Researchers from MIT have produced a miniature ultrasound device that sticks to the body, reports Maggie Chen for Wired. “By sticking the patch on different parts of the subject’s body, the researchers could get images of the stomach, muscles, blood vessels, lungs, and heart,” explains Chen.
Postdoctoral researcher Murat Onen and his colleagues have created “a nanoscale resistor that transmits protons from one terminal to another,” reports Alex Wilkins for New Scientist. “The resistor uses powerful electric fields to transport protons at very high speeds without damaging or breaking the resistor itself, a problem previous solid-state proton resistors had suffered from,” explains Wilkins.
MIT engineers have developed a medical ultrasound system that uses a patch the size of a postage stamp, reports Hiawatha Bray for The Boston Globe. “The new MIT system would allow a doctor or technician to attach a patch directly over the area to be scanned,” explains Bray. “The patch is plugged into a device that captures the ultrasound signal, converts it to a viewable image and records it for future reference.”
Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), an MIT spinout, has signed an agreement with the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) to “support the fastest path to clean commercial fusion energy,” reports Ed Browne for Newsweek. “CFS says its agreement with UKAEA could involve exchanges of knowledge and collaboration on things like fuel, modeling, manufacturing and maintenance,” writes Browne.
Prof. Jesús del Alamo speaks with Ira Flatow of NPR’s Science Friday about the importance of the CHIPS Act and the pressing need to invest in semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. “There is a deep connection between leading-edge manufacturing and innovation,” says del Alamo. “Whoever gets the most advanced technology first in the marketplace is going to rip off the greatest profits, and as a result is going to be able to invest into innovation at a greater level and therefore be able to move faster than their competitors.”
Ifueko Igbinedion PhD ’22, Marlyse Reeves PhD ’22 and Wharton alumni Isoken Igbinedion, and Simone Kendle founded Parfait, a company that uses technology to more efficiently design and create wigs, reports Ron Miller for TechCrunch. “The four women have built a solution that lets women simply choose a wig and answer a series of questions to come up with the final design,” explains Miller. “They have mixed this with machine learning to help with sizing and proper tinting, while bringing in human stylists to make the final decisions when needed.”
Jennifer Rumsey MS ’98 has been named the first female CEO of Cummins Inc., a truck engines and power-generation equipment manufacturing company, reports Brooke Sutherland for Bloomberg. “Rumsey’s technical background is exactly what Cummins needs right now as the company pivots from its legacy as a maker of diesel engines and plots its role in the energy transition,” writes Sutherland.
MIT researchers have developed a new system that enabled the mini robotic cheetah to learn to run, reports John Koetsier for Forbes. ““Traditionally, the process that people have been using [to train robots] requires you to study the actual system and manually design models,” explains Prof. Pulkit Agrawal. “This process is good, it’s well established, but it’s not very scalable. “But we are removing the human from designing the specific behaviors.”
Prof. Jesús del Alamo speaks with Ann Fisher of WOSU’s All Sides with Ann Fisher about the importance of supporting domestic chip manufacturing in the U.S., and the need to help encourage students to pursue careers in the semiconductor industry. “Universities and colleges train over 50% of the semiconductor workforce,” says del Alamo, “and so investing in education, investing in the infrastructure, both human but also physical infrastructure that supports education and research, is really critical in the long run.”
Researchers at MIT and the University of Waterloo have discovered two properties of accelerating matter that they believe could lead to the direct observation of the Unruh effect, reports Isaac Schultz for Gizmodo. “We’d like to build a dedicated experiment that can unambiguously detect the Unruh effect, and later provide a platform for studying various associated aspects,” says Prof. Vivishek Sudhir.
Scientists at MIT are developing a self-boosting vaccine that can provide multiple doses of a vaccine via a single injection, reports Darko Manevski for Newsweek. The technology “could be particularly useful for administering childhood vaccinations in regions where people do not have regular access to medical care,” writes Manevski.
MIT researchers have created a thin, lightweight and flexible loudspeaker that is as thin as a few sheets of paper and can stick to most surfaces while producing high quality sound, reports Kendra Redmond for Science News Explores. “Because the design is so flexible and durable, companies could potentially integrate speakers into T-shirts or other personal items,” writes Redmond. “Or users could make their own.”
Ross Trethewey, co-host of This Old House, visits Prof. Vladimir Bulović, director of MIT.nano, to learn more about the future of solar technology, including an electricity-generating film that can be applied to windows and other materials. “Dramatic advancements are on the horizon,” says Bulović. “We can make solar cells that don’t weigh very much at all so deployment of them on top of your roof could be as simple as unrolling a carpet and stapling it to the roof with a plug. Maybe your windows will be turned into solar cells.”
MIT scientists are developing self-boosting vaccine technology that could allow people to receive all of their vaccine doses in one shot, reports The Economist. This technology “would be a game-changer, not only for future pandemics but also for vaccination programs in remote regions where it is harder to deliver boosters,” The Economist notes.
Prof. Benedetto Marelli has won the 2022 Bio Innovation Institute & Science Prize for Innovation, through which the editors of Science “seek to recognize bold researchers who are asking fundamental questions at the intersection of the life sciences and entrepreneurship.” Marelli is being recognized for his research into the “nanomanufacturing of structural biopolymers to engineer a new generation of advanced materials that can be inter-faced with food and plants,” reports Science.