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To track the family history for a single cell, researchers engineered a microfluidic device that traps first an individual cell and then all of its descendants. The device has several connected channels, each of which has a trapping pocket used to capture single cells in precise locations. After the initial cell grows and divides, its progeny float downstream and are captured in the next available...

Tracing a cellular family tree

New technique allows tracking of gene expression over generations of cells as they specialize.

January 6, 2016

Manu National Park, a large (15,328-square-kilometer) protected area in southeastern Peru, includes several ecological zones and spans an elevation range of 150-4,200 meters above sea level. Manu’s vast tracks of Amazonian rainforest are part of the global tropical forest carbon sink that is slowing the rate of increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide, a primary driver of climate change.

Assessing nature's carbon sinks

Study estimates the annual carbon sequestration rate in protected areas such as rainforests will decline by about 40 percent between now and 2100.

January 5, 2016

As bacteria stream through a microfluidic lattice, they synchronize and swim in patterns similar to those of electrons flowing through a magnetic material. This image shows a microfluidic 6x6 lattice. The left-hand side shows the original data as seen under the microscope. The overlaid color coding on the right-hand side shows the relative strength of clockwise (purple) or anti-clockwise (green) ...

Study reveals shared behavior of microbes and electrons

Bacteria streaming through a lattice behave like electrons in a magnetic material.

January 5, 2016

Researchers have discovered how some organisms can safely process oxalate, which is found in many fruits and vegetables. This discovery could lead to new ways to lessen the harmful effects that can occur when oxalate builds up in humans, who cannot metabolize this molecule.

A healthy breakdown

Researchers discover how some organisms process oxalate, a molecule that can harm humans.

December 28, 2015

Clockwise from top left: B. Gloria Choi, Christopher Cummins, James DiCarlo, Mehrdad Jazayeri, Jonathan Kelner, and Jared Speck

The School of Science appoints six faculty to named professorships

December 28, 2015

Michael Artin and Shirley Jackson win nation’s highest honor in science and technology

Mathematician and MIT Corporation life member named National Medal of Science recipients.

December 23, 2015

Researchers have developed a computational model of visual representation intended to reflect the way the brain works.

Machines that learn like people

Algorithms could learn to recognize objects from a few examples, not millions; may better model human cognition.

December 23, 2015

Angela Belcher (pictured), MIT professor of biological engineering and materials science and engineering; Paula Hammond, professor and head of the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering; Po-Yen Chen PhD ’15 (now at Brown University); and others have shown that a novel, high-efficiency, low-cost solar cell can be made using lead recovered from an abundant, old-technology source: lead-acid car bat...

Solar energy from discarded car batteries

An MIT development could benefit both the environment and human health.

December 22, 2015

Chemical engineering makers: (left to right) Chung-Yueh Lin, Bradley Olsen, and Paige Omura

Molecule makers

A new course in the Department of Chemical Engineering gives freshmen hands-on experience.

December 22, 2015

Markus Buehler (left), the McAfee Professor of Engineering and head of the MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Pedro Reis, the Gilbert W. Winslow Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering

MIT’s Buehler and Reis elected to Society of Engineering Science Board of Directors

December 21, 2015

(Clockwise from top left)
Angela M. Belcher; Sangeeta N. Bhatia; H. Robert Horvitz; and Emery N. Brown.

Four MIT faculty named 2015 fellows of the National Academy of Inventors

Belcher, Bhatia, Brown, and Horvitz recognized for demonstrating a prolific spirit of innovation and invention resulting in a tangible impact on society.

December 18, 2015

Nanodevices at one-hundredth the cost

New techniques for building microelectromechanical systems show promise.

December 18, 2015

(Left to right) Caroline Robertson and Nancy Kanwisher.

Study finds altered brain chemistry in people with autism

Neuroscientists link autism to reduced activity of key neurotransmitter in human brain.

December 17, 2015

Susan Hockfield chosen to serve as AAAS president-elect

Former MIT president to begin three-year term on AAAS Board of Directors in February.

December 16, 2015

A rounded cancer cell (top left) sends out nanotubes connecting with endothelial cells. Genetic material can be injected via these nanotubes, transforming the endothelial cells and making them more hospitable to additional cancer cells.

Scientists discover how cancer cells escape blood vessels

Study offers new targets for drugs that may prevent cancer from spreading.