School of Science

A self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.

Software finds the best way to stick a Mars landing

Program users can tinker with landing and path planning scenarios to identify optimal landing sites for Mars rovers.

September 26, 2018

Since the 1950s, scientists have observed a surprisingly straightforward, linear relationship between the Earth’s surface temperature and its outgoing heat.

How Earth sheds heat into space

New insights into the role of water vapor may help researchers predict how the planet will respond to warming.

September 24, 2018

Bernard "Bernie" Burke was the William A.M. Burden Professor of Astrophysics Emeritus and a principal investigator at the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

Professor Emeritus Bernard Burke, astrophysics pioneer, dies at 90

Former Astrophysics Division chair discovered radio noise from Jupiter and the first Einstein Ring, and developed tools to map the universe.

September 24, 2018

The MIT.nano building, at the center of campus adjacent to the Great Dome, has expansive glass facades that allow natural light into the labs while giving visitors a clear view of the research in action.

A big new home for the ultrasmall

MIT.nano building, the largest of its kind, will usher in a new age of nanoscale advancements.

September 23, 2018

3Q: Antonio Torralba on what's next for the Quest for Intelligence

Inaugural director of The Quest discusses what's been accomplished since last spring's launch and what is on the horizon.

September 21, 2018

MIT researchers have developed an automated chemical synthesis system that can take over many of the more tedious aspects of chemical experimentation, freeing up chemists to spend more time on the more analytical and creative aspects of their research.

Plug-and-play technology automates chemical synthesis

System makes it easier to produce new molecules for myriad applications.

September 20, 2018

Recognizing the partially seen

Advances in computer vision inspired by human physiological and anatomical constraints are improving pattern completion in machines.

September 20, 2018

The new faculty who will be making contributions to the School of Science are (clockwise from top left) Tristan Collins, Julien de Wit, Ila Fiete, Ankur Jain, Kiyoshi Masui, Phiala Shanahan, Nike Sun, Alison Wendlandt, Chenyang Xu, and Zhiwei Yun.

School of Science welcomes 10 professors

New faculty join the departments of Biology, Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, and Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

September 19, 2018

McGovern Institute investigator Feng Zhang is the winner of the 2018 Keio Medical Science Prize.

Feng Zhang wins 2018 Keio Medical Science Prize

McGovern Institute scientist is recognized with award for outstanding and creative achievements made in the life and medical sciences.

September 19, 2018

Sam Bowring (front) and former graduate student Seth Burgess inspect the End-Permian extinction horizon at Penglaitan.

An extinction without warning

Study finds end-Permian extinction, which wiped out most of Earth’s species, was instantaneous in geological time.

September 18, 2018

Four GapR subunits assemble as a dimer-of-dimer complex, forming a clamp around overtwisted DNA, which arises during DNA replication and transcription.

Detangling DNA replication

Researchers identify an essential protein that helps enzymes relax overtwisted DNA so each strand can be copied during cell division.

September 17, 2018

Edward Doddridge, a postdoc in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT, co-developed a model to investigate the mechanism behind phytoplankton growth within subtropical gyres.

How phytoplankton survive in ocean gyres with low nutrient supplies

Model of nutrient recycling may explain longstanding mystery.

September 14, 2018

McGovern Institute investigator and brain and cognitive sciences Assistant Professor Mark Harnett has been named a 2018 Vallee Scholar.

Mark Harnett named Vallee Foundation Scholar

MIT neuroscientist is among five people selected to receive the early career award.

September 14, 2018

MIT's 2018 HHMI Hanna Gray fellows are (l-r) Jarrett Smith, Quinton Smith, and Matheus Victor.

New perspectives at the bench

Three MIT postdocs earn competitive Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowships that support diversity in the sciences.

September 12, 2018

MIT neuroscientists have devised a way to measure dopamine in the brain for more than a year, using microfabricated sensors that are so tiny they don’t lead to the formation of scar tissue.

New sensors track dopamine in the brain for more than a year

Tiny probes could be useful for monitoring patients with Parkinson’s and other diseases.