MIT

Diabetics may soon be able to take their insulin orally

Medical

Microneedle capsule could deliver insulin and other protein-based drugs orally

A team at MIT has developed a new capsule that would survive a trip through the stomach and deliver its drug payload to the lining of the small intestine via microneedles.

MIT researchers have designed low-cost, photovoltaic-powered sensors

Technology

MIT developing solar-powered RFID sensors

Engineers at MIT are developing a way to turn the humble RFID tag into a light-powered sensor for the internet of things.

An experiment illustrates the electrolysis process using dye: pink represents the acid created at one electrode and purple the base at the other end

Materials

Electrolysis technique makes cement CO2 emission-free

Making cement is one of the biggest contributors of carbon emissions. Now MIT researchers have developed a new method that can clean up the process.

For now, the MIT team has demonstrated its ultra-black material as a coating for a a US$2-million diamond, replacing its many facets and intricate detail with a lifeless black void

Materials

MIT engineers produce the blackest material on Earth

MIT engineers are claiming to have produced a material 10 times blacker than anything before it, including Vantablack.

An artist's illustration of a black hole "ringing"

Space

"Ringing" black hole proves Einstein right yet again

Astronomers have studied the ringing tones of a newly-created black hole for the first time, proving Einstein right once again.

Depending on the shape and orientation of the object, the process has so far taken anywhere from 15 to 40 minutes

Science

Chameleon tech uses light to "rewritably" color objects

MIT scientists have developed a new system that allows coated objects to take on intricate multi-colored patterns when exposed to ultraviolet light.

MIT researchers say their Roboats now have the ability to shapeshift, that is, to autonomously latch onto and let go of one another to build different types of floating structures

Marine

MIT's Roboats become shapeshifting floating platforms

MIT’s Roboats have now been demonstrated arranging themselves into shapes that could one day form floating bridges and stages.

Asteroid 6478 Gault, with its two tails clearly visible – a short bright one, and a much longer, darker one

Space

Rare double-tailed asteroid spotted changing colors

One of the weirdest objects in the asteroid belt just got weirder. Astronomers have spotted 6478 Gault changing from red to blue.

Borrowing from the research realms of soft robotics and advanced, biocompatible hydrogels, the MIT team has developed a robotic thread to tackle blood clots in the brain

Medical

MIT's robo-thread could bust blood clots in the brain

A slender robotic thread could snake its way through the brain’s blood vessels and tend to clots, guided by magnets the whole way.

Left column: the researchers' CRISPR gel when not exposed to the trigger DNA sequence. Right: the gel degrades entirely after two hours of exposure to the trigger

Science

MIT and Harvard use CRISPR to "edit" DNA gels for diagnostic devices

New MIT and Harvard research shows how versatile CRISPR is, putting the genetic scissors to work in diagnostic tools and timed drug delivery systems.

The system has already been successfully used to transmit data from within a water tank

Telecommunications

Undersea sensor powered by sound waves from the surface

A new MIT system is designed for charging batteries to power a network of sensors that would transmit data from the sea floor.

Space

Exoplanet-hunting telescope discovers three new alien worlds with big scientific potential

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered three worlds orbiting a star located a mere 73 light-years from Earth. The exoplanets are a tempting target for scientists hoping to understand how planets form, and may even be a future hunting ground for E.T.