Energy

Chip design drastically reduces energy needed to compute with light

Simulations suggest photonic chip could run optical neural networks 10 million times more efficiently than its electrical counterparts.

June 5, 2019

Yet-Ming Chiang, Kyocera Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

3Q: Yet-Ming Chiang on reopening the case of cold fusion

The materials science and engineering professor is part of a multi-institution effort to investigate the possibility of cold fusion in a scientifically rigorous way.

May 27, 2019

Cross sections of pressure profiles are shown in two different tokamak plasma configurations (the center of the tokamak doughnut is to the left of these). The discharges have high pressure in the core (yellow) that decreases to low pressure (blue) at the edge. Researchers achieved substantial high-pressure operation of reverse-D plasmas at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility.

Steering fusion’s “D-turn”

Research scientist Alessandro Marinoni shows that reversing traditional plasma shaping provides greater stability for fusion reactions.

May 17, 2019

Acoustic wells chief operating officer Charles-Henri Clerget (sixth from left), chief executive officer Sebastien Mannai SM ’14 PhD ’18 (sixth from right), and chief technology officer Louis Creteur (fifth from right) pose with judges and organizers after winning Wednesday’s $100K Entrepreneurship Competition.

Solution for remotely monitoring oil wells wins MIT $100K

MIT startup Acoustic Wells earned the grand prize at the annual entrepreneurship competition.

May 17, 2019

The MIT Materials Research Science and Engineering Center hosted 26 Boston-area high school girls for a solar cell building activity during the Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) in the City program. The girls measured the voltage and current output of their cells with a multimeter.

Local high school girls build dye-sensitized solar cells at MIT

MRL Materials Research Science and Engineering Center encourages studies in science, engineering, and technology.

May 13, 2019

Left to right: Sebastian Esquivel, Jenna Ahn, and Crystal Chen break down whey, normally a byproduct, into components for use in animal feed.

Making it real

Students in a cross-disciplinary projects course are working on real-world engineering problems posed by companies and MIT research labs.

May 13, 2019

Robert Stoner is deputy director of the MIT Energy Initiative and director of the Tata Center for Technology and Design.

3Q: Robert Stoner discusses clean energy for India

Tata Center director discusses energy opportunities and challenges for world’s third-largest economy.

May 3, 2019

By incorporating precise molecular sites (depicted in green) into graphite electrodes (shown as the gray lattice), the researchers were able to study the interactions of a proton (a hydrogen nucleus, shown as H+) and an electron (e-) with the surface, and to construct a model for proton- and electron-transfer steps that play key roles in energy conversion reactions.

Thermodynamic insights could lead to better catalysts

Experiments and analyses show how electrons and protons get together on an electrode surface.

May 2, 2019

A satellite image shows Cyclone Kenneth approaching Mozambique on April 25, 2019.

Study: For low-income countries, climate action pays off by 2050

Economic benefits of mitigation arrive much sooner than previously thought.

May 1, 2019

As part of MIT Climate Night, MIT Vice President for Research Maria Zuber (center) talks with John Fernández, director of the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative (left) and Robert Armstrong, director of the MIT Energy Initiative, about their personal experiences working on climate issues and where they believe the Institute can be most influential.

VP for Research Maria Zuber urges outward-facing collaborations at MIT Climate Night

Inaugural event for MIT’s climate action groups showcases ways the Institute is reaching outside its walls to make new contributions on climate change.

May 1, 2019