Research Scientist Susan Amrose speaks with Knowable Magazine reporter Lele Nargi about the use of inland desalination for farming communities. Amrose, who studies inland desalination in the Middle East and North Africa, is “testing a system that uses electrodialysis instead of reverse osmosis,” explains Nargi. “This sends a steady surge of voltage across water to pull salt ions through an alternating stack of positively charged and negatively charged membranes.”
Prof. Kripa Varanasi speaks with BBC News reporter Chris Baraniuk about his work developing a “range of coatings that make surfaces slippery and therefore resistant to the formation of biofilms.” Baraniuk notes that: “Tests of one such coating in an experiment carried out on board the International Space Station found that it worked as intended.”
Prof. Giovanni Traverso and his colleagues have developed a new device, inspired by sea creatures, that can deliver drugs orally by using jets to “eject drugs into the tissue lining the digestive tract, reports Anil Oza for STAT. “We want to make it easier for patients to receive medication,” says Traverso. “The challenge with drugs like insulin and monoclonal antibodies is that they require an injection. That in and of itself can be a barrier for receiving that medication.”
Forbes contributor Michael T. Nietzel spotlights the newest cohort of Rhodes Scholars, which includes Yiming Chen '24, Wilhem Hector, Anushka Nair, and David Oluigbo from MIT. Nietzel notes that Oluigbo has “published numerous peer-reviewed articles and conducts research on applying artificial intelligence to complex medical problems and systemic healthcare challenges.”
Yiming Chen '24, Wilhem Hector, Anushka Nair, and David Oluigbo have been named 2025 Rhodes Scholars, report Brian P. D. Hannon and John Hanna for the Associated Press. Undergraduate student David Oluigbo, one of the four honorees, has “volunteered at a brain research institute and the National Institutes of Health, researching artificial intelligence in health care while also serving as an emergency medical technician,” write Hannon and Hanna.
MIT researchers have used a sonar imaging system to observe a “colossal congregation of cod consume over 10 million capelin,” reports Mark Kaufman for Mashable. This event “was the largest predation event ever documented in the ocean,” writes Kaufman.
Using a sonar-based technique called Ocean Acoustic Waveguide Remote Sensing (OAWRS), researchers at MIT and elsewhere have tracked a swarm of cod off the coast of Norway eating millions of migrating capelin fish, reports Ed Cara for Gizmodo. Cara notes that in the future this technique could potentially allow “researchers and others to more easily monitor the health of these important fish and other life in marine ecosystems.”
MIT researchers have developed a biosensor “the size of a stick of gum that can be implanted under the skin and deliver naloxone if vital signs indicate an overdose,” reports David Ovalle and Elana Gordon for The Washington Post.
Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have developed a 3D printing method that allows “precise control over color, shade, texture, all with just a single material,” reports Vanesa Listek for 3Dprint.com. This technique “promises a faster and more sustainable solution than traditional approaches relying on multiple materials and nozzle changes,” explains Listek.
Researchers at MIT have developed a “set of wearable robotic limbs to help astronauts recover from falls,” reports Amy Gunia for CNN. “The so-called ‘SuperLimbs’ are designed to extend from a backpack containing the astronauts’ life support system,” explains Gunia. “When the wearer falls over, an extra pair of limbs can extend out to provide leverage to help them stand, conserving energy for other tasks.”
Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have developed “a new method of 3D printing that uses heat-responsive materials to print multi-color and multi-textured objects in one step,” reports Laura Griffiths for TCT Magazine. “The method has so far been tested using three heat-responsive filaments including a foaming polymer with particles that expand as they are heated, and wood and cork fiber-filled filaments,” explains Griffiths.
Wired reporter Parker Hall spotlights Lila Snyder SM '96, PhD '98 and her impact as CEO of Bose. Snyder "helped turn a rickety start in the wireless earbud and Bluetooth speaker space into some of the sleekest, best-sounding models on the market," explains Hall. "In a world where management consultants and tech executives are known for stripping companies for parts and raising prices, Snyder and a slimmed-down Bose have maintained the brand’s noise-canceling superiority in the face of stiff competition from Apple, Sony, and others.”
Yamilée Toussaint '08 has founded STEM From Dance – a dance program that combines STEM education and the performing arts as part of an effort to make STEM fields more accessible and engaging. The program currently works with girls of color in cities around the country. “I believe that the solution to some of the world’s most pressing problems relies on these girls being in the room because they have a different set of life experiences,” says Toussaint. “They’re creative, they’re intellectual, they’re curious, they’re artistic, and they’re going to bring a different set of ideas to the table, so we must make sure that they are included.”
Seonghoon Woo PhD '15, Jongwon Choi PhD '17, Young Suk Jo SM '13, PhD '16, and Hyunho Kim SM '14, PhD '18 have co-founded Amogy – a startup company that is using ammonia produced by renewable energy as a carbon-free way to fuel a tugboat, report Jennifer McDermott and Michael Hill for The Associated Press. “Without solving the problem, it’s not going to be possible to make the planet sustainable,” says Woo. “I don’t think this is the problem of the next generation. This is a really big problem for our generation.”
MIT researchers have developed “a new type of reconfigurable masonry using 3D-printed recycled glass,” reports Srishti Gupta for Interesting Engineering. “The team has developed robust, multilayered glass bricks shaped like figure eights,” explains Gupta. “These bricks are designed to interlock seamlessly, similar to LEGO pieces, making them versatile and easy to assemble.”