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John Joannopulos poses for portrait.

Professor John Joannopoulos, photonics pioneer and Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies director, dies at 78

Over 50 years at MIT, the condensed-matter physicist led the development of photonic crystals, translating discoveries into wide-ranging applications in energy, medicine, and defense.

August 19, 2025

Decorative image resembling triangular prism and colorful lights.

Strengthening electron-triggered light emission

A new method can produce a hundredfold increase in light emissions from a type of electron-photon coupling, which is key to electron microscopes and other technologies.

January 4, 2023

TEM grid on scotch tape

More sensitive X-ray imaging

Improvements in the material that converts X-rays into light, for medical or industrial images, could allow a tenfold signal enhancement.

February 24, 2022

Danielle Grey-Stewart and Ghadah Alshalan

Two MIT students named 2021 Rhodes Scholars

Danielle Grey-Stewart and Ghadah Alshalan will begin postgraduate studies at Oxford University next fall.

November 21, 2020

IAIFI illustration

National Science Foundation announces MIT-led Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions

IAIFI will advance physics knowledge — from the smallest building blocks of nature to the largest structures in the universe — and galvanize AI research innovation.

August 26, 2020

MIT graduate student Nicholas Rivera (middle) and two students from Professor Ido Kaminer's lab visit Masada National Park near the Dead Sea in Israel.

Shining a light on the quantum world

With funding from MISTI, physicists at MIT and in Israel collaborate to improve understanding and use of quantum light.

July 27, 2020

Images showing interference patterns (top) and a Wilson loop (bottom) were produced by the researchers to confirm the presence of non-Abelian gauge fields created in the research.

Exotic physics phenomenon is observed for first time

Observation of the predicted non-Abelian Aharonov-Bohm Effect may offer step toward fault-tolerant quantum computers.

September 5, 2019

Members of the incoming Class of 2023 and their families listen to remarks by President Reif and three professors who are also MIT alums.

A warm reception for the Class of 2023

“I’m here to welcome you to your new home!” President L. Rafael Reif tells first-year students.

August 27, 2019

A new photonic chip design drastically reduces energy needed to compute with light, with simulations suggesting it could run optical neural networks 10 million times more efficiently than its electrical counterparts.

Chip design drastically reduces energy needed to compute with light

Simulations suggest photonic chip could run optical neural networks 10 million times more efficiently than its electrical counterparts.

June 5, 2019

Two versions of the device designed by MIT researchers, using a strip of metal to block direct sunlight, were built and tested on the roof of an MIT building to confirm that they could provide cooling well below ambient air temperature.

A new way to provide cooling without power

Device developed at MIT could provide refrigeration for off-grid locations.

November 28, 2018

Amy Finkelstein (left) and Lisa Parks.

Amy Finkelstein, Lisa Parks win 2018 MacArthur Fellowships

Health care economist and media studies scholar are the latest MIT faculty to nab prestigious “genius grant.”

October 4, 2018

This cloaking grenade, used for hiding troop operations from view on the battlefield, is an example of nanoparticles that reflect a particular color of light based on their exact size and composition. New work by MIT researchers provides a way to predict the light-scattering properties of layered nanoparticles – or to design particles to match a desired type of light-scattering behavior.

AI-based method could speed development of specialized nanoparticles

Neural network could expedite complex physics simulations.

June 1, 2018

Melissa Nobles (far right), Kenan Sahin Dean of the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, introduced the panel discussion, "The Consequences: Intelligence and Society," at the launch of the MIT Intelligence Quest on March 1. From left, Gideon Lichfield, editor-in-chief, MIT Technology Review; Rodney Brooks, Panasonic Professor of Robotics, emeritus; Megan Smith, founder and CEO, shi...

MIT Intelligence Quest kicks off

A star-studded lineup helps the Institute celebrate the launch of a new initiative on human and machine intelligence.

March 7, 2018

A drawing illustrates the unusual topological landscape around a pair of features known as exceptional points (red dots), showing the emergence of a Fermi arc (pink line at center), and exotic polarization contours that form a Mobius-strip-like texture (top and bottom strips).

New exotic phenomena seen in photonic crystals

Researchers observe, for the first time, topological effects unique to an “open” system.

January 11, 2018

The president of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, visited MIT on Monday, Dec. 4. From left: MIT physicist Marin Soljačić; MIT President L. Rafael Reif; Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović; and the dean of the MIT School of Science, Michael Sipser.

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, president of Croatia, visits MIT

State visit includes meeting with MIT president and award for MIT physicist Marin Soljačić.

December 5, 2017