MIT chemists have designed a polymer that can reversibly switch from a large structure (orange spheres) to the smaller blue shapes, in response to light.
Image: Demin Liu/Molgraphics

New material reversibly changes its structure in response to different wavelengths of light. MIT researchers have designed a polymer material that can change its structure in response to light, converting from a rigid substance to a softer one that can heal itself when damaged.

“You can switch the material states back and forth, and in each of those states, the material acts as though it were a completely different material, even though it’s made of all the same components,” says Jeremiah Johnson, an associate professor of chemistry at MIT, a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and th...

HaloSat, a new CubeSat mission to study the halo of hot gas surrounding the MilkyWay, was released from the International Space Station over Australia on July 13. Credit: NanoRacks/NASA

A new mission called HaloSat will help scientists search for the universe’s missing matter by studying X-rays from hot gas surrounding the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers keep coming up short when they survey “normal” matter, the material that makes up galaxies, stars and planets. A new NASA-sponsored CubeSat mission called HaloSat, deployed from the International Space Station on July 13, will help scientists search for the universe’s missing matter by studying X-rays from hot gas surrounding our Milky Way galaxy.

The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is the oldest light in the universe, radiation from when ...

A cross section of a mouse spinal cord, stained two different ways, showing increased expression of KCC2 in inhibitory neurons. This increased expression correlated with improved motor function, including ankle movement and stepping. Credit: Zhigang He Lab, Boston Children’s Hospital

Small-molecule drug reactivates dormant nerve pathways; could complement regenerative strategies. Most people with spinal cord injury are paralyzed from the injury site down, even when the cord isn’t completely severed. Why don’t the spared portions of the spinal cord keep working? Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital now provide insight into why these nerve pathways remain quiet...

Sodium-potassium alloy is a room-temperature liquid metal that could unlock a high-voltage flow battery. (Image credit: Antonio Baclig)

A new type of flow battery that involves a liquid metal more than doubled the maximum voltage of conventional flow batteries and could lead to affordable storage of renewable power. A new combination of materials developed by Stanford researchers may aid in developing a rechargeable battery able to store the large amounts of renewable power created through wind or solar sources. With further development, the new technology could deliver energy to the electric grid quickly, cost effectively and at normal ambient temperatures.

The technology – a type of battery known as a flow battery – has long been considered as a likely candidate for storing intermittent ...