School of Science

Kastner named president of Science Philanthropy Alliance

Physicist will head group aiming to build U.S. philanthropic support for basic science research.

February 26, 2015

MIT researchers designed these complex emulsions to change their configuration in response to stimuli, such as light, or the addition of a chemical surfactant.

A simple way to make and reconfigure complex emulsions

Researchers can precisely control the distribution of liquids suspended within each other.

February 25, 2015

New strategies for anesthesia

Emery Brown says anesthesia drugs have been used in the U.S. for more than 160 years, but were largely misunderstood — until now.

February 23, 2015

Two areas of the brain — the hippocampus (yellow) and the prefrontal cortex (blue) — use two different brain-wave frequencies to communicate as the brain learns to associate unrelated objects.

How brain waves guide memory formation

Neurons hum at different frequencies to tell the brain which memories it should store.

February 23, 2015

Epigenomics of Alzheimer’s disease progression

Study of epigenomic modifications reveals immune basis of Alzheimer's disease.

February 18, 2015

Sylvia Ceyer elected to NAS governing council

Professor and head of the MIT Department of Chemistry will serve on the governing council of the National Academy of Sciences for a three-year term.

February 17, 2015

Solving carbon mysteries of the deep ocean

New research from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution reveals a hidden deep-ocean carbon cycle.

February 17, 2015

Freshman "chemistry clicker" champions named

Interactive clicker competitions pit student recitation teams against one another, turning learning into a semester-long game.

February 13, 2015

Tackling global change during IAP

MIT graduate students brush up on the fundamentals of climate science and policy.

February 11, 2015

Interdisciplinary medicine

Senior Yiping Xing’s view of health care draws upon research, public health, and policy.

February 9, 2015

This human T cell (blue) is under attack by HIV (yellow), the virus that causes AIDS. The virus specifically targets T cells, which play a critical role in the body's immune response against invaders like bacteria and viruses.

Evaluating strategies for HIV vaccination

Study yields insight into generating antibodies that target different strains of HIV.

February 6, 2015

MIT's newly elected members of the National Academy of Engineering are Hari Balakrishnan, Sangeeta Bhatia, Emery N. Brown, and Anantha Chandrakasan (in upper row), and Eric D. Evans, Karen K. Gleason, L. Rafael Reif, and Daniela Rus (in lower row).

Eight from MIT elected to National Academy of Engineering

New members include the Institute’s president and the director of Lincoln Laboratory.

February 5, 2015

MIT researchers have developed a mathematical equation that predicts how surface patterns form on curved objects. Pictured is a sphere with a combination of hexagons and labyrinthine patterns, and a more complex, torus-shaped object with hexagonal dimples.

Wrinkle predictions

New mathematical theory may explain patterns in fingerprints, raisins, and microlenses.

February 2, 2015

Circuits in a brain shape. Two thought bubbles above show people eating.

Decoding sugar addiction

Separate neural circuits control sugar cravings and healthy eating, researchers find.

January 29, 2015

This image shows where the GUR-3 protein is expressed in the worm, which includes the I2 neurons.

Tasting light

Newly discovered taste receptors for hydrogen peroxide allow worms to indirectly detect light.