What happens when environmental change outpaces life’s ability to adapt?
A new model links Earth’s mass extinctions to mismatches between rates of environmental change and biological adaptation.
An engineer’s guide to birds
In her new book, “Birds Up Close,” MIT materials engineer Lorna Gibson explores feathers, bones, bills, eggs, and flight, and the mechanics behind birds’ extraordinary abilities.
3 Questions: Building predictive models to characterize tumor progression
Assistant Professor Matthew Jones is working to decode molecular processes on the genetic, epigenetic, and microenvironment levels to anticipate how and when tumors evolve to resist treatment.
Some early life forms may have breathed oxygen well before it filled the atmosphere
A new study suggests aerobic respiration began hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought.
Celebrating worm science
Time and again, an unassuming roundworm has illuminated aspects of biology with major consequences for human health.
3 Questions: Using computation to study the world’s best single-celled chemists
Assistant Professor Yunha Hwang utilizes microbial genomes to examine the language of biology. Her appointment reflects MIT’s commitment to exploring the intersection of genetics research and AI.
The first animals on Earth may have been sea sponges, study suggests
MIT researchers traced chemical fossils in ancient rocks to the ancestors of modern-day demosponges.
Tiny organisms, huge implications for people
A new book by Thomas Levenson examines how germ theory arose, launched modern medicine, and helped us limit fatal infectious diseases.
Drawing inspiration from ancient chemical reactions
By studying cellular enzymes that perform difficult reactions, MIT chemist Dan Suess hopes to find new solutions to global energy challenges.
When did human language emerge?
A new analysis suggests our language capacity existed at least 135,000 years ago, with language used widely perhaps 35,000 years after that.
Curiosity, images, and scientific exploration
Professor of the practice Alan Lightman’s new book digs into the wonder of striking visual phenomena in nature.
AI pareidolia: Can machines spot faces in inanimate objects?
New dataset of “illusory” faces reveals differences between human and algorithmic face detection, links to animal face recognition, and a formula predicting where people most often perceive faces.
MIT chemists explain why dinosaur collagen may have survived for millions of years
The researchers identified an atomic-level interaction that prevents peptide bonds from being broken down by water.
Study explains how part of the nucleolus evolved
A single protein can self-assemble to build the scaffold for a biomolecular condensate that makes up a key nucleolar compartment.
Focus on function helps identify the changes that made us human
A new approach for identifying significant differences in gene use between closely-related species provides insights into human evolution.