>>Mechanical “training” produces strong, fatigue-resistant, yet soft hydrogels with possible uses in medicine Human skeletal muscles have a unique combination of properties that materials researchers seek for their own creations. They’re strong, soft, full of water, and resistant to fatigue. A new study by MIT
Orbiting a nearby star, the new planet is the smallest identified so far by the TESS mission by Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, TESS, has discovered its first Earth-sized exoplanet. The planet, named HD 21749c, is the smallest
>>Images reveal supermassive black hole at the heart of the Messier 87 galaxy An international team of over 200 astronomers, including scientists from MIT’s Haystack Observatory, has captured the first direct images of a black hole. They accomplished this remarkable feat by coordinating the power
>>New method for synthesizing the epoxides found in plastics, textiles, and pharmaceuticals could be powered by electricity The biggest source of global energy consumption is the industrial manufacturing of products such as plastics, iron, and steel. Not only does manufacturing these materials require huge amounts
>>Novel membrane material removes more impurities, without the need for toxic solvents Natural gas and biogas have become increasingly popular sources of energy throughout the world in recent years, thanks to their cleaner and more efficient combustion process when compared to coal and oil. However,
>>Long-haul trucks with electric motors combined with gas-alcohol engines could slash pollution levels and greenhouse gases Heavy-duty trucks, such as the 18-wheelers that transport many of the world’s goods from farm or factory to market, are virtually all powered by diesel engines. They account for
>>Machine learning can reveal optimal growing conditions to maximize taste and other features What goes into making plants taste good? For scientists in MIT’s Media Lab, it takes a combination of botany, machine-learning algorithms, and some good old-fashioned chemistry. Using all of the above, researchers
>>Polymers could be designed to reflect or trap heat, regardless of hue The color of a material can often tell you something about how it handles heat. Think of wearing a black shirt on a sweltering summer’s day — the darker the pigment, the warmer
>>New architecture promises to cut in half the energy and physical space required to store and manage user data MIT researchers have designed a novel flash-storage system that could cut in half the energy and physical space required for one of the most expensive components
>>In its first run, ABRACADABRA detects no signal of the hypothetical dark matter particle within a specific mass range Physicists from MIT and elsewhere have performed the first run of a new experiment to detect axions — hypothetical particles that are predicted to be among