Addressing nuclear challenges, from radiation detection to power in space
Assistant Professor Jake Hecla is developing tools to cool space-based reactors, detect the presence of nuclear weapons, and better understand emerging nuclear technologies.
MIT affiliates elected 2026 American Geophysical Union Fellows
Anthea Coster, Carolyn Ruppel, César Terrer, and eight additional alumni are honored for their work in the geosciences.
Pinning down the structure of quark-gluon plasma, the universe’s first fluid
A new method picks up where Einstein left off, to predict how particles move through fluid under extreme conditions.
Watch the universe emerge from the dark ages, with Lumina
The new simulation tracks dark matter, galaxies, stars, and cosmic structures over the universe’s first 2 billion years, in greater detail and volume than ever before.
For students with their sights set on space medicine, a new community takes flight
MIT’s Doctors Without Gravity club connects health and space science enthusiasts.
MIT student team CERBERUZ wins NASA LunaRecycle Centennial Challenge, turning lunar trash into tools
The team took first prize in both the Prototype and Digital Twin tracks for its lunar waste recycling system.
Margaret Hamilton, computing pioneer who led software development for the Apollo program, dies at 90
Over two decades at MIT, Hamilton forged new paths in computer science and engineering. Her groundbreaking work included leading the team that programmed the first computers that took humans to the moon.
Astronomers catch a star slowly snacking on a brown dwarf, 300 light years away
The discovery reveals a new way that stars and planetary companions can interact.
The next generation’s guide to the new space economy
An industry report published by students in an MIT aerospace entrepreneurship class lays out guidance for aspiring space leaders and investors.
Fueling a return journey from Mars
PhD candidate Lanie McKinney is building technology to convert the Red Planet’s atmosphere into propellant for bringing astronauts home.
New artist residency program at MIT expands views of the cosmos
Inaugural artist Amy Karle will join astrophysicists at MIT’s Kavli Institute to explore questions about the universe and translate them into an immersive multimedia experience.
Study: Peptides can form well-defined structures in harsh, Venus-like conditions
New research offers support for the possibility that complex biological molecules could exist in the highly acidic environment of Venus’s cloud layer.
Meteorite dust holds records of magnetism that may have helped form the sun
The discovery likely represents the earliest known evidence of a magnetic field in the infant solar system.
Anthea Coster awarded International Union of Radio Science Appleton Prize
The MIT Haystack Observatory principal research scientist is honored for lifetime contributions to ionospheric research.
How to design a space habitat that supports its residents’ mental health
A new online platform helps engineers look beyond survival mode when designing habitats for extreme living conditions.