Materials science and engineering

Researchers from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized Medicine (CAMP) research group have been awarded new research grants aimed at supporting work exploring personalized medicine and cell therapy, reports Health Europa. “In addition to our existing research on our three flagship projects, we hope to develop breakthroughs in manufacturing other cell therapy platforms that will enable better medical treatments and outcomes for society,” says Associate Provost Krystyn Van Vliet.

MIT researchers have designed a completely flat wide-angle lens that can produce clear, 180-degree images, reports Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch. “The engineers were able to make it work by patterning a thin wafer of glass on one side with microscopic, three-dimensional structures that are positioned very precisely in order to scatter any inbound light in precisely the same way that a curved piece of glass would,” writes Etherington.

Researchers at MIT have determined why shaving causes everyday razors made of Martensitic stainless steel to wear down so quickly. “Now that researchers know why razors fail so quickly, they can start to develop steel without the same weaknesses,” notes Theresa Machemer for Smithsonian Magazine.

Using a scanning electron microscope, MIT researchers observed how hair produces tiny chips in steel razor blades, reports Nell Greenfieldboyce for NPR. "For me, personally, it was both a scientific curiosity, of 'What's going on?' and also aiming to solve an important engineering problem," says Prof. C. Cem Tasan.

By observing and recording the cutting process, MIT researchers have found that human hairs chip razor blades during the shaving process, reports Leah Crane for New Scientist. “We expected that the failure of these materials should just be wear,” says Prof. C. Cem Tasan. “But this is not the case: the process of chipping is much faster.”

Wired reporter Eric Niiler writes that a new study by MIT researchers sheds light on why razor blades get dull so quickly. “We want to design new materials that are better and go longer,” says Prof. C. Cem Tasan. “This problem of the blade is an excellent example. We are so used to it, you don’t think about it. You use the razor for a few weeks and then move on.”

MIT researchers have conducted a new examination of the Dead Sea Scrolls in an effort to determine how the documents have lasted so long. Prof. Admir Masic “sought to decode just how this unique parchment was made, in hopes that the ancient technology might also reveal new approaches to preserving sensitive historical documents in the modern age,” writes Evan Nicole Brown for Fast Company.

A new MIT study of the Dead Sea scrolls found “salts used on the writing layer of the Temple scroll [that] are not common to the Dead Sea region,” reports Nicola Davis for The Guardian. “These salts are not typical for anything we knew about associated with this period and parchment making,” explains Prof. Admir Masic.

Fast Company reporter Katharine Schwab spotlights MIT startup Embr Labs, which has developed a wearable device that can help keep users cool. “Cooling individuals could be a lot cheaper and less wasteful than cooling entire buildings,” writes Schwab.

New tools developed by CSAIL researchers allow users to design a pattern that can be used to 3D print knitted garments, reports Elizabeth Segran for Fast Company. “We’re exciting about how this can be used by everyday, nonexpert knitters,” says graduate student Alexandre Kaspar. “This lets anybody become a designer.”

7 News spotlights how CSAIL researchers have developed two new software systems that are aimed at allowing anyone to customize and design their own knitted design patterns. “The researchers tested the software by having people with no knitting experience design gloves and hats,” explains 7 News reporter Keke Vencill.

Graduate student Alexandre Kaspar speaks with BBC Click about two new systems that ease the process of designing and making knitted clothing items. Kaspar explains that the systems allow users to “create building blocks of parts that are being knit.”

TechCrunch reporter Catherine Shu writes that CSAIL researchers have developed two new systems that enable users to design and customize their own knitted items, no knitting experience required. Shu explains that the researchers want “to make designing and making machine-knitted garments as accessible as 3D printing is now.”

MIT researchers have developed artificial muscles that can stretch more than 1,000 percent of their size and lift more than 650 times their weight, reports Sid Perkins for Scientific American. The new fibers could have applications in robotics and prosthetic devices, Perkins explains, and “work more like real muscles: they do work by pulling on or lifting objects.”

MIT researchers have developed a new method for potentially increasing solar cell efficiency beyond the theoretical limit, reports Daniel Oberhaus for Wired. “What’s cool here is that this is a fundamentally different approach from traditional photovoltaics,” says Joseph Berry of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.