People in the restaurant industry know a thing or two about execution. High operating costs, low profit margins, and the perishable nature of every establishment’s most important resource — food — make it essential to get things done with speed and efficiency. It’s no surprise, then, that the startup Toast has found success developing technology […] More
Engineers at MIT and Penn State University have found that under the right conditions, ordinary clear water droplets on a transparent surface can produce brilliant colors, without the addition of inks or dyes. In a paper published today in Nature, the team reports that a surface covered in a fine mist of transparent droplets and […] More
MIT is known for its thriving innovation ecosystem: Numerous programs and funding mechanisms have evolved to ensure that new technologies and business models developed on campus can move beyond it to benefit the world. Among them is the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS), which brings its mission-driven concern for the safety, […] More
The rapidly growing desalination industry produces water for drinking and for agriculture in the world’s arid coastal regions. But it leaves behind as a waste product a lot of highly concentrated brine, which is usually disposed of by dumping it back into the sea, a process that requires costly pumping systems and that must be […] More
Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium are the three elements that support the productivity of all plants used for agriculture, and are the constituents of commercial fertilizers that farmers use throughout the world. Potassium (also referred to as potash) is largely produced in the Northern Hemisphere, where it is abundant. In fact, the potash market is dominated […] More
The fall semester’s final meeting on Dec. 12 had something of a high-stakes feel for members of class 22.033 (Nuclear Science and Engineering Design). “We’re pretty nervous,” said Jared Wilson, a senior majoring in Course 22. With four classmates and a mockup of a fast fission nuclear reactor, Wilson was awaiting the start of their team’s project presentation. […] More
Climate change is causing significant changes to phytoplankton in the world’s oceans, and a new MIT study finds that over the coming decades these changes will affect the ocean’s color, intensifying its blue regions and its green ones. Satellites should detect these changes in hue, providing early warning of wide-scale changes to marine ecosystems. Writing […] More
Developing a perfectly energy-efficient building is relatively easy to do — if you don’t give the building’s occupants any control over their environment. Since nobody wants that kind of building, Professor Christoph Reinhart has focused his career on finding ways to make buildings more energy-efficient while keeping user needs in mind. “At this point in designing buildings, […] More
