Artificial intelligence is already proving it can accelerate drug development and improve our understanding of disease. But to turn AI into novel treatments we need to get the latest, most powerful models into the hands of scientists. The problem is that most scientists aren’t machine-learning experts. Now the company OpenProtein.AI is helping scientists stay on […]
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The American Physical Society (APS) recently honored two MIT faculty members — professors Yoel Fink PhD ’00 and Mehran Kardar PhD ’83 — as well as six alumni with prizes and awards for their contributions to physics and academic leadership. In addition, several MIT faculty members — Professor Jorn Dunkel, Professor Yen-Jie Lee PhD ’11, […]
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Jack Dennis, an influential MIT professor emeritus of computer science and engineering, died on March 14 at age 94. The original leader of the Computation Structures Group within the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), he pioneered the development of dataflow models of computation, and, subsequently, many novel principles of computer architecture inspired […]
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While earning her dual master’s degrees in aeronautics and astronautics and public policy, Carissma McGee SM ’25 learned to navigate between two seemingly distinct worlds, bridging rigorous technical analysis and policy decisions. As an undergraduate congressional intern and researcher, she saw a persistent gap in space policymaking. Policymakers often lacked technical expertise, while researchers were […]
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Hydrogen sits at the center of some of the world’s most important industrial processes, but its production still comes with a heavy environmental cost. Today, most hydrogen is produced through high-emissions processes like steam methane reforming and coal gasification. But hydrogen can also be made by splitting water molecules using renewable electricity, eliminating fossil fuel emissions […]
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Active Surfaces, a startup based on solar-energy technologies rooted in MIT research, is well on its way to developing what co-founder Richard Swartwout SM ’18, PhD ’21 calls “solar 2.0.” The company’s technology is in response to a need Swartwout recognized while observing energy challenges in India during an MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) fellowship. Within […]
Read MoreWho benefits from artificial intelligence? This basic question, which has been especially salient during the AI surge of the last few years, was front and center at a conference at MIT on Wednesday, as speakers and audience members grappled with the many dimensions of AI’s impact. In one of the conferences’s keynote talks, journalist Karen […]
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Thermal batteries can efficiently store energy as heat. But building them requires a carefully designed system with materials that can withstand cycles of extremely high temperatures, without succumbing to problems like corrosion, thermal expansion, and structural fatigue. Many thermal battery systems move high-temperature gas or molten salt around through metal pipes. Fourth Power, founded by […]
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Joseph Paradiso thinks that the most engaging research questions usually span disciplines. Paradiso was trained as a physicist and completed his PhD in experimental high-energy physics at MIT in 1981. His father was a photographer and filmmaker working at MIT, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and the MITRE Corporation, so he grew up in a house where artists, […]
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This year in a rural school district in southeastern Montana, one high school student is taking calculus. For many people, calculus is daunting enough, even when teachers are used to offering it and peers are around to help. Studying it solo can be even harder. Yet this lone student has an unusual source of support: […]
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When Associate Professor Eliezer Calo PhD ’11 was applying for faculty positions, he was drawn to MIT not only because it’s his alma mater, but also because the Department of Biology places high value on exploring fundamental questions in biology. In his own lab, Calo studies how craniofacial malformations arise. One motivation is to seek […]
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When Francis Wang ’21, MEng ’22 first joined the MIT Edgerton Center’s Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT), his approach to engineering projects was “to focus my energy and attention on a tidy problem with neat boundaries that I could completely control.” “But on Solar Car, I realized it takes a very different mindset to manage […]
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It’s not every day that aspiring teenage engineers can see firsthand how planes are built. But a collaboration between nonprofit Engineering Tomorrow, aerospace firm Boeing, and alumni of the MIT Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program working at Boeing is aiming to turn curiosity about aerospace engineering into possible careers for young students. Boeing is […]
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In a narrow strip of land along the Andes mountain range in central Chile, an Indigenous community has long celebrated the bark of a rare tree for its medicinal properties. Modern science only recently caught up to the tradition, finding the so-called soapbark tree contains potent compounds for boosting the human immune system. The molecules […]
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With the impact artificial intelligence is having on how companies operate, the environment for how MIT students are learning entrepreneurship and choosing to create new ventures is seeing rapid changes as well. To address how these student startups are being built, the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship undertook a months-long series of discussions with key […]
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Eight MIT faculty and 22 additional MIT alumni are among 126 early-career researchers honored with 2026 Sloan Research Fellowships by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The fellowships honor exceptional researchers at U.S. and Canadian educational institutions, whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of leaders. Winners receive a two-year, […]
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Seven MIT researchers are among the 130 new members and 28 international members recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for 2026. Twelve additional MIT alumni were also elected as new members. One of the highest professional distinctions for engineers, membership in the NAE is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering […]
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America has been making steel from iron ore the same way for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been making enough of it. Today the U.S. is the world’s largest steel importer, relying on other countries to produce a material that serves as the backbone of our society. That’s not to say the U.S. is […]
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Olympic figure skating looks effortless. Athletes sail across the ice, then soar into the air, spinning like a top, before landing on a single blade just 4-5 millimeters wide. To help figure skaters land quadruple axels, Salchows, Lutzes, and maybe even the elusive quintuple without looking the least bit stressed, Jerry Lu MFin ’24 developed […]
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In a wide-ranging live conversation, MIT President Sally Kornbluth joined Jim Braude and Margery Eagan live in studio for GBH’s Boston Public Radio on Thursday, February 5. They talked about MIT, the pressures facing America’s research enterprise, the importance of science, that Congressional hearing on antisemitism in 2023, and more – including Sally’s experience as a […]
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Antonio Torralba, Delta Electronics Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and faculty head of artificial intelligence and decision-making at MIT, has been named to the 2025 cohort of Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Fellows. He shares the honor of an ACM Fellowship with three MIT alumni: Eytan Adar ’97, MEng ’98; George Candea ’97, […]
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New treatments based on biological molecules like RNA give scientists unprecedented control over how cells function. But delivering those drugs to the right tissues remains one of the biggest obstacles to turning these promising yet fragile molecules into powerful new treatments. Now Gensaic, founded by Lavi Erisson MBA ’19; Uyanga Tsedev SM ’15, PhD ’21; […]
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