Spill The News

Summary

Jinhua Zhao MCP ’04, SM ’04, PhD ’09 has been appointed head of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), effective July 1. Zhao is the Class of 1941 Professor of Cities and Transportation at MIT. In making the announcement,…

Summary

When a team of MIT students turned up at a national robotics tournament, their robot — aptly named Timbot — wouldn’t work. They’d been invited to demonstrate Timbot at the inaugural United States Governors Cup in Washington, D.C., a March…

Summary

Demand for lithium has surged in recent years as lithium-ion batteries power increasingly more of our world. And yet, even as places like the U.S., Europe, and Australia have abundant lithium resources within their borders, China dominates…

Summary

Aiming to transition away from fossil fuels and avert the worst consequences of climate change, world leaders aspire to achieve net zero global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. But actions to…

Summary

You will never catch Krystal Montgomery running to class. Literally. She is that fast. The MIT senior — a Course 6-3 (Computer Science and Engineering) major and Course 4 (Design) minor — was recently named the New England Women’s and…

Summary

MIT economist Whitney Newey PhD ’83, the Ford Professor of Economics, emeritus, has received the 2026 Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics . The biennial Nemmers prizes from Northwestern University recognize top scholars for their…

Summary

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has elected 120 members and 25 international members for 2026, including six MIT faculty members and 10 additional alumni. Among MIT professors, Bengt Holmström, Michale Fee, Gareth McKinley ’91,…

Summary

A high-performance steel with MIT origins has come full circle. After proving its worth in Formula One and Baja 1000 race cars, the computationally designed material has now been incorporated into the 2026 electric race car built by the…

Summary

Elazer R. Edelman ’78, SM ’79, PhD ’84, an engineer and cardiologist who helped develop cardiovascular stents that have been used by more than 100 million people, has been named the recipient of the 2026-2027 James R. Killian Jr. Faculty…

Summary

It’s been 37 years since scientists first demonstrated the ability to move single atoms, suggesting the possibility of designing materials atom by atom to customize their properties. Today there are several techniques that allow…

Summary

Dark matter is thought to make up most of the matter in the universe, but the only way it interacts with its surroundings is through gravity. If two colliding black holes spiral through a dense region of dark matter and merge,…

Summary

GPS navigation, cryptography, quantum computing — while some of humankind’s greatest advancements have been invented by pioneers from various cultures, they were founded upon one common grammar: mathematics. “Mathematics is the language…

Summary

When a gene is turned on in a cell, it creates a ripple effect along the DNA strand, changing the physical structure of the strand. A new study by MIT researchers shows that these ripples can stimulate or suppress neighboring genes. These…

Summary

Feathers give birds their dazzling colors. They repel water and trap heat, keeping them warm and dry. They can even stifle sound, allowing species such as owls to hunt in virtual silence. All of these functions come from the remarkable…

Summary

Consider the chief difference between living systems and electronics: The first is generally soft and squishy, while the latter is hard and rigid. Now, in work that could impact human-machine interfaces, biocompatible devices, soft…

Summary

The electricity to an island goes out. To find the break in the underwater power cable, a ship pulls up the entire line or deploys remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to traverse the line. But what if an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)…

Summary

In a study focused on New York City, MIT researchers have shown that existing sensors and mobile data can be used to generate a near real-time, high-resolution picture of auto emissions, which could be used to develop local transportation…