School of Science

Researchers report that warming from short-lived compounds — greenhouse gases such as methane and chlorofluorocarbons, that linger in the atmosphere for just a year to a few decades — can cause sea levels to rise for hundreds of years after the pollutants have been cleared from the atmosphere.

Short-lived greenhouse gases cause centuries of sea-level rise

Through warming effects, methane and other gases impact rising seas long after leaving the atmosphere.

January 9, 2017

Left: An artist’s conception of the Lucy spacecraft flying by the Trojan Eurybates — one of the six diverse and scientifically important Trojans asteroids to be studied. Right: Psyche, the first mission to a metal asteroid, will map features, structure, composition, and magnetic field, and examine a landscape unlike anything explored before.

Twin wins for planetary exploration

MIT scientists and alumni well represented on newly announced NASA asteroid missions Psyche and Lucy.

January 5, 2017

Decision points for the first player in an “envelope game” are graphed like the branches of a tree. In a game with two players, each has a potential payoff, but the first one’s actions determine the second one’s payoff in each round. Choices whether to gather more information by looking in an envelope that contains either a high or a low temptation and whether to cooperate or defect from t...

Using evolutionary dynamics and game theory to understand personal relations

MIT biophysicists apply mathematics from evolutionary biology to describe a surprising aspect of human behavior.

January 5, 2017

MIT affiliates were well represented in the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30, honoring young leaders.

At least 30 from MIT named to 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 lists

Students, faculty, staff, and alumni honored in "the most definitive gathering of today’s leading young change-makers and innovators."

January 5, 2017

A team of neuroscientists has found that people are biased toward hearing and producing rhythms composed of simple integer ratios — for example, a series of four beats separated by equal time intervals.

How the brain perceives rhythm

Study finds the brain is biased toward rhythms based on simple integer ratios.

January 5, 2017

“Understanding how our innate immune system works is important for thinking about the development of new ways to treat infectious disease,” says MIT associate professor of chemistry Elizabeth Nolan.

Exploring the tug-of-war over metals during infection

Chemist Elizabeth Nolan studies the battle between microbes and hosts for essential metals.

January 4, 2017

Competency exam certificate now available for MITx Introduction to Biology course

New option for online learners tests subject mastery and provides meaningful certificates for one of the most popular MITx courses.

January 3, 2017

MIT scientists have found that extreme precipitation events in California should become more frequent as the Earth’s climate warms over this century.

Study finds more extreme storms ahead for California

New technique predicts frequency of heavy precipitation with global warming.

January 3, 2017

MIT researchers describe a way to make atom interferometry with Bose-Einstein condensates even more precise by eliminating a source of error endemic to earlier designs.

Hyperprecise measurement with Bose-Einstein condensates

New atom interferometer could measure inertial forces with record-setting accuracy.

December 27, 2016

Researchers have discovered that in people with dyslexia the brain has a diminished ability to acclimate to a repeated input — a trait known as neural adaptation.

Distinctive brain pattern may underlie dyslexia

Study suggests reduced plasticity could account for reading difficulties.

December 21, 2016

MIT postdoc Jörn Venderbos (left) and graduate student Vladyslav Kozii co-authored a new paper with Biedenharn Career Development Assistant Professor of Physics Liang Fu proposing that a class of superconducting materials can host Majorana fermions near absolute zero, and their existence can be verified using nuclear magnetic resonance.

Majorana fermions predicted in a superconducting material

MIT researchers propose a new method for verifying the existence of a theoretical quasiparticle.

December 21, 2016

"Students selected as Burchard Scholars are some of MIT's liveliest undergraduates," says Margery Resnick, professor of literature and director of the Burchard program. "They are unafraid to wrestle with new ideas."

35 exceptional MIT students are named Burchard Scholars for 2017

Sophomores and juniors who excel in the HASS and STEM fields are honored.

December 20, 2016

MIT researchers believe they have finally captured the process of quantum melting — a phase transition in quantum mechanics, in which electrons that have formed a crystalline structure purely through their quantum interactions melt into a more disordered fluid, in response to quantum fluctuations to their density.

Scientists detect a quantum crystal of electrons and “watch” it melt

New observations confirm an 80-year-old quantum theory.

December 20, 2016

This mosaic image of the Crab Nebula was taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Features of this nebula and other astrophysical phenomena are being studied at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center.

Chikang Li brings the Crab Nebula to the lab

Plasma Science and Fusion Center researcher figures out the kink in the crab.

December 19, 2016

MIT oceanographers have found that some small marine organisms — mostly bacteria — have a surprisingly low limit to the amount of oxygen they need to breathe.

New study sets oxygen-breathing limit for ocean’s hardiest organisms

Bacteria can survive in marine environments that are almost completely starved of oxygen.

December 19, 2016

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Short-lived greenhouse gases cause centuries of sea-level rise

Twin wins for planetary exploration

Using evolutionary dynamics and game theory to understand personal relations

At least 30 from MIT named to 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 lists

How the brain perceives rhythm

Exploring the tug-of-war over metals during infection

Competency exam certificate now available for MITx Introduction to Biology course

Study finds more extreme storms ahead for California

Hyperprecise measurement with Bose-Einstein condensates

Distinctive brain pattern may underlie dyslexia

Majorana fermions predicted in a superconducting material

35 exceptional MIT students are named Burchard Scholars for 2017

Scientists detect a quantum crystal of electrons and “watch” it melt

Chikang Li brings the Crab Nebula to the lab

New study sets oxygen-breathing limit for ocean’s hardiest organisms

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