MIT
-
While lab-grown meat shows promise for sparing animals from slaughter, wood still comes entirely from trees that are cut down. That may not always be the case, though, as scientists are now working on growing it in a lab, too.
-
Shifting to alternative propulsion technologies could go a long way toward cleaning up the pollution created by the aviation sector, and a new design by MIT scientists could cut as much as 95 percent of a plane’s harmful nitrogen oxide emissions.
-
When taken orally or intravenously, medications typically travel throughout the body, producing unwanted side effects. MIT scientists are working on an alternative, that delivers both light and a light-activated drug directly to the target area.
-
Atomic clocks are our most precise timekeepers, with the best ones keeping time to within one second in 15 billion years. But there’s always room for improvement, as researchers at MIT have now demonstrated with a new quantum-entangled atomic clock.
-
A novel type of biosensor could help negate the risks of highly toxic arsenic as it makes its way from soil and into plants, by working with the plant tissues to monitor levels of the element in the underground environment in real time.
-
If crop plants aren't receiving enough nutrients, they'll typically have lower-than-normal nitrogen levels. A portable new device could allow farmers to check those levels on the spot, so they can start addressing the problem as soon as possible.
-
When training for any sort of physical task, it's important to keep challenging yourself as your skills improve. That's the thinking behind a new adaptive basketball hoop, that gets higher and smaller as users make more shots.
-
Fatty liver disease is difficult to detect before symptoms appear, but a new device could offer a way forward, with the ability to non-invasively detect signs of the condition in mice with a high degree of accuracy.
-
While "traditional" objects may exhibit varying degrees of glossiness in different areas, 3D-printed items are typically uniformly shiny all over. That could be about to change, however, thanks to a new printer designed at MIT.
-
When producing "smart fabrics" made of conductive fibers, it can be difficult placing functional elements such as electrodes in specific locations along those fibers. A new polymer, however, could make doing so much easier.
-
While autoclaves are considered essential for sterilizing medical equipment in First World health care facilities, they're often not available in developing nations where access to electricity is limited. A new solar-powered autoclave may be the answer to that problem.
-
A unique study is looking at the effects of universal basic income during a pandemic. Using data from a massive trial in Kenya, the research suggests the policy may help individual well-being but it is not a silver-bullet in times of extreme disruption.