National Science Foundation (NSF)

An MIT-designed miniature “squeezer” reduces quantum noise in lasers at room temperature. The marble-sized system could enable better laser precision for quantum computing and gravitational-wave detection. This illustration shows an artist’s interpretation of the system.

Portable system boosts laser precision, at room temperature

“Light squeezer” reduces quantum noise in lasers, could enhance quantum computing and gravitational-wave detection.

July 7, 2020

MIT physicists have observed that LIGO’s 40-kilogram mirrors can move in response to tiny quantum effects. In this photo, a LIGO optics technician inspects one of LIGO’s mirrors.

Quantum fluctuations can jiggle objects on the human scale

Study shows LIGO’s 40-kilogram mirrors can move in response to tiny quantum effects, revealing the “spooky popcorn of the universe.”

July 1, 2020

Using a new kind of microscope that closely tracks every movement, researchers seeking to study how organisms coordinate movement behaviors compiled a compendium of 100 reference postures that encompass the range of typical C. elegans poses.

How worms move: Dopamine helps nematodes coordinate motor behaviors

To spy on worms for days on end, Picower Institute scientists invent a new open-source microscopy platform.

June 30, 2020

“This is like a painless Band-Aid for internal organs,” says Xuanhe Zhao, professor in the departments of mechanical engineering and civil and environmental engineering at MIT. “You put the adhesive on, and if for any reason you want to take it off, you can do so on demand, without pain.”

Super-strong surgical tape detaches on demand

Removable adhesive could make it easier for surgeons to close up internal wounds.

June 22, 2020

A new system developed at MIT and Brookhaven National Lab could provide a faster, more reliable and much more energy efficient approach to physical neural networks, by using analog ionic-electronic devices to mimic synapses.

Engineers design a device that operates like a brain synapse

Ion-based technology may enable energy-efficient simulations of the brain’s learning process, for neural network AI systems.

June 19, 2020

A surging glacier in the St. Elias Mountains, Canada.

Tiny sand grains trigger massive glacial surges

New model answers longstanding question of how these sudden flows happen; may expand understanding of Antarctic ice sheets.

June 12, 2020

Diagram depicts the different conditions that give rise to a Kohn anomaly in ordinary metals (at left), versus a material called a Weyl semimetal (at right). The vertical axis shows energy, while the horizontal axis is momentum space. In the conventional metal, a Kohn anomaly can happen when a phonon (q) links two parts of a property called the Fermi surface, which is shown in blue. In the Weyl se...

Newly observed phenomenon could lead to new quantum devices

Exotic states called Kohn anomalies could offer clues to why some materials have the electronic properties they do.

June 12, 2020

A close-up view of a new neuromorphic “brain-on-a-chip” that includes tens of thousands of memristors, or memory transistors.

Engineers put tens of thousands of artificial brain synapses on a single chip

The design could advance the development of small, portable AI devices.

June 8, 2020

We’re approaching the limit of how small transistors can get. As a result, over the past decade researchers have been working to find other ways to improve performance so that the computer industry can continue to innovate.

If transistors can’t get smaller, then coders have to get smarter

MIT CSAIL researchers say improving computing technology after Moore's Law will require more efficient software, new algorithms, and specialized hardware.

June 5, 2020

In this photo, Alison Hoyt stands on top of a log during a research trip in a peat swamp forest in Borneo. Tropical peatlands are permanently flooded forest lands, where the debris of fallen leaves and branches is preserved by the wet environment and continues to accumulate for centuries, rather than continually decomposing as it does in dryland forests.

Peatland drainage in Southeast Asia adds to climate change

Study reveals drainage, deforestation of the region’s peatlands, which leads to fires, greenhouse emissions, land subsidence.

June 4, 2020

MIT researchers find that extratropical storm tracks — the blue regions of storminess in the Earth's middle latitudes — would change significantly with solar geoengineering efforts.

Study: Reflecting sunlight to cool the planet will cause other global changes

Solar geoengineering proposals will weaken extratropical storm tracks in both hemispheres, scientists find.

June 2, 2020

MIT researchers drew on kirigami, a variation of origami that involves cutting paper as well as folding it, to create a friction-boosting material that could be used to coat the bottom of your shoes, giving them a stronger grip on ice and other slippery surfaces.

Coatings for shoe bottoms could improve traction on slick surfaces

Material inspired by Japanese paper-cutting art could help to prevent falls in icy or slippery conditions.

June 1, 2020

MIT chemists have developed a protocol to rapidly produce protein chains up to 164 amino acids long. The flow-based technology could speed up drug development and allow scientists to design novel protein variants incorporating amino acids that don’t occur naturally in cells. The automatic tabletop machine, pictured here, is nicknamed the “Amidator” by the research team.

New technology enables fast protein synthesis

Automated tabletop machine could accelerate the development of novel drugs to treat cancer and other diseases.

May 28, 2020

Search-and-rescue algorithm identifies hidden “traps” in ocean waters

Method may help quickly identify regions where objects — and missing people — may have converged.

May 26, 2020

MIT researchers have discovered a phenomenon that could be harnessed to control the movement of tiny particles floating in suspension. This approach, which requires simply applying an external electrical field, may ultimately lead to new ways of performing certain industrial or medical processes that require separation of tiny suspended materials.

Study finds electrical fields can throw a curveball

Particle-scale phenomenon akin to the swerving of a curveball could allow selective separation of suspended nanomaterials.