School of Science

MIT senior Rasheed Auguste’s parents emigrated from Haiti to Boston as teenagers and completed master’s degrees in the U.S. “When I was born, the standard was, ‘we have master’s degrees; a PhD is the next step for this next generation.’ That was always the bar,” says Auguste. “It just so happens I got lucky. I actually do want this PhD that was prescribed from birth.”

Nuclear engineering student advocates for change on campus and Capitol Hill

Senior Rasheed Auguste is fueled by passions for science, policy, and creating a more inclusive MIT.

December 7, 2016

Clockwise from top left: Alix de Monts ’14, senior Anita Liu, senior Melody Liu, and senior Lisa Ho have been selected as Schwarzman Scholars.

Four MIT students named 2017 Schwarzman Scholars

Alix de Monts, Lisa Ho, Anita Liu, and Melody Liu will study for one year at Tsinghua University in China.

December 2, 2016

MIT neuroscientist Li-Huei Tsai (left) receives the Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award from Society for Neuroscience President Hollis Cline.

Li-Huei Tsai receives Society for Neuroscience Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award

Picower Institute director awarded for her research on brain development, neurological disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease.

December 2, 2016

Tomaso Poggio, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at MIT and director of the Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines, has long thought that the brain must produce “invariant” representations of faces and other objects, meaning representations that are indifferent to objects’ orientation in space, their distance from the viewer, or their location in the visual field.

How the brain recognizes faces

Machine-learning system spontaneously reproduces aspects of human neurology.

December 1, 2016

Four proposals from six MIT faculty members, pictured here, have been awarded Professor Amar G. Bose Research Grants. Left to right: Angela Belcher, Amy Keating, Karl Berggren, Betar Gallant, Domitilla Del Vecchio, and Ron Weiss.

Bold research visions recognized and rewarded

Four proposals from six MIT faculty members to receive Professor Amar G. Bose Research Grants.

December 1, 2016

After making several upgrades, scientists have restarted the twin detectors of LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory. The Livingston detector site, located near Livingston, Louisiana, is pictured here.

LIGO back online, ready for more discoveries

Upgrades make detectors more sensitive to gravitational waves.

November 30, 2016

A destructive wildfire burned through Canada’s Northern Alberta region, razing neighborhoods in Fort McMurray and displacing tens of thousands of residents.

Climate models may be overestimating the cooling effect of wildfire aerosols

Study finds accounting for year-to-year variability enables more accurate projections of climate change and its impacts.

November 29, 2016

Professor Hung Cheng pledges $1 million for a new MIT scholarship

Inspired by writing his novel, "Nanjing Never Cries," Cheng hopes scholarship helps MIT students work toward a better world.

November 29, 2016

This image shows simulated iso-frequency contours of a photonic crystal slab superimposed on each other and tiled.

New method for analyzing crystal structure

Exotic materials called photonic crystals reveal their internal characteristics with new method.

November 25, 2016

Members of the MITili and pK-12 Action Group convene to discuss learning and research directions.

Enhancing education from pre-K to MIT and beyond

Two new initiatives take an in-depth look at learning.

November 23, 2016

Dust blowing through the Sahara Desert in 2012. Researchers have found that the plume was far less dusty between 5,000 and 11,000 years ago, containing only half the amount of dust that is transported today.

Saharan dust in the wind

Scientists find huge reduction in African dust plume led to stronger Saharan monsoons 11,000 years ago.

November 23, 2016

This image shows triple-negative breast cancer cells with high levels of “Mena invasive” protein and treated with Paclitaxel. The cell cytoskeleton is shown in blue, the dynamic microtubules are shown in green, and the stable microtubules are shown in red.

Biomarker could help guide cancer therapy, avoid drug resistance

Biologists link levels of Mena protein to breast cancer cells’ sensitivity to chemotherapy.

November 22, 2016

Left to right: Robert Stoner, deputy director of the MIT Energy Initiative and director of the Tata Center for Technology and Design; Maria Zuber, MIT vice president for research; Joi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab; and John Fernandez, professor of architecture and director of MIT's Environmental Solutions Initiative.

Forging ahead on climate action

At UN Climate Change Conference, MIT researchers share insights on implementing climate commitments.

November 22, 2016

“I’m working on bigger questions not only from a scientific perspective, but also from a societal perspective,” says Brian Henderson, Stanton Fellow in Nuclear Science and Security.

Brian Henderson: Experimenting with physics and policy

Nuclear Science and Engineering Stanton Fellow Brian Henderson brings his physics experience to bear on nuclear weapons disarmament policies.

November 21, 2016

Creating new treatments for amblyopia

Study finds decreasing activity in the eye can help overcome visual impairment.