Small eddies play a big role in feeding ocean microbes
Swirling waters replenish nutrients in open ocean, a new study finds, and could mitigate some climate change effects.
Ocean scientists measure sediment plume stirred up by deep-sea-mining vehicle
A new field study reveals a previously unobserved fluid dynamic process that is key to assessing impact of deep-sea mining operations.
Physicists see electron whirlpools for the first time
Long predicted but never observed, this fluid-like electron behavior could be leveraged for low-power next-generation electronics.
Engineers use artificial intelligence to capture the complexity of breaking waves
Their model’s predictions should help researchers improve ocean climate simulations and hone the design of offshore structures.
MIT engineers introduce the Oreometer
Mechanical engineers put an Oreo’s cream filling through a battery of tests to understand what happens when two wafers are twisted apart.
Professor Emeritus Peter Griffith, a pioneer in heat transfer and fluid mechanics, dies at 94
Longtime professor of mechanical engineering influenced nuclear reactor design and shaped thermodynamics education at MIT.
Computing for ocean environments
MIT ocean and mechanical engineers are using advances in scientific computing to address the ocean’s many challenges, and seize its opportunities.
Physicists watch as ultracold atoms form a crystal of quantum tornadoes
The new observations record a key crossover from classical to quantum behavior.
Climate modeling confirms historical records showing rise in hurricane activity
New results show North Atlantic hurricanes have increased in frequency over the last 150 years.
Six from MIT named American Physical Society Fellows for 2021
APS names Bourouiba, Grego, Liu, Peacock, Winslow, and Yildiz as MIT’s newest fellows for their contributions to physics.
How marsh grass protects shorelines
As climate change brings greater threats to coastal ecosystems, new research can help planners leverage the wave-damping benefits of marsh plants.
Volta Labs: Improving workflows for genetic applications
Udayan Umapathi SM ’17 and Will Langford SM ’14, PhD ’19 are co-founders of a Media Lab spinoff building a full-stack platform to enable automation for genomics and genetic engineering.
Professor Emeritus Ronald Probstein, world-renowned expert in fluid mechanics, dies at 93
Probstein’s research had diverse applications in fields including aeronautics, energy, desalination, and soil decontamination.
Taking on the stormy seas
Themistoklis Sapsis tackles engineering problems associated with the unpredictable ocean environment and its effects on ships and other structures.
High-speed camera captures a water jet’s splashy impact as it pierces a droplet
The results may help engineers develop a way to inject drugs without needles.