Team

Carlo Ratti - Director
Assaf Biderman - Associate Director
Luigi Farrauto - Team Leader
Carnaven Chiu - Interactive Designer
Adam Pruden
David Anderson
Malima Wolf
Diego Maniloff
Sey Min
Rex Britter
Lindsey Hoshaw
Jennifer Dunnam
David Lee
Dietmar Offenhuber
Jan Kokol
Phil Salesses
Matthew Kai Johnson Roberson
Walter Nicolino
Giovanni de Niederhausern
Samuel Colle Dominguez Maldonado
Andrea Cassi
Alberto Bottero
Filipa Carvalho
Eric Baczuk
Brendan Englot
Rob Hummel
Brooks Reed

For more information, please contact:
senseable-biennale2010@mit.edu










Cutting edge nanotechnology

MIT scientists recently unveiled a nanowire fabric capable of absorbing up to 20 times its weight in oil. This entirely hydrophobic material is resistant to water but can remove lipids like oil from the ocean. Then the fabric can be heated so the oil can be removed. Once the oil is removed, the nanowire mesh can be recycled again and again. The nanowire mesh is so thin that the fabric looks and feels like paper. This weightless quality helped the team come up with the idea to build a vehicle that could smoothly glide over the surface of the water. Like a paper towel, Seaswarm uses this thin nanofabric to seamlessly suck up surface spills.

MIT News Press Release "MIT develops a 'paper towel' for oil spills"



The mesh of nanowires behind MIT's new material for absorbing oil and other organic pollutants, here shown at increasing magnifications (left to right). Image courtesy of Francesco Stellacci, MIT, and Nature Nanotechnology.



MIT has developed a new material for absorbing oil and other organic pollutants. Here the material is used to remove a layer of gasoline (dyed blue) from a vial of water.Image courtesy of Francesco Stellacci, MIT, and Nature Nanotechnology.