Physics

To study phase changes in materials, such as freezing and thawing, researchers used charge density waves — electronic ripples that are analogous to the crystal structure of a solid. They found that when phase change is triggered by a pulse of laser light, instead of by a temperature change, it unfolds very differently, starting with a collection of whirlpool-like distortions called topological d...

When light, not heat, causes melting

Study reveals the details of light-induced phase changes.

October 15, 2018

This illustration shows a multi-jet event recorded by the CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

Center for Theoretical Physics professors earn DOE Quantum Information Science Awards

Professors Daniel Harlow, Aram Harrow, Hong Liu, and Jesse Thaler among the first recipients of new honor for advances in quantum understanding.

October 12, 2018

Standing, left to right: Justin Leahey, MIT-Germany program manager; David Dolev, MISTI assistant director; Markus Buehler, MIT-Germany faculty director, professor, and head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Ulrich Steinbach, deputy minister of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts; Wolfgang Holtkamp, senior advisor if international affairs at t...

MIT-Germany and the University of Stuttgart extend cooperation

Collaboration extends opportunities for faculty seed funds, internship opportunities, and a Global Teaching Labs program through 2020.

October 12, 2018

The ARC conceptual design for a compact, high magnetic field fusion power plant. The design now incorporates innovations from the newly published research to handle heat exhaust from the plasma.

A new path to solving a longstanding fusion challenge

Novel design could help shed excess heat in next-generation fusion power plants.

October 9, 2018

Five students were challenged to live and work in a glass cube on MIT's North Court for four days as part of InCube, a global startup competition.

Student entrepreneurs think inside the box

Living and working in a glass cube, an interdisciplinary team of students reimagined the ambulance of the future as part of a global startup competition.

October 5, 2018

Three MIT researchers, (l-r) Riccardo Comin, Luqiao Lui, and Phillip Keathley, have all been awarded three-year, $450,000 grants.

Three MIT researchers win U.S. Air Force Young Investigator Research Program grants

Riccardo Comin, Phillip “Donnie” Keathley, and Luqiao Lui are among 31 selected nationwide.

October 5, 2018

Since the 1950s, scientists have observed a surprisingly straightforward, linear relationship between the Earth’s surface temperature and its outgoing heat.

How Earth sheds heat into space

New insights into the role of water vapor may help researchers predict how the planet will respond to warming.

September 24, 2018

Bernard "Bernie" Burke was the William A.M. Burden Professor of Astrophysics Emeritus and a principal investigator at the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

Professor Emeritus Bernard Burke, astrophysics pioneer, dies at 90

Former Astrophysics Division chair discovered radio noise from Jupiter and the first Einstein Ring, and developed tools to map the universe.

September 24, 2018

The MIT.nano building, at the center of campus adjacent to the Great Dome, has expansive glass facades that allow natural light into the labs while giving visitors a clear view of the research in action.

A big new home for the ultrasmall

MIT.nano building, the largest of its kind, will usher in a new age of nanoscale advancements.

September 23, 2018

The new faculty who will be making contributions to the School of Science are (clockwise from top left) Tristan Collins, Julien de Wit, Ila Fiete, Ankur Jain, Kiyoshi Masui, Phiala Shanahan, Nike Sun, Alison Wendlandt, Chenyang Xu, and Zhiwei Yun.

School of Science welcomes 10 professors

New faculty join the departments of Biology, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, and Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

September 19, 2018