3 Questions: The origin of the cosmos’ heaviest elements
Unique galaxy offers clues to the extreme conditions that yield the heavies of the periodic table.
Department
Physics
Physicists prove energy input predicts molecular behavior
Theoretical proof could lead to more reliable nanomachines.
Faculty highlight: Joseph Checkelsky
Synthesizing new physics: Assistant professor blends materials science and solid state physics to uncover new properties linked to collective behavior of electrons.
MITx Grant Program selects eight new innovative digital learning projects
New projects emphasize using digital methods not possible in traditional classes, leveraging research-based teaching practices, and measuring student learning.
The beginning of the end for encryption schemes?
New quantum computer, based on five atoms, factors numbers in a scalable way.
Testimony: LIGO has “cracked open” a new window to the universe
MIT’s David Shoemaker testifies before Congress on the significance of LIGO.
In Profile: Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
Experimental physicist explores the wild frontiers of graphene and other ultrathin materials.
Eleven MIT researchers win Sloan Research Fellowships
Faculty from eight MIT science and engineering departments among 126 selected from across the U.S. and Canada.
The Central Machine Shop builds parts that make MIT research work
A secret to the success of many projects at MIT, the Central Machine Shop helps students, faculty, and staff build just about anything that can be machined.
How to make electrons behave like a liquid
Analysis predicts exotic behaviors such as “negative resistance,” based on fluid-like effects.
Crunching quantum code
MIT physics graduate student Sagar Vijay co-develops error correction method for quantum computing based on special electronic states called Majorana fermions.
Amelia Trainer: Structuring improved simulations for reactor physics
MIT sophomore is passionate about coding projects that model neutron behavior inside nuclear reactors.
Scientists make first direct detection of gravitational waves
LIGO signal reveals first observation of two massive black holes colliding, proves Einstein right.
Gravitational waves detected 100 years after Einstein’s prediction
LIGO opens a new window on the universe with the observation of gravitational waves from colliding black holes.