The music of the silks
Pound for pound, spider silk is one of the strongest materials known: Research by MIT’s Markus Buehler has helped explain that this strength arises from silk’s unusual hierarchical arrangement of...
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How to stop leaks — the way blood does
When you get a cut, blood starts to flow from the wound. But very quickly, complex biochemical processes spring into action, creating a scaffolding of molecules to block the hole, and then building up...
View ArticleDecoding the structure of bone
The bones that support our bodies are made of remarkably complex arrangements of materials — so much so that decoding the precise structure responsible for their great strength and resilience has...
View ArticleBetter batteries through biology?
Lithium-air batteries have become a hot research area in recent years: They hold the promise of drastically increasing power per battery weight, which could lead, for example, to electric cars with a...
View ArticleTough as nails, yet clear enough to read through
The shells of a sea creature, the mollusk Placuna placenta, are not only exceptionally tough, but also clear enough to read through. Now, researchers at MIT have analyzed these shells to determine...
View ArticleWhy eumelanin is such a good absorber of light
Melanin — and specifically, the form called eumelanin — is the primary pigment that gives humans the coloring of their skin, hair, and eyes. It protects the body from the hazards of ultraviolet and...
View ArticleFollowing biological clues to better materials
In one project, Brad Olsen’s lab seeks to engineer soaps that can be sprayed onto a toxic chemical release and not only wash off the chemical, but detoxify it. In another, he is joining with numerous...
View ArticleCatalyzing greener products
As a boy growing up in Mexico City, Yuriy Román was curious about how things worked. He’d go to his backyard and mix chemicals in the detergents his mother used to wash clothes to try to understand why...
View ArticleNew analysis explains collagen’s force
Research combining experimental work and detailed molecular simulations has revealed, for the first time, the complex role that water plays in collagen — a protein that is a component of tendons, bone,...
View ArticleMaterials Processing Center marks 35 years
The Materials Processing Center (MPC) celebrates 35 years of service to the MIT faculty and materials research community during 2015. Current MPC research topics include synthesis of materials for...
View ArticleHow some beetles produce a scalding defensive spray
Bombardier beetles, which exist on every continent except Antarctica, have a pretty easy life. Virtually no other animals prey on them, because of one particularly effective defense mechanism: When...
View ArticleSpinning a new version of silk
After years of research decoding the complex structure and production of spider silk, researchers have now succeeded in producing samples of this exceptionally strong and resilient material in the...
View ArticleTough biogel structures produced by 3-D printing
Researchers have developed a new way of making tough — but soft and wet — biocompatible materials, called “hydrogels,” into complex and intricately patterned shapes. The process might lead to...
View ArticlePaula Hammond named head of Department of Chemical Engineering
Paula T. Hammond, the David H. Koch Professor in Engineering, has been named the new head of the Department of Chemical Engineering (ChemE), effective July 13. She is the first woman and first person...
View ArticleArmor plating with built-in transparent ceramic eyes
Usually, it’s a tradeoff: If you want maximum physical protection, whether from biting predators or exploding artillery shells, that generally compromises your ability to see. But sea-dwelling...
View ArticleA living, breathing textile aims to enhance athletic performance
Textile production has historically been a bellwether for innovations in manufacturing — from technological improvements such as the spinney jenny and the flying shuttle at the dawn of the Industrial...
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How to build better silk
When it comes to concocting the complex mix of molecules that makes up fibers of natural silk, nature beats human engineering hands down. Despite efforts to synthesize the material, artificial...
View ArticleResearchers decode molecule that gives living tissues their flexibility
The stretchiness that allows living tissues to expand, contract, stretch, and bend throughout a lifetime is the result of a protein molecule called tropoelastin. Remarkably, this molecule can be...
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Spider silk could be used as robotic muscle
Spider silk, already known as one of the strongest materials for its weight, turns out to have another unusual property that might lead to new kinds of artificial muscles or robotic actuators,...
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Working out makes hydrogels perform more like muscle
Human skeletal muscles have a unique combination of properties that materials researchers seek for their own creations. They’re strong, soft, full of water, and resistant to fatigue. A new study by MIT...
View ArticleBiotech startup uses nanoparticles to induce immune tolerance
More than 100 approved drugs in the U.S. warn of immune-related side effects on their labels. Countless others never make it onto shelves because of unwanted immune responses that can harm patients and...
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Machine-learning tool could help develop tougher materials
For engineers developing new materials or protective coatings, there are billions of different possibilities to sort through. Lab tests or even detailed computer simulations to determine their exact...
View ArticleProfessor Emeritus Edward Merrill, chemical engineer who helped found the...
Edward W. Merrill, professor emeritus of chemical engineering, died peacefully at his home on Aug. 6 at the age of 96, surrounded by his children and grandchildren.A longtime chemical engineer at MIT,...
View ArticleA material difference
Eesha Khare has always seen a world of matter. The daughter of a hardware engineer and a biologist, she has an insatiable interest in what substances — both synthetic and biological — have in common....
View ArticleMIT class journeys to fascinating places where mechanical engineering affects...
Even for a second-year PhD student researching the mechanics of living cells, the influence of physical forces within the world of living things is a source of wonder.“I did undergrad in engineering...
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