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MIT professor Hazel Sive, third from left, met with Tunisian professors who participated in the new MIT-Educator program on campus this summer. From left to right: Dr. Youssef Trifa; Dr. Hend Younsi Kaabachi; professor Hazel Sive; Dr. Dalila Haouas; Dr. Karim Naghmouchi; professor Amel Hamza-Chaffai; Dr. Karima Fadhlaoui; Dr. Mahfoudh Wijden; Julia Reynolds-Cuellar; Dr. Saoussen Benzarti; Dr. Nabi...

The teacher becomes the student

Ten Tunisian professors take part in MIT-Educator’s inaugural program to examine their higher-ed practices.

September 2, 2016

“I try to guide my research by ... asking myself the question, ‘What can we do today that will have a lasting impact and be conducive to a sustainable human civilization?’” says Rohit Karnik, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Rohit Karnik seeks sustainable solutions through nanotechnology

Engineer’s designs may help purify water, diagnose disease in remote regions of world.

September 1, 2016

An MIT parent proudly wears the designation.

President Reif to Class of 2020: “All of us together will make a better world”

MIT president and professors offer words of wisdom, encouragement at Freshman Convocation.

August 30, 2016

Ginkgo Bioworks staff members Ramya Prathuri (left) and Nate Tedford work at the mass spectrometer in the Ginkgo foundry.

Hacking microbes

Startup’s engineered yeast helps clients produce fragrances and flavors more efficiently.

August 25, 2016

Clownfish fight off predators of anemones that in turn provide habitats for the clownfish, an example of mutualism. But mutualistic relationships aren’t always set in stone; depending on environmental conditions, once-simpatico species can become competitors.

A mutual breakdown

Species relationships devolve from jointly beneficial to competitive in benign environments.

August 24, 2016

“This place is remarkable,” Alfredo Alexander-Katz, the Walter Henry Gale Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, says of MIT. “You can throw any crazy idea out there” and then pursue it.

Seeing nature through a molecular engineer’s eye

Alfredo Alexander-Katz probes systems in action, from clotting blood to walking molecules.

August 22, 2016

MIT biological engineers have devised a memory storage system illustrated here as a DNA-embedded meter that is recording the activity of a signaling pathway in a human cell.

Recording analog memories in human cells

Engineers program human cells to store complex histories in their DNA.

August 18, 2016

New MIT heads of house for fall 2016: (clockwise from top left) Nuria Jane and Alberto Rodriguez; Pablo Jarillo-Herrero (who will co-lead with Empar Rollano-Hijarrubia, not pictured); Laurie Lynn and Jared Berezin (with Shakedown); and Kristen Covino.

New heads of house join undergraduate and graduate communities to start the fall semester

Areas of expertise include robotics, writing, physics, jewelry-making, and breakfast cereal.

August 18, 2016

The Hydroswarm team in Building 24: (left to right) Jon Burton, Sampriti Bhattacharyya — holding their prototype submersible robot — Brindha Kanniah, Adam Gawle, and Patrick Flynn.

Summer in the Sandbox

Students in a new innovation program are using the summer, their new connections, and their funding to move their ideas forward.

August 17, 2016

Mars’ Valles Marineris canyon, pictured, spans as much as 600 kilometers across and delves as much as 8 kilometers deep. The image was created from over 100 images of Mars taken by Viking Orbiters in the 1970s.

New technique may help detect Martian life

A novel interpretation of Raman spectra will help the 2020 Mars rover select rocks to study for signs of life.

August 15, 2016

Researchers at MIT have for the first time identified the structure of class I fumarate hydratase enzyme, which could be a target for drugs combatting diseases prevalent in the developing world.

Targeting neglected diseases

New enzyme-mapping advance could help drug development.

August 15, 2016

Membrane structures in plant xylem from different species are being investigated for use in water filtration.

J-WAFS Solutions program awards $750,000 in commercialization grants

Four new projects and one renewal receive $150,000 in funding for 2016-2017.

August 12, 2016

Researchers designed and tested several types of optical sensors that could be placed at the tip of an epidural needle and determined that the best is one that relies on Raman spectroscopy. This technique, which uses light to measure energy shifts in molecular vibrations, offers detailed information about the chemical composition of tissue.

Needles that hit the right mark

New sensor could help anesthesiologists place needles for epidurals and other medical procedures.

August 11, 2016

Clockwise from top left: Cathy Drennan, professor of chemistry and biology at MIT; Squire Booker, a professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State; Martin McLaughlin ’15; and an image of LipA.

Research by MIT undergrad helps crack chemical mystery

Study finds enzyme “cannibalizes” itself to perform an essential reaction.

August 8, 2016

“My lab’s goal is to really provide molecular insight, using NMR spectroscopy to answer a lot of structural, dynamic, and mechanistic questions” about membrane proteins, says Mei Hong, an MIT professor of chemistry.

Analyzing dynamic proteins

Chemistry professor Mei Hong studies the structures of proteins embedded in cell membranes.