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Science and
engineering at MIT have long been a hotbed of exciting interdisciplinary
collaborations. Advances
in energy, medicine and physics are among the new
discoveries and initiatives of the past year.
Energy
See Hot New Experiment at
right, plus:
Spinach
may soon power more than Popeye's biceps
For the first time, MIT researchers have incorporated a plant's
ability to convert sunlight to energy into a solid-state electronic "spinach
sandwich" device that may one day power laptops and cell phones.
At the heart of the device is a protein complex dubbed Photosystem
I that is derived from spinach chloroplasts and is only 10
to 20 nanometers wide. Around 100,000 of them would fit on the
head of a pin.
Medicine
See Mending Broken Hearts at
right, plus:
Rest
easy: MIT study confirms melatonin's value as sleep aid
A new study by MIT scientists and colleagues confirms that melatonin
is an effective sleep aid for older insomniacs and others. Misuse
of the hormone had led some to question its efficacy, but the latest
work could jump-start interest in the dietary supplement and help
more people get a good night's sleep.
Physics
See Novel Fabrics at
right, plus:
MIT
undergrad IDs supersized stars
An MIT undergraduate
who says she's been interested in astronomy for "as long as
I can remember" is lead author of an Astrophysical Journal
paper announcing the discovery of three stars that have the largest
diameters of any normal stars known, more than a billion miles
across.
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April
2005 |
Recent MIT Research
 |
Hot
New Experiment
MIT and Columbia University researchers have
begun confining high-temperature ionized gas using the strong
magnetic fields from a half-ton superconducting ring, which
may pave the way for a new source of energy. |
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Mending
Broken Hearts
MIT
engineers report creating a small swatch of heart tissue that
displays many of the hallmarks of mature cardiac tissue, including
regular contractions. |
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Novel
Fabrics
In work that could lead to applications such as multifunctional
textile fabrics and all-optical computer interfaces, MIT researchers
report the creation of flexible fibers and fabrics that can
not only sense light, but also analyze its colors. |
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