Category Technology/Electronics

The interior of the fusion experiment Alcator C-Mod at MIT recently broke the plasma pressure record for a magnetic fusion device. The interior of the donut-shaped device confines plasma hotter than the interior of the sun, using high magnetic fields. Postdoc Ted Golfinopoulos, shown here, is performing maintenance between plasma campaigns. Photo: Bob Mumgaard/Plasma Science and Fusion Center

On Friday, Sept. 30, at 9:25 p.m. EDT, scientists and engineers at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center made a leap forward in the pursuit of clean energy. The team set a new world record for plasma pressure in the Institute’s Alcator C-Mod tokamak nuclear fusion reactor...

Ibuprofen arginine

Scientists used mice and rats to show ibuprofen arginate may allow people to take higher doses without the cardiovascular side effects that are associated with current formulations found in over the counter products. In addition to being better tolerated, ibuprofen arginate also is released into the bloodstream more rapidly than the current formulations, likely providing faster pain relief.

“While more experiments are required, our observations show that ibuprofen arginate provides, in one preparation, a COX-2 inhibitor and arginine supplement,” said Jane A. Mitchell, Ph.D...

Electrostatically Driven Nanoballoon Actuator, Nano Letters (2016). http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b02394

Molecular sized machines could in the future be used to control important mechanisms in the body. In a recent study, researchers at University of California, Berkeley and Umeå University show how a nanoballoon comprising a single carbon molecule can be controlled electrostatically to switch between an inflated and a collapsed state. Inflatable balloon actuators are commonly used for macroscopic applications to lift buildings, as impact protection in cars or to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins. At the micro scale they are used as micro pumps and in nature jumping spiders create microformat fluid-filled cushions to power their legs in explosive jumps.

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Los Alamos Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics researchers hold a large prototype solar window. From left to right: Jaehoon Lim, Kaifeng Wu, Victor Klimov, Hongbo Li. Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Lab team demonstrates an important step in taking quantum dot, solar-powered windows from the laboratory to the construction site by proving that the technology can be scaled up from palm-sized demonstration models to windows large enough to put in and power a building. “We are developing solar concentrators that will harvest sunlight from building windows and turn it into electricity, using quantum-dot based luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs),” said lead scientist Victor Klimov.

LSCs are light-management devices that can serve as large-area sunlight collectors...