Research

Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, joins Hakeem Oluseyi, host of GBH’s “Particles of Thought,” to discuss the lab’s work utilizing AI to enhance robots’ ability to move, reason, and act like humans. “The objective is to bring AI’s ability to understand text, images, and other online information to make physical machines intelligent, and if we achieve this then AI will not just reside in our computers—it will drive, it will walk it will fly, it will interact with us in the physical world.” 

Graduate student Peter Zhi Xuan Li speaks to Tech Briefs’ Andrew Corselli about his team’s work developing a new chip that allows small, autonomous robots and other battery-limited devices to construct detailed 3D maps of their environments using a fraction of the power required by other systems. “Today, a robot uses separate, incompatible internal representations for different jobs: one for mapping, another for tracking its own motion, another for rendering what it sees, and every conversion adds memory footprint and energy,” says Li. “Our goal is a single shared representation.” 

By studying ‘smears’ in fast radio bursts, fleeting flashes of radiation, MIT researchers discovered diffuse clouds of baryonic gas may contain the missing ordinary matter in the universe, writes Gizmodo’s Gayoung Lee. “These diffuse clouds may be flung outside galaxies through black hole jets,” Lee explains. 

Boston Art Review’s Kim Córdova spotlights coverage of the MIT Museum’s “No Recombination Without Representation,” an immersive theatrical reenactment honoring the fiftieth anniversary of a little-known Cambridge City Council meeting that has had major historical impact beyond the local community.  

A new study by MIT researchers finds high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets may increase the risk of certain intestinal cancers, writes Newsweek’s Daniella Gray. “The researchers say future studies will be needed to better understand how specific dietary fats influence cancer risk and whether modifying the composition of ketogenic diets could reduce potential harms while preserving any health benefits,” writes Gray.  

Smithsonian Magazine’s Sarah Kuta highlights Lecturer Franco Rossi’s work identifying the name of ancient Maya mathematician Sak Tahn Waax, or “White-chested fox,” inscribed in a chamber with murals, hieroglyphs and mathematical texts. One of Waax’s equations, linking the cycles of Mars and Venus to units of time in the Maya calendar, is “meant to concisely and meaningfully show the relationship between these two planets and human counts of time in ways that could then be applied to political ceremony, predictive astronomy and understandings of seasonality,” says Rossi. 

MIT researchers found that the keto diet, which emphasizes low carbs and sugar, could increase the risk of tumors in the small intestine, explains New York Post reporter Allie Yang. The researchers found that “cells burning fat (from ketosis) start a chain reaction which leads to stem cells multiplying rapidly, increasing the chance they go out of control and become cancer,” Yang explains.  

Prof. Daron Acemoglu speaks with Washington Post reporter Benjamin Guggenheim about his views on advancing AI, and how the technology might impact the labor market over the next decade. “What we saw at the end of ‘25 and the beginning of ‘26 was an acceleration. I think the agentic AI models are certainly much better in terms of a number of tasks, such as coding and other sort of simple cognitive tasks,” says Acemoglu. 

The Guardian’s David Kohn points to a study by Prof. Siniša Hrvatin that proposes targeting the preoptic area of the brain to induce torpor (a hibernation-like state) as a solution for astronauts to survive long term space travel. “Key aspects of the circuit appear to be conserved across different animals,” says Hrvatin. “I think we can use it to modify metabolism.” 

Fast Company’s Adele Peters spotlights “Project Obsidian,” a new geothermal power plant developed by MIT spinout Quaise Energy. The findings of former Senior Research Engineer Paul Woskov helped Quaise develop their tech. “Paul’s epiphany was realizing that if we can use the same energy to heat plasmas to millions of degrees Celsius to get fusion, why not use that for heating and drilling through rock at a much more modest temperature?” says Matthew Houde, Quaise co-founder.  

Prof. Raphael Zufferey and his colleagues developed a winged robot that can swim underwater and fly through the air, writes New York Times reporter K.R. Callaway. The robot was inspired by data from nearly 100 species of diving birds. “There was a very good chance that this [design] would have not been possible at all,” says Zufferey. “I took that risk because I believed that if birds could do it, with good engineering we might also be able to.” 

USA Today reporter Anthony Thompson explains that researchers from MIT, UMass Amherst and the Center for Coastal Studies have found evidence of invasive Manila clam reproduction at multiple sites from Boston Harbor to Cape Cod. "We do need more research to understand the Manila clam’s potential effects on the shellfishing industry and ecological communities," says Research Scientist Carolina Bastidas. "There could also be positive impacts." 

As an alternative to sticky electrode pads, Visiting Research Scientist Ankan Dutta helped develop a safe and reliable polymer electrode that can be painted right onto the skin to track muscle activity, heart rate, and brain waves with 95.1% consistency, explains Gizmodo reporter Matthew Phelan. “[E]lectrodes can be designed with cartoon patterns, which may reduce anxiety and improve acceptance among pediatric users by making EP [electrophysiology] monitoring less intimidating,” the researchers suggest.  
 

Lecturer Franco Rossi is spotlighted by National Geographic reporter Taylor Mitchell Brown for deciphering the name of ancient Maya mathematician, Sak Tahn Waax, or “White-Chested Fox,” found inscribed in the mural room at the Maya site of Xultún in Guatemala. “You can look at some of these texts forever, and it won't click,” says Rossi. “Then, one day you see it, and it just clicks.” 

In a Science article by reporter Laura Martín Agudelo, Lecturer Franco Rossi delves into the discovery of the autograph of the ancient Maya mathematician, Sak Tahn Waax, or “White-Chested Fox” in Xultun, Guatemala. “[T]here’s good evidence for codex book production [at Xultun],” says Rossi. “So if there’s going to be a name … this would be the most logical place.”