School of Science

A new study has found that the protein SAP102 plays a unique role in transmission across neural connections, or synapses.

Protein has unique effects on information processing

Picower Institute researchers find that a key protein linked to intellectual disability shapes electrical currents in neural connections.

October 15, 2018

To study phase changes in materials, such as freezing and thawing, researchers used charge density waves — electronic ripples that are analogous to the crystal structure of a solid. They found that when phase change is triggered by a pulse of laser light, instead of by a temperature change, it unfolds very differently, starting with a collection of whirlpool-like distortions called topological d...

When light, not heat, causes melting

Study reveals the details of light-induced phase changes.

October 15, 2018

This illustration shows a multi-jet event recorded by the CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

Center for Theoretical Physics professors earn DOE Quantum Information Science Awards

Professors Daniel Harlow, Aram Harrow, Hong Liu, and Jesse Thaler among the first recipients of new honor for advances in quantum understanding.

October 12, 2018

Standing, left to right: Justin Leahey, MIT-Germany program manager; David Dolev, MISTI assistant director; Markus Buehler, MIT-Germany faculty director, professor, and head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Ulrich Steinbach, deputy minister of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts; Wolfgang Holtkamp, senior advisor if international affairs at t...

MIT-Germany and the University of Stuttgart extend cooperation

Collaboration extends opportunities for faculty seed funds, internship opportunities, and a Global Teaching Labs program through 2020.

October 12, 2018

Based on a rigorous, integrated analysis of population and economic growth, technological change, Paris Agreement pledges and other factors, the 2018 Food, Water, Energy and Climate Outlook projects likely global and regional environmental changes over the course of this century and identifies steps needed to align near-term Paris pledges with the long-term 2 degrees Celsius and 1.5 C goals.

Charting the Earth’s future for the 21st century

MIT report highlights challenges and opportunities for conserving natural resources and stabilizing the climate.

October 11, 2018

Tyler Jacks (left), head of the Lustgarten Laboratory for Pancreatic Cancer Research at MIT, and Kerri Kaplan, president and chief executive officer of the Lustgarten Foundation, both say they are excited to usher in a new era of pancreatic cancer research.

Progress against pancreatic cancer

Lustgarten Foundation names MIT laboratory to improve understanding and treatment of a deadly disease

October 11, 2018

Marine bacteria form a community on a nutrient particle in the Cordero Lab.

Five from MIT earn Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships in Marine Microbial Ecology

Awards emphasize cross-disciplinary training, support research to measure and model microbial communities and their influence on ocean processes.

October 9, 2018

Three MIT researchers, (l-r) Riccardo Comin, Luqiao Lui, and Phillip Keathley, have all been awarded three-year, $450,000 grants.

Three MIT researchers win U.S. Air Force Young Investigator Research Program grants

Riccardo Comin, Phillip “Donnie” Keathley, and Luqiao Lui are among 31 selected nationwide.

October 5, 2018

MIT biologists have discovered that in some patients, immune cells called natural killer cells fail to kill malaria-infected red blood cells (shown here).

Immune cell variations contribute to malaria severity

Natural killer cells’ failure to respond to infection may explain why the disease is more grave in some patients.

October 4, 2018

An operating room monitor includes EEG readings of the patient while under general anesthesia.

To improve anesthesia, focus on neuroscience and nociception, experts urge

A principled approach can lead to less need for drugs, especially opioids, Emery Brown and colleagues say.

October 4, 2018

MIT researchers have shown that some of the atoms in an enzyme called carbon monoxide dehydrogenase can rearrange themselves when oxygen levels are low. A nickel atom (green) leaves the cube-like structure, displacing an iron atom (orange). One sulfur atom (yellow) also moves out of the cube.

Chemists discover unexpected enzyme structure

Metal cluster in enzyme that breaks down carbon dioxide can switch between two different shapes.

October 2, 2018

Antonio Torralba, director of MIT's Quest for Intelligence, opens the Quest Brainstorm Workshop on Sept. 24.

Ideas abound at Quest for Intelligence workshop

Community event generates ideas for sparking innovative and ambitious plans to advance research in human and machine intelligence.

October 1, 2018

“The potential of fusion energy is immense. I just wanted to contribute to this effort,” says PhD candidate Juan Ruiz Ruiz.

Juan Ruiz Ruiz: The heat of the matter

PhD candidate seeks to discover how heat leaks from fusion plasmas.

October 1, 2018

Reflecting the broader range of challenges embodied by the terms “food systems” and “water systems,” the Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab announced that it is changing its name to the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab.

From security to systems: J-WAFS name change reflects its breadth and impact

Emphasizing the scope and interdisciplinary mission on which it was founded, J-WAFS has a new name: the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab.

September 28, 2018

The Committee on Animal Care solicits feedback