotubes to plants can enhance the natural photosynthesis process. The bionic plants could be used to harvest sunlight or detect environmental pollutants.
Writing for USA Today, Karen Weintraub reports on Professor Michael Strano’s work to give plants the ability to serve as sensors, antennae and power plants thanks to carbon nanotubes embedded inside the plant.
“Researchers at MIT are giving plants super powers by placing tiny carbon nanotubes deep within their cells,” writes Deborah Netburn in a Los Angeles Times piece on bionic plants developed by MIT researchers.
Alan Neuhasuser reporting for U.S. News & World Report examines how MIT researchers have embedded carbon nanotubes in plants, helping them collect more sunlight. The bionic plants could be used to detect explosives, chemical weapons and more, Neuhasuser reports.
“A team of biologists and engineers want to turn plants into chemical warfare detectors that can sniff out sarin gas or explosives. For now, though, they've succeeded in turning the flowering Arabidopsis thaliana into a pollutant detector using carbon nanotubes,” writes Wired reporter Liat Clark of the new bionic plants developed at MIT.
New Scientist’s Catherine Brahic reports on new bionic plants developed at MIT. The plants, which have an increased ability to photosynthesise thanks to nanomaterials embedded in their cells, could be used to create self-powering and self-repairing materials, new types of fuel cells and more, Brahic reports.
Writing for Scientific American, David Biello reports on a team of MIT researchers who are giving plants and the photosynthesis process an extra boost thanks to carbon nanotubes the team embedded deep within the plant’s leaves.