mtl SPOTLIGHTS
Research News:
MIT Opens New 'Window' on Solar Energy
Imagine
windows that not only provide a clear view and illuminate rooms,
but also use sunlight to efficiently help power the building
they are part of. MIT engineers report a new approach to harnessing
the sun's energy that could allow just that. The work involves
the creation of a novel "solar concentrator." "Light
is collected over a large area [like a window] and gathered,
or concentrated, at the edges," explains Prof. Marc A. Baldo.
Administration News:
Schmidt to Succeed Gibson as Associate Provost
Professor
Martin Schmidt of the Department of Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science has been appointed Associate Provost, Provost
L. Rafael Reif announced this week. Schmidt will succeed Lorna
Gibson, the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science
and Engineering, who will return to her research in the Department
of Materials Science and Engineering and will be taking a sabbatical
next year.
Research News:
MIT Develops a 'Paper Towel' for Oil Spills
A mat of nanowires with the touch and feel of paper could be an important new tool in the cleanup of oil and other organic pollutants, MIT researchers and colleagues report in the May 30 online issue of Nature Nanotechnology.
The scientists say they have created a membrane that can absorb up to 20 times its weight in oil, and can be recycled many times for future use. The oil itself can also be recovered. Some 200,000 tons of oil have already been spilled at sea since the start of the decade.