This schematic shows an engineered material with composite layers. Layers of carbon fibers (the long silver tubes) have microscopic forests of carbon nanotubes between them (the array of tiny brown objects). These tiny, densely packed fibers grip and hold the layers together, like ultrastrong Velcro, preventing the layers from peeling or shearing apart. Image: Courtesy of the researchers, edited by MIT News

In research that may lead to next-generation airplanes and spacecraft, MIT engineers used carbon nanotubes to prevent cracking in multilayered composites.

"Nanostitches" enable lighter and tougher composite materials

MIT engineers have developed a new spring (shown in Petri dish) that maximizes the work of natural muscles. When living muscle tissue is attached to posts at the corners of the device, the muscle’s contractions pull on the spring, forming an effective, natural actuator. The spring can serve as a “skeleton” for future muscle-powered robots. Image: Felice Frankel

New modular, spring-like devices maximize the work of live muscle fibers so they can be harnessed to power biohybrid bots.

Engineers design flexible "skeletons" for soft, muscle-powered robots

“We used advanced fabrication techniques to cut small transducers from high-quality piezoelectric materials that allowed us to design miniaturized ultrasound stickers,” Xuanhe Zhao, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, says. Image: Courtesy of the researchers

The sticky, wearable sensor could help identify early signs of acute liver failure.

This ultrasound sticker senses changing stiffness of deep internal organs

A new bio-robotic model developed by MIT engineers simulates the function of the heart’s lesser-known right ventricle (illustrated here in cross-section, as seen from a front view, on the left). Soft, balloon-like “muscles” (in blue) wrap around and contract the ventricle, mimicking its real pumping action. The model could help to test new implants and devices to treat a range of cardiac disorders. Credit: Courtesy of the researchers

The realistic model could aid the development of better heart implants and shed light on understudied heart disorders.

MIT engineers design a robotic replica of the heart's right chamber

Clocks, lasers, and other oscillators could be tuned to super-quantum precision, allowing researchers to track infinitesimally small differences in time, according to a new MIT study. Image: MIT News; iStock

More stable clocks could measure quantum phenomena, including the presence of dark matter.

With a quantum "squeeze," clocks could keep even more precise time, MIT researchers propose

When stacked in five layers in a rhombohedral pattern, graphene takes on a rare “multiferroic” state, in which the material’s electrons (illustrated here as spheres) exhibit two preferred electronic states: an unconventional magnetism (represented as orbits around each electron), and “valley,” or a preference for one of two energy states (depicted in red versus blue). The results could help advance more powerful magnetic memory devices. Image: Sampson Wilcox, RLE

Jennifer Chu

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"Nanostitches" enable lighter and tougher composite materials

Engineers design flexible "skeletons" for soft, muscle-powered robots

This ultrasound sticker senses changing stiffness of deep internal organs

MIT engineers design a robotic replica of the heart's right chamber

With a quantum "squeeze," clocks could keep even more precise time, MIT researchers propose

From a five-layer graphene sandwich, a rare electronic state emerges