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Animals have evolved all manner of adaptations to get the nutrients they need. For nectar-feeding bats, long snouts and tongues let them dip in and out of flowers while hovering in mid-air. To help...
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Dr. Matt Bianchi had a problem. As chief of the Division of Sleep Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, he needed a better way to diagnose sleep disorders. Typically, a patient seeking a...
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In 2006, a discovery opened up a new world of possibility for treating diseases. For the first time, researchers created stem cells without using embryos. Adult skin cells were reprogrammed into...
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MIT engineers have just introduced an element of fun into microfluidics.
The field of microfluidics involves minute devices that precisely manipulate fluids at submillimeter scales. Such devices...
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Departmental and Research News
Evelyn Wang, the Gail E. Kendall Professor and director of MIT’s Device Research Laboratory, has been named associate department head for operations in the Department...
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The human body is mostly made from soft materials. Our skin, muscles, and tissue are pliable, but the materials we use to interact with them are often rigid. Catheters, glucose sensors, insulin pumps...
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3-D printing has come a long way since the first rapid prototyping patent was rejected in 1980. The technology has evolved from basic designs to a wide range of highly-customizable objects. Still,...
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Skiers taking to the slopes at the Olympics in Pyeongchang in a few weeks have a common enemy: flat light. Flat light occurs on overcast days when light diffuses through moisture in the air, creating...
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When it comes to processing power, the human brain just can’t be beat.
Packed within the squishy, football-sized organ are somewhere around 100 billion neurons. At any given moment, a single neuron...
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What if you could run your air conditioner not on conventional electricity, but on the sun’s heat during a warm summer’s day? With advancements in thermoelectric technology, this sustainable solution...
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MIT today announced the launch of the Institute’s third MITx MicroMasters program, in principles of manufacturing. The new program brings an advanced manufacturing curriculum to the MITx platform for...
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Dust, dirt, bacteria, flies — these are just some of the many contaminants surgeons need to worry about when operating in the field or in hospitals located in developing nations. According to a 2015...
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Using electrodes made of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can significantly improve the performance of devices ranging from capacitors and batteries to water desalination systems. But figuring out the...
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To most, an operating room and a manufacturing plant are as different as any two places can be. But not to Dennis Orgill.
“To some degree when you do an operation it’s much like manufacturing...
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Nick Schwartz likes to describe himself as “a nerd with a heart.” Before finals period at the end of each fall semester, the mechanical engineering senior and nuclear fusion enthusiast dons a Santa...
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The worldwide quest by researchers to find better, more efficient materials for tomorrow’s solar panels is usually slow and painstaking. Researchers typically must produce lab samples — which are...
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Since 2014, the Professor Amar G. Bose Research Grant has supported MIT faculty with innovative and potentially paradigm-shifting research ideas, and this year is no exception: With Bose funding, six...
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Even superheroes need products to enhance their powers. Thor has a hammer. Wonder Woman has the lasso of truth. Batman has his suit. On Monday evening, teams of mechanical engineering students...
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Each year the melting of the Charles River serves as a harbinger for warmer weather. Shortly thereafter is the return of budding trees, longer days, and flip-flops. For students of class 2.680 (...
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Each year the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) honors members who have achieved “extraordinary accomplishments” in their research fields by naming them IEEE Fellows. The...