Damian Carrington writes for The Guardian that MIT researchers set a new world record for the highest plasma pressure ever recorded using the Alcator C-Mod reactor. Carrington notes that the “MIT record shows that using very high magnetic fields to contain the plasma may be the most promising route to practical nuclear fusion reactors.”
A team of scientists, including MIT researchers, has analyzed the measurements made by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and found no evidence of the sterile neutrino, a new type of neutrino, reports Brendan Cole for Wired.
MIT researchers have outlined a new way of developing a lithium-oxygen battery that would increase the battery’s energy efficiency and longevity, according to The Economist. “In trials which discharged and recharged the battery 130 times, it lost less than 2% of its capacity,” The Economist notes.
Boston Globe reporter Cristela Guerra writes that Profs. Janet Conrad and Lindley Winslow helped ensure the science in the new “Ghostbusters” was as accurate as possible. “I am very fond of the original ‘Ghostbusters’,” says Conrad. “I have even used ‘Ghostbusters’ as a theme for my colloquium on neutrino physics, since neutrinos are often called the ghost particle.”
MIT researchers have developed a new lithium-oxygen battery concept that improves energy efficiency and longevity, and could potentially be used in long-distance electric cars and smartphones, reports Ben Woods for Wired. The new approach results in “faster charging and more efficient batteries, due to lower heat wastage,” Woods explains.
MIT researchers have found that two types of turbulence within plasma could explain the heat loss that takes place in fusion reactors, reports Thomas Tamblyn for The Huffington Post. “With the mystery solved, researchers can now better understand how the plasma reacts and then in turn start working on fundamental ways to combat it.”
Prof. Ju Li and graduate students Sangtae Kim and Soon Ju Choi have developed a device that harvests human motion for electrical power, reports Krithika Varagur for The Huffington Post. “This device will make it possible to harvest some of this otherwise-wasted potential into electricity,” explains Kim.
Fortune reporter Hilary Brueck writes that MIT researchers have developed a new flexible battery that can harness energy from a range of motions, including walking. Brueck explains that the “bendy battery works best with normal, human-scale activity, like walking, poking, and bending.”
Los Angeles Times reporter Evan Halper speaks with MIT Corporation member and alumna Leslie Dewan, co-founder of Transatomic Power, about nuclear energy and climate change. “I became a nuclear engineer because I am an environmentalist,” said Dewan. “The world needs a cheap source of carbon-free power.”
Matthew Nisbet, a professor at Northeastern University who focuses on climate change communication, writes for The Conversation about MIT’s Climate Action Plan. Nisbet writes that MIT’s plan can “serve as a model for how major research universities can accelerate effective societal actions on climate change by collaborating with a diversity of industry members.”
Wired reporter Margaret Rhodes writes about Transatomic Power, an energy company founded by MIT alumnae Mark Massie and Leslie Dewan. Rhodes explains that, “The two MIT nuclear science graduates have sweeping ambitions—to bring back a nuclear reactor design first prototyped in the 1960s, and in doing so, change the landscape of clean energy in the 21st century.”
Olga Kharif writes for Bloomberg Businessweek that MIT researchers have proposed a new design for a smaller and cheaper fusion reactor. The prototype "builds on the design of fusion reactors that use magnetic fields to squeeze superhot plasma, fusing atoms of hydrogen to produce energy."
Don Willmott writes for The Huffington Post about a theoretical design for a compact fusion reactor created by MIT researchers. “The MIT reactor should ultimately be able to produce five to six times the energy it consumes, MIT's scientists say, about 190 megawatts,” explains Willmott.
According to Matt Kaplan of The Economist, Professor Ju Li has devised a method of producing lithium-ion batteries using nanoparticles. “If the process of making the nanoparticles can be industrialized," writes Kaplan, "then the lifetimes of lithium-ion batteries might be considerably extended.”
Andrew Revkin writes for The New York Times about a compact design for a fusion reactor that could make fusion power a possibility within a decade. Revkin highlights how the research originated from an MIT course, writing, “it’s exciting to see academia integrating directly with innovation on this scale.”