MIT News

• Surprising turns in magnetic thin films could lead to better data storage June 18, 2013
  A magnetic phenomenon newly discovered by MIT researchers could lead to much faster, denser and more energy-efficient chips for memory and computation.The findings, reported in the journal Nature Materials, could reduce the energy needed to store and retrieve one bit of data by a factor of 10,000, says the paper’s senior author, Geoffrey Beach, an assistant […]
• Diversifying your online world June 18, 2013
  The Internet promises a seemingly frictionless way of connecting individuals from around the globe. But in reality, that’s not what happens online: Instead, we clump together with people similar to ourselves, and have those affinities reinforced by tools that guide us to other people or products that resemble those we already know.Perhaps we can change that, […]
• Printing artificial bone June 17, 2013
  Researchers working to design new materials that are durable, lightweight and environmentally sustainable are increasingly looking to natural composites, such as bone, for inspiration: Bone is strong and tough because its two constituent materials, soft collagen protein and stiff hydroxyapatite mineral, are arranged in complex hierarchical patterns that chan […]
• Making alternative fuels cheaper June 17, 2013
  MIT chemical engineers have devised a cheaper way to synthesize a key biofuel component, which could make its industrial production much more cost-effective.The compound, known as gamma-valerolactone (GVL), is attractive because of its versatility, says Yuriy Román, an assistant professor of chemical engineering and leader of the research team. It has more e […]
• Holding the salt June 17, 2013
  “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote of the anguish felt by sailors on being surrounded by undrinkable water when faced with thirst. More than 200 years later, environmentalists have adopted Coleridge’s famous line in describing growing water shortages around the globe. David Cohen-Tanugi, a PhD student […]