When tissue is damaged, one of the body’s first inflammatory immune-system responders are macrophages, cells which are commonly thought of as “construction workers” that clear away damaged tissue debris and initiate repair. However, prolonged inflammation promotes the progression of many diseases, including obesity.
MIT researchers have designed a polymer material that can change its structure in response to light, converting from a rigid substance to a softer one that can heal itself when damaged.
MIT researchers have developed the first molecular clock on a chip, which uses the constant, measurable rotation of molecules — when exposed to a certain frequency of electromagnetic radiation — to keep time. The chip could one day significantly improve the accuracy and performance of navigation on smartphones and other consumer devices.
Neutrinos, Italian for “little neutral ones,” are often described as “ghost particles,” for their extremely weak interactions with ordinary matter. Indeed, billions of neutrinos stream through our fingernails every second, without ruffling so much as a molecule of matter. And yet, on Sept. 22, 2017, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, based at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, detected a neutrino in signals picked up by its detectors buried deep in the Antarctic ice. Researchers there quickly sent out alerts to ground- and space-based telescopes in hopes of finding the neutrino’s cosmic source.
MIT engineers have created soft, 3D-printed structures whose movements can be controlled with a wave of a magnet, much like marionettes without the strings. The menagerie of structures that can be magnetically manipulated includes a smooth ring that wrinkles up, a long tube that squeezes shut, a sheet that folds itself, and a spider-like “grabber” that can crawl, roll, jump, and snap together fast enough to catch a passing ball.
To create a single-injection vaccine, the MIT team encapsulated the inactivated polio vaccine in a biodegradable polymer known as PLGA. This polymer can be designed to degrade after a certain period of time, allowing the researchers to control when the vaccine is released.
The ability to harness light into an intense beam of monochromatic radiation in a laser has revolutionized the way we live and work for more than fifty years. Among its many applications are ultrafast and high-capacity data communications, manufacturing, surgery, barcode scanners, printers, self-driving technology and spectacular laser light displays. Lasers also find a home in atomic and molecular spectroscopy used in various branches of science as well as for the detection and analysis of a wide range of chemicals and biomolecules.
