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DesignBoom

Designboom reporter Matthew Burgos spotlights how MIT engineers “3D printed recycled glass and produced robust LEGO-like bricks for buildings and facades.” The researchers found that “in mechanical testing, a single 3D printed recycled glass brick can withstand pressures similar to those of a concrete block,” Burgos explains. “This means that the material can be just as robust as concrete, making it ideal for construction.”

New Scientist

Postdoctoral research Wenxuan Jia PhD '24 and his colleagues at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) have developed a way to reduce the impact of quantum noise by squeezing the laser light used in the detectors, enabling scientists to double the number of gravitational waves they can find, reports Karmela Padavic-Callaghan for New Scientist. “We realized that quantum noise will be limiting us a long time ago,” says Jia. “It’s not just a fancy [quantum] thing to demonstrate, it’s something that really affects the actual detector.” 

IEEE Spectrum

IEEE Spectrum reporter Willie D. Jones spotlights Prof. Wesley Harris, who has “not only advanced the field of aerospace engineering but has also paved the way for future generations to soar.” Jones notes Harris’ commitment to “fostering the next generation of engineers, particularly students of color.” Harris explains: “I’ve always wanted to be like my high school teacher—a physicist who not only had deep knowledge of the scientific fundamentals but also compassion and love for Black folks.” 

Los Angeles Times

MIT physicists have found that “the presence of a tiny black hole speeding through the solar system could be identified by the gentle gravitational nudge it exerted on the Earth and other planets, which would alter their orbital paths by no more than a few feet,” reports Noah Haggerty for The Los Angeles Times. “It’s just fantastic that the most conceptually conservative response is to say, ‘It’s just super tiny black holes that were made a split second after the Big Bang,’” says Prof. David Kaiser. “It’s not inventing new forms of matter that have not yet been detected. It’s not changing the laws of gravity.”

NPR

Scientists and science lovers gathered to celebrate the “quirky aspects of science” at the 2024 Ig Nobel award ceremony held at MIT, reports Ari Daniel for NPR. “We honor some remarkable individuals and groups,” says Marc Abrahams, founder and organizer of the Ig Nobel event and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research. “Every Ig Nobel prize winner has done something that first makes people laugh, and then makes them think.”

New Scientist

Research Scientist Josh Bendavid PhD '13 and his colleagues have “produced a new value for the W boson mass,” a "fundamental particle that is crucial for processes like nuclear decay and setting the mass of the Higgs boson,” reports Alex Wilkins for New Scientist. The result is in line with predictions made in the standard model of particle physics. “The standard model survives for the moment,” said Bendavid of the findings. 

WBUR

WBUR’s Erin Trahan highlights how the MIT Museum will be presenting selections from the Woods Hole Film Festival with “monthly titles that broadly encompass ‘science on screen.’” Trahan notes that on “Oct. 26, the MIT Glass Lab co-presents a documentary about a master Italian glass blower, ‘Sono Lino.’ Erik Demaine, MIT professor of computer science, and Peter Houk, MIT instructor and artistic director of the Glass Lab, will introduce the film.”

Interesting Engineering

MIT researchers have developed a new filtration material capable of removing PFAS and heavy metals from water while possessing “antimicrobial properties that prevent the filters from becoming fouled over time,” reports Sujita Sinha for Interesting Engineering. “By combining silk and cellulose and using a method that aligns the silk molecules into nanofibrils, [the researchers] created a hybrid material with unique properties perfect for water filtration,” explains Sinha. 

Quanta Magazine

Prof. Christoph Kehle and his colleagues have demonstrated “that there is nothing in our known laws of physics to prevent the formation of an extremal black hole,” reports Steve Nadis for Quanta Magazine. The mathematical proof is “beautiful, technically innovative and physically surprising,” says Princeton University Professor Mihalis Dafermos. It hints at a potentially richer and more varied universe in which “extremal black holes could be out there astrophysically.”

NBC Boston

Jeff Karp, an affiliate faculty member with the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, speaks with NBC Boston 10 reporter Renée Onque about the “pendulum lifestyle” – a new outlook on work-life balance detailed in Karp’s book “LIT: Life Ignition Tools.” "We hear these things from others, [like] trust in the process [and] balance is so important, we need more balance, it's the ultimate goal," says Karp. "It ends up being very frustrating and can lead to anxiety, because we're constantly feeling like we're not in balance. There's a state we should be in [and] we're never in that state."

Community Updates

Featured Multimedia

On behalf of family and community, MIT Police Officer Yessenia Gomez gives back and pays it forward. From her early life in war-torn El Salvador to becoming an MIT police officer and serving as the President of the Massachusetts Latino Police Officers Association, for Gomez — it's all about relationships.

Mechatronics combines electrical and mechanical engineering, but above all else it’s about design. "As a designer,y ou have to be able to use your imagination" says MIT Mechanical Engineering Professor David Trumper. "For students in the hands-on, lab-based class, the process of bringing ideas to life can feel a lot like magic."

"Art is a monologue. Design is a dialogue. If you are an artist, you can do pretty much whatever you like. If you are a designer, there is a function behind it, whatever your form of design is," says type designer Matthew Carter, co-founder of Carter & Cone and creator of iconic typefaces such as Verdana and Georgia.

Follow CSAIL graduate student Dylan Wootton through a day in his life at MIT. From his mornings rowing on the Charles to his afternoons on campus developing computational models of human interaction, Wootton shows how he tackles life and work.

Peter Krogen SM ’14, PhD ’16 and Ethan Perrin ’20 were so inspired by their experience in the MIT Electronics Research Society, better known as MITERS, that a couple years ago they decided to re-create it on the West Coast, where they live now.

MIT professor of electrical engineering and computer science, Vinod Vaikuntanathan, explains cryptography, quantum computing and homomorphic encryption.

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