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When a raindrop falls through a thundercloud, it is subject to strong electric fields that pull and tug on the droplet, like a soap bubble in the wind. If the electric field is strong enough, it can...
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Over a century ago, a visitor to Henry Ford’s new assembly line in Highland Park, Michigan, could watch workers build automobiles from interchangeable parts, and witness a manufacturing revolution in...
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The formation of air bubbles in a liquid appears very similar to its inverse process, the formation of liquid droplets from, say, a dripping water faucet. But the physics involved is actually quite...
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A broad class of materials called perovskites is considered one of the most promising avenues for developing new, more efficient solar cells. But the virtually limitless number of possible...
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Objects made with 3-D printing can be lighter, stronger, and more complex than those produced through traditional manufacturing methods. But several technical challenges must be overcome before 3-D...
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Unlike water, liquid refrigerants and other fluids that have a low surface tension tend to spread quickly into a sheet when they come into contact with a surface. But for many industrial processes it...
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In their historic lunar mission 50 years ago, Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong collected and returned to Earth more than 48 pounds of lunar material, including 50 moon rocks that...
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In an event attended by more than 100 members of the MIT community — friends, family, faculty, staff, students, and sponsors — the MIT Motorsports team unveiled their 2019 electric race car in Lobby...
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In the mid-fifteenth century, a new technology that would change the course of history was invented. Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press, with its movable type, promoted the dissemination of...
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Microsoft’s sprawling campus in Redmond, Washington houses over 40,000 of its employees. It contains 125 buildings across 502 acres of land. Despite the vastness of its campus, three MechE alumnae...
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In 2016, Tanzania passed a bill to cover medical expenses for expectant mothers. But pregnant women in rural parts of the country face a huge obstacle in getting the care they need: reliable...
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David Larson spends much of his time thinking about boats. He has been a competitive sailor since high school. In his free time, he designs and tinkers with boats and is a member of the MIT Nautical...
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The past four decades have been transformative for manufacturing. An explosive growth of new technologies has revolutionized how products are made and distributed. In the 1980s, the steep rise in...
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Polymers are usually the go-to material for thermal insulation. Think of a silicone oven mitt, or a Styrofoam coffee cup, both manufactured from polymer materials that are excellent at trapping heat...
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The human body is held together by an intricate cable system of tendons and muscles, engineered by nature to be tough and highly stretchable. An injury to any of these tissues, particularly in a...
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Engineers must manage a maelstrom in the core of operating nuclear reactors. Nuclear reactions deposit an extraordinary amount of heat in the fuel rods, setting off a frenzy of boiling, bubbling, and...
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An MIT research team that has already conquered the problem of getting ketchup out of its bottle has now tackled a new category of consumer and manufacturing woe: how to get much thicker materials to...
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Human skeletal muscles have a unique combination of properties that materials researchers seek for their own creations. They’re strong, soft, full of water, and resistant to fatigue. A new study by...
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Thomas (T.) Francis Ogilvie, professor emeritus of ocean engineering, passed away on March 30, at the age of 89. Ogilvie dedicated most of his career to improving how ocean engineering and naval...
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A new collaboration between MIT.nano and NCSOFT, a video game development company based in South Korea, will seek to chart the future of how people interact with the world and each other via the...