In the Media

Ten years after scientists detected gravitational waves for the first time using the LIGO detectors, Rachel Feltman of Scientific American's “Science Quickly” podcast visits the MIT LIGO Lab to speak with Prof. Matt Evans about the future of gravitational wave research and why Cosmic Explorer, the next generation gravitational wave observatory, will help unearth secrets of the early universe. “We get to look back towards the beginning of the universe, in some sense, with gravitational waves as we look at these sources that are farther and farther away,” says Evans. “With Cosmic Explorer we’ll have not just one or two but hundreds of thousands of sources from the distant universe. So it’s a really exciting way to explore the universe as a whole by looking at this stellar graveyard.”

Prof. John Ochsendorf speaks with Chronicle about his work teaching students how to build bridges while highlighting the importance of history in the process. Ochsendorf emphasizes the importance of bridge maintenance, noting "our economies depend on it, and our daily life depends on it. We would like to see more research and investment in the maintenance and assessment of existing bridges because this is really a frontier for the US today.” 

Chronicle spotlights Miguel Rosales SM '87 and his work developing over 12 bridges in Boston, including the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge. “Boston is my city,” says Rosales. “I’ve been here over 40 years. How these bridges have changed so many parts of the city… that is very important in my life.” 

Writing for The New York Times, Prof. David Autor and Prof. Gordon Hanson of Harvard explore how China is “aggressively contesting the innovative sectors where the United States has long been the unquestioned leader." To avoid a second China Shock, they emphasize that the United States “must nourish industries that have high potential for innovation, funded by joint investments by the private and public sectors.” 

Undergraduate student Mason Estrada was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2025 MLB Draft, reports Jesse Borek for MLB News. “Pro baseball was never really on Estrada’s radar until his freshman year at MIT when he reared back, fired and got a radar gun reading of 95 mph,” writes Borek. “There aren’t many humans walking the earth capable of that, let alone ones that willingly enlist in a thermodynamics course.” 

In his new book, “The Comedy of Computation: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Obsolescence,” Prof. Benjamin Mangrum explores how comedy can be a useful tool in a world “increasingly shaped by algorithms, automation, and artificial intelligence,” reports Ed Publica. “As we move deeper into an era of smart machines, digital identities, and algorithmic decision-making, Mangrum’s book reminds us that a well-placed joke might still be one of our most human responses,” they write.

Prof. Emeritus Daniel Kleppner, “an experimental physicist who helped to develop an atomic clock that became an essential part of global positioning systems (GPS),” has died at the age of 92, reports Dylan Loeb McClain for The New York Times. In addition to his work in atomic clocks, Kleppner also “helped to discover a rare fundamental state of matter predicted by Albert Einstein and his fellow theoretical physicist Satyendra Nath Bose,” writes McClain. 

In an opinion piece for Bloomberg, Gautam Mukunda PhD '10 highlights the importance of federally funded scientific research. “Today, the federal government’s best investment is scientific research,” writes Mukunda. “The Federal Reserve estimates that support for science has a 150% to 300% return. Few investors have a track record as good.” 

Prof. David Autor speaks with ABC News reporter Max Zahn about how AI will affect the job market. "We're not good at predicting what the new work will be; we're good at predicting how current work will change," says Autor.

MIT researchers have developed a bionic knee that “allows amputees to walk faster, climb stairs more easily, and adroitly avoid obstacles,” reports Dennis Thompson for HealthDay. “The new prothesis is directly integrated with the person’s muscle and bone tissue, enabling greater stability and providing more control over its movement,” Thompson explains. 

Researchers at MIT have developed a bionic knee that can “integrate with a patient’s bones and nervous system, allowing users to control the prosthesis with their mind,” reports Angela Mathew for The Boston Globe. “In conventional prosthesis, there’s an energy exchange, but there’s not much of an information exchange with the brain,” explains Prof. Hugh Herr. “Because the prosthesis is so intimately connected to the skeleton, if you just tap the toe in a really modest way, the person can feel it exquisitely.”  

Prof. Giovanni Traverso speaks with WCVB about his research developing an ingestible robotic capsule capable of delivering an injection directly within the stomach. “Fifty percent of the population don’t take medication as prescribed. That’s incredible,” says Traverso. “So, if we can make a little dent, or hopefully a bigger dent, I think we can help a lot of folks out there.”  

Prof. Hugh Herr and his colleagues have developed a new prosthetic that could increase mobility for above-the-knee amputees. “We're witnessing the future of prosthetics unfold. The bionic knee developed by MIT doesn't just restore function, it redefines it,” writes Kurt Knutsson for Fox News. “By merging advanced robotics with the human nervous system, it offers amputees something priceless: the feeling that their body is whole again.” 

Researchers at MIT have designed an implantable device that can be used to administer a dose of glucagon to protect Type 1 diabetics from hypoglycemia, reports Amir Khollam. “The device, about the size of a quarter, sits under the skin and releases a dose of glucagon when blood sugar levels dip too low,” explains Khollam. “It can be activated manually or triggered wirelessly by a sensor.” 

Prof. Simon Johnson speaks with Planet Money host Robert Smith about the role institutions play in prosperity gaps in different countries. “I think democracy is absolutely essential for shared prosperity, because if power isn't widely shared across society, in any kind of authoritarian system, you're going to have a situation where, you might have a good ruler or a pro-growth ruler for a while,” says Johnson. “But then they're going to get cranky. They're going to die and pass it on to somebody else who's really not good for growth. So authoritarian rulers are highly unreliable in terms of sustained prosperity."