Scientists find a human “fingerprint” in the upper troposphere’s increasing ozone

Knowing where to look for this signal will help researchers identify specific sources of the potent greenhouse gas

09-Aug-2024 - Ozone can be an agent of good or harm, depending on where you find it in the atmosphere. Way up in the stratosphere, the colorless gas shields the Earth from the sun’s harsh ultraviolet rays. But closer to the ground, ozone is a harmful air pollutant that can trigger chronic health problems ...

How an African bird might inspire a better water bottle

An extreme closeup of feathers from a bird with an uncanny ability to hold water while it flies could inspire the next generation of absorbent materials

18-Apr-2023 - With high resolution microscopes and 3D technology, researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology captured an unprecedented view of feathers from the desert-dwelling sandgrouse, showcasing the singular architecture of their feathers and revealing for the first ...

New resource for optical chips

22-Feb-2017 - The Semiconductor Industry Association has estimated that at current rates of increase, computers’ energy requirements will exceed the world’s total power output by 2040. Using light rather than electricity to move data would dramatically reduce computer chips’ energy consumption, and the past 20 ...

New Microscope Chemically Identifies Micron-Sized Particles

09-Jan-2017 - Researchers have developed a microscope that can chemically identify individual micron-sized particles. The new approach could one day be used in airports or other high-security venues as a highly sensitive and low-cost way to rapidly screen people for microscopic amounts of potentially dangerous ...

Nanobionic spinach plants can detect explosives

After sensing dangerous chemicals, the carbon-nanotube-enhanced plants send an alert.

01-Nov-2016 - Spinach is no longer just a superfood: By embedding leaves with carbon nanotubes, MIT engineers have transformed spinach plants into sensors that can detect explosives and wirelessly relay that information to a handheld device similar to a smartphone. This is one of the first demonstrations of ...

New technique provides detailed views of metals’ crystal structure

Method uses readily available tools to quickly determine materials’ properties.

12-Jul-2016 - Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have developed a new combination of methods that can provide detailed information about the microstructure of polycrystalline metals. Such materials — composed of a random matrix of multiple small crystals rather than one single large crystal — are widely used for ...

MIT: New cell measurement system

New system could shed light on how cells control their growth

13-Apr-2010 - Using a sensor that weighs cells with unprecedented precision, MIT and Harvard researchers have measured the rate at which single cells accumulate mass — a feat that could shed light on how cells control their growth and why those controls fail in cancer cells. The research team, led by Scott ...

New microscopy technique offers close-up, real-time view of cellular phenomena

MIT scientists record first microscopic images showing deadly effects of AMPs

16-Mar-2010 - For two decades, scientists have been pursuing a potential new way to treat bacterial infections, using naturally occurring proteins known as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Now, MIT scientists have recorded the first microscopic images showing the deadly effects of AMPs, most of which kill by ...

New sensor array detects single molecules for the first time

Carbon nanotube sensor detects hydrogen peroxide emanating from a single living cell

09-Mar-2010 - MIT chemical engineers have built a sensor array that, for the first time, can detect single molecules of hydrogen peroxide emanating from a single living cell. Hydrogen peroxide has long been known to damage cells and their DNA, but scientists have recently uncovered evidence that points to a ...

Scientists decipher the 3-D structure of the human genome

Fractal globule architecture packs two meters of DNA into each human cell, avoids knots

14-Oct-2009 - Scientists have deciphered the three-dimensional structure of the human genome, paving the way for new insights into genomic function and expanding our understanding of how cellular DNA folds at scales that dwarf the double helix. In a paper in Science, they describe a new technology called Hi-C ...