A study by researchers at MIT has found that high levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere is impacting the satellite orbits that typically force objects back to Earth, leading to an increased amount of space junk, reports Sachi Kitajima Mulkey for The New York Times. “[W]e’re losing this cleaning force that we rely on” says William Parker PhD '25.
Profs. Robert Langer, Giovanni Traverso and former postdoctoral fellow Thomas von Erlach have founded Vivtex, a biotechnology startup specializing in “oral alternatives to drugs administered by injections,” reports Jonathan Satlzman for The Boston Globe. Vivtex, now working in collaboration with Novo Nordisk, is looking to develop a new class of “pills to treat obesity and diabetes,” explains Saltzman.
Boston Globe reporter Annie Sarlin spotlights the MIT Museum’s digital collection “dedicated to the life and work of Harold ‘Doc’ Edgerton.” The collection is available for viewing online and “includes digitized copies of his notebooks, historical photographs, and informational text and videos about his industry-shaping role in the evolution of high-speed, flash photography,” explains Sarlin.
Guide Labs, co-founded by Julius Adebayo SM ’15, SM ’16, PhD ’22, has debuted a large language model designed to make “its actions easily interpretable,” reports Tim Fernholz for Tech Crunch. “Every token produced by the model can be traced back to its origins in the LLM’s training data,” explains Fernholz.
MIT has been named the No. 1 university for engineering in the United States, according to the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings, reports Ben Kesslen for Quartz.
Researchers at MIT have developed a new 3D printing platform that can “produce a fully functioning linear motor in about three hours,” reports Justin Caffier for Gizmodo. The research team “explained how by retrofitting a printer with enough extruders to handle the various materials needed to make a working motor, they decimated the usual production time for such a device and brought the material costs down to around $0.50,” writes Caffier.
Prof. Anette “Peko” Hosoi and Jerry Lu MFin '24 speak with Eli Chavez of the Boston Business Journal about their work using AI technologies to help athletes improve their performance. Lu notes that the AI tool he created for figure skating allows athletes to not only evaluate themselves, “but it also lets you analyze pretty much everybody in history: your idols, your mentors, your coaches, or even your competitors, and you can make these measurements without having to ask them to do anything.”
Researchers at MIT have used “recycled plastic to 3D-print construction-grade beams, trusses, and other structural elements,” reports Soo Kim for Newsweek. The new design method “could offer a lighter, modular, and more-sustainable alternatives to wood-based framing,” explains Kim.
Prof. Anette “Peko” Hosoi and Jerry Lu MFin ’24 speak with Edgar B. Herwick III, host of GBH’s Curiosity Desk, about their work at the intersection of sports and technology. “We founded the [MIT] Sports Lab about 10 years ago and the idea was to give MIT students and MIT faculty a chance to apply their technical expertise to problems in sports, to advance the state-of-the-art, to help athletes achieve the maximum that they can achieve,” says Hosoi.
Increase, a startup founded by alumnus Darragh Buckley, has been named to the Forbes The Future of Business to Business Banking: Fintech 50 2026 list, reports Brandon Kochkodin for Forbes. “Increase provides banking infrastructure that lets fintechs and businesses move money, store deposits and access payment rails without building direct bank connections,” writes Kochkodin.
Kalshi and Común, two startups founded by MIT alumni, have been named to the 2026 Forbes Fintech 50 list. Kalshi is a prediction market that “had 1.2 million active users in 2025, and total trading volume hit $24 billion” while Común “offers digital banking geared toward Hispanic immigrants,” reports Jeff Kauflin for Forbes.
Prof. Jacopo Buongiorno speaks with NBC News about the U.S. government airlifting parts of a nuclear reactor across three states and the future of nuclear power in America. “[It is] very positive. There is finally a sense of urgency and a push to increase our reliance on nuclear,” says Buongiorno. “I think nuclear has a lot of attractive features as an energy source. As I said earlier, it’s clean, it’s compact, it’s reliable.”
Mitali Chowdhury '24 has been named a 2026 Gates Cambridge Scholar, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes. Beginning this fall, Chowdhury will pursue “a PhD in Sensor Technologies and Applications [at the University of Cambridge]” explains Nietzel. “Her research will focus on CRISPR-based diagnostics to assess antimicrobial resistance, with the goal of expanding equitable access to health care.”
Research scientist Judah Cohen served as a panelist for the Boston Globe’s “The Reshaping of New England’s Seasons: What’s Happening to Our Weather?” event, reports Ken Mahan for The Boston Globe. Cohen and his fellow panelists discussed New England weather, sharing insights and answering questions from community members.
Researchers at MIT have made “recycled plastic into floor trusses for housing,” reports Rima Sabina Aouf for Deezen. The researchers “3D printed a functional, construction-grade element using a composite material they developed from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) plastic – mostly derived from discarded drinks bottles – mixed with glass fibers,” explains Aouf.