On your next visit to Kendall Square check out the MIT Better World walkway on Main Street between the MBTA station and Hayward Street. Through the summer we are displaying just a few of the incredible innovations going on at MIT, including gravitational wave discoveries at LIGO, new strategies for delivering clean water, new Alzheimer’s disease treatments, and a way to bring this all to the world; The Engine. 

Lots more information about the education, research, teaching, and innovation at MIT is available at the MIT News website and from the MIT Campaign for a Better World.

 

The Engine – Supporting Innovation for Societal Impact 

Many of the most potent ideas for innovation depend on “tough” technologies, but new ideas forged from new science take time to mature into market-ready products—this is where The Engine comes in – it’s an exciting new system for startup support. What will you start?

For more information check out these links:

• MIT News articles on the announcement and the closing of The Engine’s first fund. 
• This video gives an overview of The Engine. 

 

Gravitational Wave Detection at LIGO – Basic Research Pushing the Frontiers of Science 

LIGO stands for Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory – twin detectors located in Livingston, LA and Hanford, WA. LIGO was constructed to detect tiny vibrations from passing gravitational waves, and they first succeeded in “hearing” such waves in September 2015. With his knowledge of the universe and the technology available in 1916, Einstein knew that such ripples would be “vanishingly small” and almost impossible to detect. 100 years later MIT and Caltech scienctists have succeeded, and the advances in technology made by scientists and engineers at LIGO can benefit communications, time-keeping, navigation, and many other industries, with some of these technologies already in commercial use.

For more information check out these links:

• MIT News article announcing the discovery. 
• A video overview shows the science behind this discovery and what it means.
• The MIT Kavli Institute (MKI) for Astrophysics and Space Research is one of the world’s leading institutions for research in astrophysics – check out their page on LIGO.

 

Cleaner Water for All – Filtration, Desalination, Cleaning, and Testing 

Researchers at MIT are developing novel, efficient methods for safer drinker water, including using plant membranes for water filtration, capturing salt in filters as water flows between two electrically conductive surface, and solar-powered desalination systems. There are many projects going on at MIT, including the use of new materials like graphene for filtration, solar-powered desalination devices, and creating sponges that can boil water. 

For more information check out these links:

• MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS) spearheads research on combating worldwide water and food-supply scarcity. The lab incubates scalable technologies to find solutions and fosters innovative regional collaborations.
• Many projects are highlighted by the MIT Campaign for a Better World.

 

Alzheimer’s Disease Research – Understanding the Aging Brain

MIT is at the center of research on Alzheimer’s disease. Research done here has led to the development of startup companies scaling scientific developments into clinical trials and treatment options for patients.

For more information check out these links:

• The Picower Institute at MIT is a community of brain scientists focused on learning and memory.
• Recent findings include the discovery of an immune basis for Alzheimer’s, light stimulation treatment, ways to retreive “lost memories, and machine learning models of neurodegeneterative diease.

 

Share your inspiration using #MITBetterWorld