The power of two
Graduate student Ellen Zhong helped biologists and mathematicians reach across departmental lines to address a longstanding problem in electron microscopy.
LIGO and Virgo detect rare mergers of black holes with neutron stars for the first time
In a 3Q, Salvatore Vitale describes how gravitational-wave signals suggest black holes completely devoured their companion neutron stars.
MIT and Harvard agree to transfer edX to ed-tech firm 2U
Two-part transaction would turn edX into a public benefit company while generously funding a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the impact of digital learning.
Looking for similarities across complex systems
Jörn Dunkel uses the “common language” of math to bridge disparate phenomena, from an embryo’s wrinkles to the twist of spaghetti.
MIT welcomes six new assistant deans for diversity, equity, and inclusion
The Institute’s five schools and the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing will have dedicated professional staff to advance initiatives locally and across the Institute.
Engineered yeast could expand biofuels’ reach
By making the microbes more tolerant to toxic byproducts, researchers show they can use a wider range of feedstocks, beyond corn.
As novel sights become familiar, different brain rhythms and neurons take over
As “visual recognition memory” emerges in the visual cortex, one circuit of inhibitory neurons supplants another, and slower neural oscillations prevail.
Four MIT faculty members receive 2021 US Department of Energy early career awards
Faculty from the departments of Physics and of Nuclear Science and Engineering faculty were selected for the Early Career Research Program.
Ultralight material withstands supersonic microparticle impacts
The new carbon-based material could be a basis for lighter, tougher alternatives to Kevlar and steel.
Revisiting a quantum past for a fusion future
Principal Research Scientist Abhay Ram circles back to his graduate school studies for a new initiative combining classical physics and quantum computing.
Four researchers earn interdisciplinary Schmidt Science Fellowships
Selective global honor supports early-career scientists and engineers in taking on new pursuits.
Physicists uncover secrets of world’s thinnest superconductor
First experimental evidence of spin excitations in an atomically thin material helps answer 30-year-old questions, could lead to better medical diagnostics and more.
Physicists bring human-scale object to near standstill, reaching a quantum state
The results open possibilities for studying gravity’s effects on relatively large objects in quantum states.
Uncovering the mysteries of milk
PhD student Sarah Nyquist applies computational methods to understudied areas of reproductive health, such as the cellular composition of breast milk.