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MIT physicists turn pencil lead into “gold”
MIT physicists have metaphorically turned graphite, or pencil lead, into gold by isolating five ultrathin flakes stacked in a specific order. The resulting material can then be tuned…
Engineers develop an efficient process to make fuel from carbon dioxide
The search is on worldwide to find ways to extract carbon dioxide from the air or from power plant exhaust and then make it into something useful. One…
Soft optical fibers block pain while moving and stretching with the body
Scientists have a new tool to precisely illuminate the roots of nerve pain. Engineers at MIT have developed soft and implantable fibers that can deliver light…
Canceling noise to improve quantum devices
For years, researchers have tried various ways to coax quantum bits — or qubits, the basic building blocks of quantum computers — to remain in their quantum state…
Arrays of quantum rods could enhance TVs or virtual reality devices
Flat screen TVs that incorporate quantum dots are now commercially available, but it has been more difficult to create arrays of their elongated cousins, quantum rods, for commercial…
Study finds a surprising new role for a major immune regulator
A signaling protein known as STING is a critical player in the human immune system, detecting signs of danger within cells and then activating a variety of defense…
Sensing and controlling microscopic spin density in materials
Electronic devices typically use the charge of electrons, but spin — their other degree of freedom — is starting to be exploited. Spin defects make crystalline materials highly…
MIT engineers create an energy-storing supercapacitor from ancient materials
Two of humanity’s most ubiquitous historical materials, cement and carbon black (which resembles very fine charcoal), may form the basis for a novel, low-cost energy storage system, according…
Magnetic robots walk, crawl, and swim
MIT scientists have developed tiny, soft-bodied robots that can be controlled with a weak magnet. The robots, formed from rubbery magnetic spirals, can be programmed to walk, crawl,…
Vaccine delivers a boost to T cell therapy
Engineering T cells to destroy cancer cells has shown success in treating some types of cancer, such as leukemia and lymphoma. However, it hasn’t worked as well for…