Inspiration from a porcupine’s quills
Understanding the mechanisms behind quill penetration and extraction could help engineers design better medical devices.
Tiny compound semiconductor transistor could challenge silicon’s dominance
MIT researchers develop the smallest indium gallium arsenide transistor ever built.
3 Questions: David Kaiser on Thomas Kuhn’s paradigm shift
Scholars mark 50th anniversary of 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.'
A new ‘branch’ of math
Researchers find a common angle and tipping point of branching valley networks.
When the first stars blinked on
The very first stars may have turned on when the universe was 750 million years old.
GRAIL reveals a battered lunar history
Twin spacecraft create a highly detailed gravity map of the moon, finding an interior pulverized by early impacts.
3 Questions: Engineering hurricane barriers of the future
Oceans at MIT interviews MIT's Chiang C. Mei about the possibility of protecting East Coast cities from future storms.
Three from MIT named Marine Microbiology Initiative investigators
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation awards given to pursue high-risk research in marine microbial ecology.
Building a better world
From fuel cells to bamboo, and from Tanzania to Brazil, MIT senior Arfa Aijazi crosses borders and disciplines to make an impact.
How ‘transparent’ is graphene?
MIT researchers find that adding a coating of graphene has little effect on how a surface interacts with liquids — except in extreme cases.
Five from MIT named AAAS fellows
Recognized by their peers for their efforts to advance science or its applications.
Study: At most a third of us show a consistent approach to financial risk
Empirically rich new study finds most people alter their risk-management approach depending on the type of financial decision.
Scientists discover water ice on Mercury
Ice and organic material may have been carried to the planet by passing comets.