School of Engineering

Prof. Asegun Henry founded Fourth Power, a startup using new technology to cut the cost of storing renewable energy, reports Adele Peters for Fast Company.  The technology is designed “to tap into excess renewable energy,” explains Peters. “That energy heats up liquid tin, which flows down carbon pipes to heat up the blocks. When the grid needs electricity again, the system generates it using special solar panels that run on the white-hot light from the pipes rather than sunshine. Because the system was designed for durability, the team expects it to last for three decades—far longer than lithium-ion batteries, which quickly degrade.”

MIT researchers have developed microneedle patches that are capable of restoring hair growth in alopecia areata patients, reports Ernie Mundell for HealthDay. The team’s approach includes a, “patch containing myriad microneedles that is applied to the scalp,” writes Mundell. “It releases drugs to reset the immune system so it stops attacking follicles.” 

MIT researchers have developed a new procedure that uses game theory to improve the accuracy and consistency of large language models (LLMs), reports Steve Nadis for Quanta Magazine. “The new work, which uses games to improve AI, stands in contrast to past approaches, which measured an AI program’s success via its mastery of games,” explains Nadis. 

MIT researchers have used advancements in machine learning and computing to help decode whale vocalizations, reports Sarah Kuta of Smithsonian Magazine. “If researchers knew what sperm whales were saying, they might be able to come up with more targeted approaches to protecting them,” Kuta explains. “In addition, drawing parallels between whales and humans via language might help engage the broader public in conservation efforts.”

Prof. Kripa Varanasi and Vishnu Jayaprakash SM '19, PhD '21 co-founded AgZen, an MIT spinoff that is developing new technologies to improve the performance and effectiveness of pesticide treatments, reports The Economist. The new technologies “could reduce the total amount of fungicides and insecticides sprayed over complete crops by some 90%, as well as cutting the amount of adjuvants required,” writes The Economist.

Interesting Engineering reporter Sujita Sinha spotlights how MIT researchers crafted a special silk fabric capable of blocking sound. “Inside this special material is a fiber that springs to life when an electrical charge is applied,” explains Sinha. “The fabric starts shaking when it hears sound, which helps stop noise in two different ways.”

A new analysis of years of vocalizations by sperm whales in the eastern Caribbean has provided a fuller understanding of how whales communicate using codas, reports Will Dunham of Reuters. Graduate student Pratyusha Sharma explained that: "The research shows that the expressivity of sperm whale calls is much larger than previously thought."

New Scientist reporter Clare Wilson writes that a new analysis by MIT researchers of thousands of exchanges made by east Caribbean sperm whales demonstrates a communication system more advanced than previously thought. “It’s really extraordinary to see the possibility of another species on this planet having the capacity for communication,” says Prof. Daniela Rus.

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have uncovered a phonetic alphabet used by sperm whales, which provides “key breakthroughs in our understanding of cetacean communication,” reports Brain Heater for TechCrunch. “This phonetic alphabet makes it possible to systematically explain the observed variability in the coda structure,” says Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL. “We believe that it’s possible that this is the first instance outside of human language where a communication provides an example of the linguistic concept of duality of patterning. That refers to a set of individually meaningless elements that can be combined to form larger meaningful units, sort of like combining syllables into words.”

Associated Press reporter Maria Cheng spotlights a new study by MIT researchers that identifies a “phonetic alphabet” used by whales when communicating. “It doesn’t appear that they have a fixed set of codas,” says graduate student Pratyusha Sharma. “That gives the whales access to a much larger communication system.” 

Using machine learning, MIT researchers have discovered that sperm whales use “a bigger lexicon of sound patterns” that indicates a far more complex communication style than previously thought, reports Lauren Sommers for NPR. “Our results show there is much more complexity than previously believed and this is challenging the current state of the art or state of beliefs about the animal world," says Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL. 

MIT researchers have discovered that sperm whales use a “much richer set of sounds than previously known, which they call a ‘sperm whale phonetic alphabet,’” reports Carl Zimmer for The New York Times. “The researchers identified 156 different codas, each with distinct combinations of tempo, rhythm, rubato and ornamentation,” Zimmer explains. “This variation is strikingly similar to the way humans combine movements in our lips and tongue to produce a set of phonetic sounds.”

Prof. Giovanni Traverso and colleagues have developed a new ingestible sensor that could be used to help diagnose gastrointestinal conditions, reports Jeremy Hsu for New Scientist. “Eventually, the futuristic device could provide treatments for gut illnesses through electrical stimulation via additional electrodes embedded in the sensor,” Hsu notes.  

Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno talks with Steve Curwood of Living on Earth about new investments in nuclear power generation, advanced reactors and waste disposal. He notes roughly half the clean energy in the U.S. comes from nuclear, with great potential due to its adaptability. “The nice thing about nuclear is that it’s a fairly versatile energy source,” explains Buongiorno. “It can give you heat, if you want heat. It can give you electricity if you want electricity. It can give you hydrogen if you need hydrogen, or some kind of synthetic fuel for transportation." 

Prof. Linda Griffith and Stuart Orkin '67 were named to this year’s Time 100 Health list, which recognizes innovators leading the way to new health solutions. Griffith, who was honored for her work engineering a uterine organoid to study endometriosis, explains that in the future engineered organoids could be used to find the most effective treatments for patients. “We have all the genetic information and all the information from the patient’s exposure to infections, environmental chemicals, and stress that would cause the tissues to become deranged in some way, all captured in that organoid,” Griffith explains.