School of Science

The brain’s thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), highlighted in the center, is responsible for blocking out distracting sensory input. "For autism, schizophrenia, and other neurodevelopmental disorders, it seems like TRN dysfunction may be involved in some patients,” Guoping Feng says.

Study reveals a basis for attention deficits

New findings could help scientists develop treatments for ADHD and other disorders.

March 23, 2016

“I was always interested in biology but I felt that it’s important to get a solid training in chemistry and physics,” Feng Zhang says.

Toward a better understanding of the brain

Genome-editing pioneer Feng Zhang hopes his work will shed light on neurological disorders.

March 22, 2016

Dark Energy Survey image of the region surrounding the faint dwarf galaxy Reticulum II. The nine brightest known stars in the galaxy are marked with red circles. Spectra showing the unique chemical content of three stars are shown.

3 Questions: The origin of the cosmos’ heaviest elements

Unique galaxy offers clues to the extreme conditions that yield the heavies of the periodic table.

March 21, 2016

An artist’s interpretation of a nanomachine on a molecule. Knowing how energy and microscopic fluctuations relate will help scientists design more reliable nanomachines for applications ranging from drug delivery to fuel cell technology.

Physicists prove energy input predicts molecular behavior

Theoretical proof could lead to more reliable nanomachines.

March 21, 2016

Clockwise from top left: Santiago Herrera (far left) leads an exploration dive of the ROV Little Hercules in the deep Celebes Sea in 2010; Herrera examines a specimen of a species of colonial salps found in a New Zealnd Kelp forest in 2012; Herrera (left) and Andrea Quattrini (right) store specimens of deep sea corals collected with WHOI's ROV Jason in 2009; and stalked barnacles from the vent fie...

DNA markers tell the story of deep sea adaptation

Santiago Herrera studies the genome to establish new connections between species living in the deep sea.

March 18, 2016

Pictured is an artist’s interpretation of neurons firing in sporadic, coordinated bursts. “By having these different bursts coming at different moments in time, you can keep different items in memory separate from one another,” Earl Miller says.

A new glimpse into working memory

Study finds bursts of neural activity as the brain holds information in mind, overturns a long-held model.

March 17, 2016

Synthesizing new physics: MIT assistant professor of physics Joseph Checkelsky (center) and graduate students Linda Ye (left) and Aravind Devarakonda are working to uncover new properties linked to collective behavior of electrons. Their work blends materials science and solid state physics and makes extensive use of high-temperature furnaces (behind them in photo) to produce interesting new compo...

Faculty highlight: Joseph Checkelsky

Synthesizing new physics: Assistant professor blends materials science and solid state physics to uncover new properties linked to collective behavior of electrons.

March 16, 2016

Researchers say the findings raise the possibility of developing future treatments that might reverse some of the memory loss seen in early-stage Alzheimer’s.

“Lost” memories can be found

Neuroscientists retrieve missing memories in mice with early Alzheimer’s symptoms.

March 16, 2016

This image depicts the process of metastasis in a mouse tumor, where tumor cells (green) have helped to reorganize the collagen into aligned fibers (blue) that provide the structural support for motility. This helps the tumor cells to enter blood vessels (red), ultimately leading to the formation of metastases in other organs.

Paving the way for metastasis

Cancer cells remodel their environment to make it easier to reach nearby blood vessels.

March 15, 2016

Yongquan “YQ” Lu, a double major in mathematics and in electrical engineering and computer science.

A hands-on approach to art, math, and community

Senior YQ Lu finds new ways to combine math and paper art, shares his passion for both.

March 10, 2016

The Pirahã reside along the Maici River, which branches off the Amazon in Brazil. MIT researchers are now making public the most extensive data set yet accumulated on the Pirahã language.

Bringing more data to language debate

Larger set of translations may shed light on an idiosyncratic Amazonian language.

March 9, 2016

Artist interpretation of a cancer cell dividing

How cancer cells fuel their growth

Scientists surprised to find amino acids, not sugar, supply most building blocks for tumor cells.

March 7, 2016

2016 MacVicar Faculty Fellows: (clockwise from top left) Patty Tang, Jeffrey Grossman, Michael Sipser, and Srinivas Devadas

Four professors named 2016 MacVicar Faculty Fellows

Devadas, Grossman, Sipser, and Tang awarded MIT’s highest undergraduate teaching award.

March 7, 2016

Researchers have designed and built a quantum computer from five atoms in an ion trap. The computer uses laser pulses to carry out Shor’s algorithm on each atom, to correctly factor the number 15.

The beginning of the end for encryption schemes?

New quantum computer, based on five atoms, factors numbers in a scalable way.

March 3, 2016

"[W]e hope that our studies of vps-50 will provide insights into human neuropsychiatric disorders,” H. Robert Horvitz says.

Neuroscientists discover a gene that controls worms’ behavioral state

Gene required for the control of behavioral state is also found in humans, may be linked to autism.