A plan to preserve wetlands without stopping development
Study shows the tradeoff between conservation and growth is less stark with a locally adjusted policy featuring both tradeable offsets and taxes.
MIT researchers develop a low-cost technique to get lithium out of rocks
The low-temperature process could unlock cleaner lithium from America’s abundant hard rock while minimizing waste.
A new sensor could enable earlier detection of bladder cancer
Using a catheter coated with carbon nanotubes, researchers can detect biomarkers produced by cancer cells in the bladder.
The Haystack 37m Telescope: A new era of astrophysical research
The legendary radio astronomy telescope returns to its science and educational mission at MIT Haystack Observatory.
MIT chemists discover and isolate a new boron-oxygen molecule
The discovery of dioxaborirane could expand the chemistry of boron-based reagents, providing new tools for oxidation reactions in synthesis and materials science.
Researchers “reprogram” materials by quickly rearranging their atoms
A new method for precisely moving columns of individual atoms within a material could give rise to exotic quantum properties.
MIT School of Engineering faculty receive awards in winter 2026
Faculty members and researchers were honored in recognition of their scholarship, service, and overall excellence.
Photonics advance could enable compact, high-performance lidar sensors
With a novel design, MIT researchers overcame a stubborn problem that has limited the effectiveness of chip-based systems for lidar.
Method for stress-testing cloud computing algorithms helps avoid network failures
The “MetaEase” technique provides a heads-up to potential scenarios that could cause long wait-times or outages.
The hidden structure behind a widely used class of materials
Relaxor ferroelectrics have been used in electronics and sensors for decades, but the source of their unique properties was a mystery until now.
Solving the “Whac-a-mole dilemma”: A smarter way to debias AI vision models
A new debiasing technique called WRING avoids creating or amplifying biases that can occur with existing debiasing approaches.
Self-organizing “pencil beam” laser could help scientists design brain-targeted therapies
MIT researchers leveraged a surprise discovery to devise a faster and more precise biomedical imaging technique.
MIT scientists build the world’s largest collection of Olympiad-level math problems, and open it to everyone
New dataset of 30,000-plus competition math problems from 47 countries gives AI researchers a harder test — and students worldwide a better training ground.
With navigating nematodes, scientists map out how brains implement behaviors
MIT scientists create a detailed map of exactly what happens in the brains of C. elegans worms when they “follow their nose” to savor attractive odors or avoid unappealing ones.
A regulatory loophole could delay ozone recovery by years
Scientists say an exception in the Montreal Protocol for the use of ozone-depleting feedstocks could set the ozone recovery back seven years.