Research

In a roundup of the biggest tech breakthroughs of 2025, Forbes reporter Alex Knapp spotlights how MIT engineers developed magnetic transistors, a “discovery [that] could enable faster and more energy-efficient semiconductors.”

Researchers at MIT have developed microscopic devices that “can travel autonomously through the blood and provide electrical stimulation to precise brain regions,” and could one day be used to treat brain diseases, mental illness, or other parts of the body, reports Zoe Kriegler for Medical Design & Outsourcing. The development of microscopic wireless electronic devices (SWEDs) could “eliminate the need for brain surgery in some cases, decreasing the risk to the patient and the expense of the procedure by hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Kriegler explains. 

Researchers at MIT have “found a way to transform a flat sheet into a functional 3D object with a single pull of a string,” reports Luis Prada for Vice. “The team developed a computational method that lets users design three-dimensional objects that can be fabricated as flat grids and then deployed almost instantly with a single tug,” explains Prada. 

Prof. Deblina Sarkar speaks with Forbes reporter William A. Haseltine about her work developing “circulatronics,” microscopic electronics devices that could one day be used to help treat brain diseases. “What we have developed are tiny electronic devices that can travel through body fluids and autonomously find their target regions, with no external guidance or imaging,” explains Sarkar. “They provide very precise electrical stimulation of neurons without the need for surgery.” 

Researchers at MIT have developed a new type of material that can transform into a 3D structure with the simple pull of a string, reports Gayoung Lee for Gizmodo. The new material could “have an impressive range of applications, from transportable medical devices and foldable robots to modular space habitats on Mars,” Lee explains. 

A new study co-authored by Prof. Lawrence Schmidt examining AI and job losses found that “AI can successfully complete many of a worker’s job responsibilities but not all,” reports Pattie Hunt Sinacole for Boston.com. “About 14% of roles within a company can be performed by AI, according to Schmidt’s research. However, AI is less effective in tasks where critical thinking may be required,” Hunt Sinacole explains. 

Researchers at MIT have developed a new physical model that can help “improve predictions of proton mobility across a wide range of metal oxides,” reports Ameya Paleja for Interesting Engineering. “This can help develop new materials and technologies powered by protons as charge carriers, rather than relying on lithium, which is widely used now,” explains Paleja. 

MIT researchers have developed “GelSight,” a system that provides robots with a sense of touch, reports Ben Guarino for Scientific American. “GelSight can identify by touch the tiny letters spelling out LEGO on the stud of a toy brick,” explains Guarino. 

MIT researchers have developed a deep-learning model “capable of predicting the precise movements, divisions, and restructuring of thousands of cells during the embryo’s transition from a simple cluster to a complex organism,” reports Mrigakshi Dixit for Interesting Engineering. “This model currently provides a sneak peek into the fruit fly’s earliest developmental stage,” explains Dixit. “In the future, it could be used to predict how more complex tissues, organs, and organisms develop.” 

Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab, speaks with WBUR’s Here & Now host Indira Lakshmanan about his work developing a longevity index. “In our studies at the AgeLab, believe it or not, 70 percent of us believe that our significant other, or adult children are going to take care of us, [but] only 30 percent of us had the conversation.” 

Reporting for FOX News, Kurt Knuttson highlights how MIT researchers have developed a new light-based scanner that can read blood sugar without a single prick. “A handheld or watch-sized glucose scanner would mark a major shift in diabetes care,” writes Knuttson. “MIT's work brings that future closer with a design that reads your chemistry through light.”

While studying a 2,000-year-old construction site in Pompeii, MIT researchers uncovered new insights into the Roman building process, including the key ingredients needed to develop long-standing durable Roman concrete, reports Luis Prada for Vice. “Ancient Roman builders were ‘hot-mixing,’ which means that they dumped volcanic ash and powdered quicklime together dry, then added water later, triggering a chemical reaction that cooked the mixture from the inside,” writes Prada. 

Researchers at MIT studying amblyopia – commonly known as lazy eye – have found that anesthetizing the retina could restore visual responses, reports Emma Frederickson for Popular Mechanics. “Their recent findings could reshape the way we think about vision loss,” writes Frederickson. 

Washington Post columnist George F. Will reflects on MIT and his view of “the damage that can be done to America’s meritocracy by policies motivated by hostility toward institutions vital to it.” Will notes that MIT has an "astonishing economic multiplier effect: MIT graduates have founded companies that have generated almost $1.9 trillion in annual revenue (a sum almost equal to Russia’s GDP) and 4.6 million jobs."

Prof. Daron Acemoglu spoke at the City University Graduate Center’s panel discussion about the development of AI in the workforce. Acemoglu says “[AI could take] very different directions, and which direction we choose is going to have great consequences in terms of its labor market impact.”