Artist’s impression of the chip surface, showing the on-chip light interferometer used to sense the presence of lead. The lead binding process to the crown ether is shown in the inset. Image: Jia Xu Brian Sia

The chip-scale device could provide sensitive detection of lead levels in drinking water, whose toxicity affects 240 million people worldwide.

Scientists develop an affordable sensor for lead contamination

An electrolzyer configuration with a bicarbonate cathode, intermediate buffer layer, cation exchange membrane and a water anode. Image: Shuhan Miao, Harvard Graduate School of Design

The approach directly converts the greenhouse gas into formate, a solid fuel that can be stored indefinitely and could be used to heat homes or power industries.

Engineers develop an efficient process to make fuel from carbon dioxide

By sandwiching bits of perovskite between two mirrors and stimulating them with laser beams, researchers were able to directly control the spin state of quasiparticles known as exciton-polariton pairs, which are hybrids of light and matter. Image: Courtesy of the researchers

A perovskite-based device that combines aspects of electronics and photonics may open doors to new kinds of computer chips or quantum qubits.

Study reveals new ways for exotic quasiparticles to "relax"

Researchers at MIT have made significant steps toward creating robots that could practically and economically assemble nearly anything, including things much larger than themselves, from vehicles to buildings to larger robots. The new system involves large, usable structures built from an array of tiny identical subunits called voxels (the volumetric equivalent of a 2-D pixel). Courtesy of the researchers

Researchers make progress toward groups of robots that could build almost anything, including buildings, vehicles, and even bigger robots.

Flocks of assembler robots show potential for making larger structures

Illustration shows the concept of collective wind farm flow control. Existing utility-scale wind turbines are operated to maximize only their own individual power production, generating turbulent wakes (shown in purple) which reduce the power production of downwind turbines. The new collective wind farm control system deflects wind turbine wakes to reduce this effect (shown in orange). This system increased power production in a three-turbine array in India by 32 percent. Image: Victor Leshyk

By modeling the conditions of an entire wind farm rather than individual turbines, engineers can squeeze more power out of existing installations.

A new method boosts wind farms' energy output, without new equipment

Dust that accumulates on solar panels is a major problem, but washing the panels uses huge amounts of water. MIT engineers have now developed a waterless cleaning method to remove dust on solar installations in water-limited regions, improving overall efficiency. Image: Courtesy of the researchers

David L Chandler

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Latest Posts

Scientists develop an affordable sensor for lead contamination

Engineers develop an efficient process to make fuel from carbon dioxide

Study reveals new ways for exotic quasiparticles to "relax"

Flocks of assembler robots show potential for making larger structures

A new method boosts wind farms' energy output, without new equipment

How to clean solar panels without water