INNOVATIONS

By: UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE Scientists have found evidence that a type of antibiotic resistant superbug MRSA arose in nature long before the use of antibiotics in humans and livestock, which has traditionally been blamed for its emergence. Hedgehogs carry a fungus and a bacteria on their skin, and the two [..]

By: ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY For years, public-health experts have been sounding the alarm about the next phase in humanity’s co-existence with bacteria—a dark future where emerging strains have rendered once-powerful antibiotics useless. The United Nations recently projected that, unless new drugs are developed, multidrug-resistant infections will force up to 24 million people into extreme poverty within the next decade and cause 10 million annual deaths by 2050.   Scientists are especially [..]

For more information, contact Lou Corpuz-Bosshart UBC researchers have created what could be the first battery that is both flexible and washable. It works even when twisted or stretched to twice its normal length, or after being tossed in the laundry. “Wearable electronics are a big market and stretchable batteries [..]

By: Marc Airhart | University of Texas at Austin University of Texas at Austin researchers have created a new sodium-based battery material that is highly stable, capable of recharging as quickly as a traditional lithium-ion battery and able to pave the way toward delivering more energy than current battery technologies. [..]

A new study finds that investments in R&D on materials and chemistry were key, while economies of scale contributed somewhat less. By: David L. Chandler | MIT News Office Lithium-ion batteries, those marvels of lightweight power that have made possible today’s age of handheld electronics and electric vehicles, have plunged in cost [..]

By: AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY Wearable electronics are getting smaller, more comfortable and increasingly capable of interfacing with the human body. To achieve a truly seamless integration, electronics could someday be printed directly on people’s skin. As a step toward this goal, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have safely placed [..]

“Quantum dot logic circuits provide the long-sought building blocks for innovative devices, including printable electronics, flexible displays, and medical diagnostics” DOE/LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY LOS ALAMOS, N.M., October 29, 2020 – Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and their collaborators from the University of California, Irvine have created fundamental electronic [..]

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to make breakthroughs every year. In fact, robotics firm Tractica notes that AI is going to be worth over $118.6 billion by 2025. This is a far cry from 2018’s $9.5 billion—implying that, indeed, AI is growing in adoption. However, while AI continues to grow in adoption, [..]

“Ion-based technology may enable energy-efficient simulations of the brain’s learning process, for neural network AI systems.” Source: David L. Chandler | MIT News Office Teams around the world are building ever more sophisticated artificial intelligence systems of a type called neural networks, designed in some ways to mimic the wiring [..]

“Technology could help diagnose and monitor patients with COVID-19” Source: UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA In groundbreaking new research, mechanical engineers and computer scientists at the University of Minnesota have developed a 3D printing technique that uses motion capture technology, similar to that used in Hollywood movies, to print electronic sensors directly [..]

“Leading organic chemists synthesize fungal molecule capable of reactivating the self-destruct gene in aggressive cancer cells” Source: TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE Cancers cells use a special technique to propagate; they delete their “programmed death” gene through mutation, “forget” to die when their lifetime is over, and continue to grow instead. [..]

“New smart fabrics can provide a high resolution color-coded map of body response and the environment.” Source: TUFTS UNIVERSITY MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (June 5, 2020)–Researchers at Tufts University’s School of Engineering have developed biomaterial-based inks that respond to and quantify chemicals released from the body (e.g. in sweat and potentially other [..]

“The design could advance the development of small, portable AI devices.” Source: Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office MIT engineers have designed a “brain-on-a-chip,” smaller than a piece of confetti, that is made from tens of thousands of artificial brain synapses known as memristors — silicon-based components that mimic the [..]

“Cambridge Crops develops an edible, imperceptible coating that might replace plastic packaging to preserve meats and produce.” Source: Archana Apte | Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab Benedetto Marelli, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT, was a postdoc at Tufts University’s Omenetto Lab when he [..]

“Material inspired by Japanese paper-cutting art could help to prevent falls in icy or slippery conditions.” Source: Anne Trafton | MIT News Office Inspired by the Japanese art of paper cutting, MIT engineers have designed a friction-boosting material that could be used to coat the bottom of your shoes, giving [..]

“New roll-to-roll production method could enable lightweight, flexible solar devices and a new generation of display screens.” Source: David L. Chandler | MIT News Office A new way of making large sheets of high-quality, atomically thin graphene could lead to ultra-lightweight, flexible solar cells, and to new classes of light-emitting [..]

“Highly porous sponge selectively soaks up oil, sparing water and wildlife” Source: Northwestern Now Story Sponge can absorb more than 30 times its weight in oil and be reused up to several dozen times Secret lies in its oleophilic, hydrophobic, magnetic (OHM) nanocomposite coating Process can turn any cheap sponge [..]

“Automated tabletop machine could accelerate the development of novel drugs to treat cancer and other diseases.” Source: Anne Trafton | MIT News Office Many proteins are useful as drugs for disorders such as diabetes, cancer, and arthritis. Synthesizing artificial versions of these proteins is a time-consuming process that requires genetically [..]

“If a suitable reagent is developed, this technology could be used to detect antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus of COVID-19.” Source: Hokkaido University News Researchers have succeeded in detecting anti-avian influenza virus antibody in blood serum within 20 minutes, using a portable analyzer they have developed to conduct rapid [..]

“Modeling study shows battery reuse systems could be profitable for both electric vehicle companies and grid-scale solar operations.” Source: David L. Chandler | MIT News Office As electric vehicles rapidly grow in popularity worldwide, there will soon be a wave of used batteries whose performance is no longer sufficient for [..]

“Researchers propose a way of ensuring that genetic samples taken in the field for DNA fingerprinting arrive at the laboratory unaltered” Source: DUKE UNIVERSITY DURHAM, N.C. – Engineers at Duke University and the New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering have demonstrated a method for ensuring that an increasingly popular [..]

“Gold standard” material for generating oxygen from water divulges its molecular mechanisms.” Source: David L. Chandler | MIT News Office A crystalline compound called ruthenium dioxide is widely used in industrial processes, where it’s particularly important for catalyzing a chemical reaction that splits molecules of water and releases oxygen. But [..]

“New paper from a team of international scientists shows how swelling associated with brain and spinal cord injury can be stopped using a drug already licensed for human use” Source: ASTON UNIVERSITY Scientists have discovered a new treatment to dramatically reduce swelling after brain and spinal cord injuries, offering hope [..]

“This device is designed as flexible electronics that can analyze exhaled air, as well as identify pathologies of the respiratory tract and organs.” Source: SKOLKOVO INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (SKOLTECH) Researchers from Russia and Italy have proposed a compact sensor system that can implement the functionality of the electronic [..]

“Combined muscles and sensors made from soft materials allow for flexible robots” Source: UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO Robots can be made from soft materials, but the flexibility of such robots is limited by the inclusion of rigid sensors necessary for their control. Researchers created embedded sensors, to replace rigid sensors, that offer [..]

“Researchers use plasmonics to enhance fluorescent markers in lab-on-a-chip diagnostic devices” Source: DUKE UNIVERSITY DURHAM, N.C. – Engineers at Duke University have shown that nanosized silver cubes can make diagnostic tests that rely on fluorescence easier to read by making them more than 150 times brighter. Combined with an emerging [..]

“A tool that uses machine-learning technology can distinguish the cause of different types of blood clots based on subtle differences in their shape” Source: ELIFE A new tool using cutting-edge technology is able to distinguish different types of blood clots based on what caused them, according to a study published [..]