Cracking a tough case
Whitehead Institute and MIT researchers uncover the detailed molecular structure of the sporopollenin polymer, an inert material key for the emergence of land plants.
3Q: Aleksander Madry on building trustworthy artificial intelligence
A recent MIT symposium explores methods for making artificial intelligence systems more reliable, secure, and transparent.
Surviving one of Earth’s most extreme environments
New research finds a unique component of cell membranes in an archaea species conveys protection against acidic surroundings.
Tracking the footprints of protein synthesis
Researchers refine a method to quantify protein production, show that the precision with which bacteria and eukaryotes tune their gene expression is remarkably similar.
Laser-pointing system could help tiny satellites transmit data to Earth
Platform offers the precision that shoebox-sized CubeSats need to beam down hefty data packets.
Team invents method to shrink objects to the nanoscale
It’s not quite the Ant-Man suit, but the system produces 3-D structures one thousandth the size of the originals.
Better superconductors from ceramic copper oxides
Riccardo Comin seeks to elucidate the microscopic physics of high-temperature superconducting devices to advance their technological applications.
How returning to a prior context aids memory recall
Picower Institute researchers discover the brain mechanism that helps details come flooding back when you visit a scene again.
New climate model to be built from the ground up
Scientists and engineers will collaborate in a new Climate Modeling Alliance to advance climate modeling and prediction.
3 Questions: MIT goes interstellar with Voyager 2
MIT Kavli's John Richardson describes MIT's role in the historic passing of the Voyager 2 craft past the heliopause and into the interstellar medium.
More than 30 from MIT named to Forbes 30 Under 30 lists
Forbes calls its 2019 30 Under 30 honorees “a collection of bold risk-takers who are putting a new twist on the old tools of the trade.”
Atoms stand in for electrons in system for probing high-temperature superconductors
Using new “quantum emulator,” physicists can observe individual atoms moving through these materials, and measure their speed.
LIGO and Virgo announce four new gravitational-wave detections
The observatories are also releasing their first catalog of gravitational-wave events.
New drug combination could be more effective against melanoma
Chemists discover an unexpected synergy between two types of cancer drugs.
Five MIT students named 2019 Marshall Scholars
Radha Mastandrea, Katie O’Nell, Anna Sappington, Kyle Swanson, and Crystal Winston will begin graduate studies in the UK next fall.