Videos
2008 Steel Bridge video
Check out this video of the 2008 Steel Bridge Team, which placed first in construction time and second overall in the regional competition of the ASCE Steel Bridge Competition April 5, ensuring the team's spot at the national competition in May.
Crack coalescence in gypsum and marble
Researchers in the rock mechanics lab in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering study the basic mechanics of rock, applying high stresses to different types of material to study its fracturing and crack coalescence behavior (the cracks that form between flaws that exist in rock). Their work involves use of a high-speed camera that captures videos of up to 24,000 frames per second, allowing the researchers to tape and then replay rock fracturing at speeds the human eye and brain can comprehend. Videos / Louis N.Y.Wong
Foraging marine bacteria
Scientists in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering demonstrated for the first time in lab experiments that the 2-micron-long, rod-shaped marine bacterium P. haloplanktis is able to locate and exploit nutrient patches extremely rapidly, thanks to its keen swimming abilities. This video shows the paths of P. haloplanktis swimming after food in a microfluidics environment. Video / Justin Seymour and Marcos
H-bond cooperation in proteins
The strength of a protein-based materials like spider silk lies in the specific geometric configuration of structural proteins, which have small clusters of weak hydrogen bonds that work cooperatively to resist force and dissipate energy. This video shows the failure of a beta-sheet model system under shear loading. As the middle strand is pulled with a constant speed, the rupture of hydrogen bonds in clusters leads to failure of the beta-sheet assembly. Video / Sinan Keten
Beating heart
In work that could have applications in fields from biology to environmental engineering, an MIT team has explained why an oil drop containing a water-insoluble surfactant appears to beat like a heart when placed on a water surface. See the video.
Material fracture at the atomic scale
This atom-by-atom simulation video shows a crack spreading through a brittle material. First the crack creates a clean slice across the surface, but as it gains speed it starts to gyrate, and the crack's path becomes increasingly uneven. This work could impact a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines. Video / Markus Buehler
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