Say WOW

Suborbital space tourism finally arrives | FCC prepares to run public C-band auction | The big four in the U.S. launch industry — United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman — hope to be one of two providers that will receive five-year contracts later this year to launch national security payloads starting in 2022. | China’s launch rate stays high | The International Space Station is the largest ever crewed object in space.

 
Nobel laureates with MIT ties feted in...
For the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Nobel Prizes were awarded in a grand in-person ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. Among those honored on Saturday were a number of laureates with ties to MIT — including this year’s winners as well as winners from 2020 and 2021, who were not able to experience the traditional Nobel celebration due to Covid-19 precautions. New winners received their medals from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. They include Ben...

Read More

Microparticles could help prevent vitamin A deficiency
Vitamin A deficiency is the world’s leading cause of childhood blindness, and in severe cases, it can be fatal. About one-third of the global population of preschool-aged children suffer from this vitamin deficiency, which is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. MIT researchers have now developed a new way to fortify foods with vitamin A, which they hope could help to improve the health of millions of people around the world. In a new study, they showed...

Read More

MIT engineers design a soft, implantable ventilator
For many of us, the act of breathing comes naturally. Behind the scenes, our diaphragm — the dome-shaped muscle that lies just beneath the ribcage — works like a slow and steady trampoline, pushing down to create a vacuum for the lungs to expand and draw air in, then relaxing as air is pushed out. In this way, the diaphragm automatically controls our lung capacity, and is the major muscle responsible for our ability to breathe. But when the...

Read More

 
Two from MIT named 2023 Marshall Scholars
MIT senior Rachel Chae and alumnus Sihao Huang ’22 have been selected to join the 2023 class of Marshall Scholars and will begin graduate studies in the U.K. next fall. Funded by the British government, the Marshall Scholarship provides up to 50 scholarships for exceptional American students to pursue advanced study in any field at any university in the U.K. MIT’s endorsed Marshall candidates are advised and supported by the distinguished fellowships team, led by Associate Dean Kim Benard...

Read More

Meet the 2022-23 Accenture Fellows
Launched in October 2020, the MIT and Accenture Convergence Initiative for Industry and Technology underscores the ways in which industry and technology can collaborate to spur innovation. The five-year initiative aims to achieve its mission through research, education, and fellowships. To that end, Accenture has once again awarded five annual fellowships to MIT graduate students working on research in industry and technology convergence who are underrepresented, including by race, ethnicity, and gender. This year’s Accenture Fellows work across research...

Read More

Meet the 2022-23 Accenture Fellows
Launched in October 2020, the MIT and Accenture Convergence Initiative for Industry and Technology underscores the ways in which industry and technology can collaborate to spur innovation. The five-year initiative aims to achieve its mission through research, education, and fellowships. To that end, Accenture has once again awarded five annual fellowships to MIT graduate students working on research in industry and technology convergence who are underrepresented, including by race, ethnicity, and gender. This year’s Accenture Fellows work across research...

Read More

 
New nanosatellite tests autonomy in space
In May 2022, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Transporter-5 mission into orbit. The mission contained a collection of micro and nanosatellites from both industry and government, including one from MIT Lincoln Laboratory called the Agile MicroSat (AMS). AMS’s primary mission is to test automated maneuvering capabilities in the tumultuous very low-Earth orbit (VLEO) environment, starting at 525 kilometers above the surface and lowering down. VLEO is a challenging location for satellites because the higher air density, coupled...

Read More

New nanosatellite tests autonomy in space
In May 2022, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Transporter-5 mission into orbit. The mission contained a collection of micro and nanosatellites from both industry and government, including one from MIT Lincoln Laboratory called the Agile MicroSat (AMS). AMS’s primary mission is to test automated maneuvering capabilities in the tumultuous very low-Earth orbit (VLEO) environment, starting at 525 kilometers above the surface and lowering down. VLEO is a challenging location for satellites because the higher air density, coupled...

Read More

Computational system streamlines the design of fluidic...
Combustion engines, propellors, and hydraulic pumps are examples of fluidic devices — instruments that utilize fluids to perform certain functions, such as generating power or transporting water. Because fluidic devices are so complex, they are typically developed by experienced engineers who manually design, prototype, and test each apparatus through an iterative process that is expensive, time consuming, and labor-intensive. But with a new system, user only need to specify the locations and speeds at which fluid enters and exits...

Read More

 
Paper-thin solar cell can turn any surface...
MIT engineers have developed ultralight fabric solar cells that can quickly and easily turn any surface into a power source. These durable, flexible solar cells, which are much thinner than a human hair, are glued to a strong, lightweight fabric, making them easy to install on a fixed surface. They can provide energy on the go as a wearable power fabric or be transported and rapidly deployed in remote locations for assistance in emergencies. They are one-hundredth the weight...

Read More

Study: Without more data, a black hole’s...
Clues to a black hole’s origins can be found in the way it spins. This is especially true for binaries, in which two black holes circle close together before merging. The spin and tilt of the respective black holes just before they merge can reveal whether the invisible giants arose from a quiet galactic disk or a more dynamic cluster of stars. Astronomers are hoping to tease out which of these origin stories is more likely by analyzing the...

Read More

Study: Without more data, a black hole’s...
Clues to a black hole’s origins can be found in the way it spins. This is especially true for binaries, in which two black holes circle close together before merging. The spin and tilt of the respective black holes just before they merge can reveal whether the invisible giants arose from a quiet galactic disk or a more dynamic cluster of stars. Astronomers are hoping to tease out which of these origin stories is more likely by analyzing the...

Read More

 
Scene at MIT: The community gathers for...
As the sun faded on a clear Thursday afternoon, the MIT community came together to enjoy excellent food, music, and company at the annual Winterfest celebration. Each year Winterfest kicks off the holiday season and all that comes with it for MIT’s community members, from final exams to a much-deserved year-end break to Independent Activities Period in January. The event included a surprise lighting of MIT’s Great Dome in cardinal red, to honor President L. Rafael Reif, who will...

Read More

Scene at MIT: The community gathers for...
As the sun faded on a clear Thursday afternoon, the MIT community came together to enjoy excellent food, music, and company at the annual Winterfest celebration. Each year Winterfest kicks off the holiday season and all that comes with it for MIT’s community members, from final exams to a much-deserved year-end break to Independent Activities Period in January. The event included a surprise lighting of MIT’s Great Dome in cardinal red, to honor President L. Rafael Reif, who will...

Read More

Computational system streamlines the design of fluidic...
Combustion engines, propellors, and hydraulic pumps are examples of fluidic devices — instruments that utilize fluids to perform certain functions, such as generating power or transporting water. Because fluidic devices are so complex, they are typically developed by experienced engineers who manually design, prototype, and test each apparatus through an iterative process that is expensive, time consuming, and labor-intensive. But with a new system, user only need to specify the locations and speeds at which fluid enters and exits...

Read More