MIT community in 2021: A year in review
Top Institute stories dealt with the return to campus and continued response to Covid-19, MIT’s commitments to climate action, its support of a diverse community, and more.
MIT’s top research stories of 2021
The year’s popular research stories include a promising new approach to cancer immunotherapy, the confirmation of a 50-year-old theorem, and a major fusion breakthrough.
Could acid-neutralizing life-forms make habitable pockets in Venus’ clouds?
A new study shows it’s theoretically possible. The hypothesis could be tested soon with proposed Venus-bound missions.
MIT engineers produce the world’s longest flexible fiber battery
The rechargeable battery can be woven and washed, and could provide power for fiber-based electronic devices and sensors.
Perfecting pitch perception
Computational modeling shows that both our ears and our environment influence how we hear.
3 Questions: Kristin Knouse on the liver’s regenerative capabilities
The clinically-trained cell biologist exploits the liver’s unique capacities in search of new medical applications.
From counting blood cells to motion capture, sensors drive patient-centered research
SENSE.nano symposium highlights the importance of sensing technologies in medical studies.
Super-bright stellar explosion is likely a dying star giving birth to a black hole or neutron star
The discovery, based on an unusual event dubbed “the Cow,” may offer astronomers a new way to spot infant compact objects.
“Newer, nimbler, faster:” Venus probe will search for signs of life in clouds of sulfuric acid
Report led by MIT scientists details a suite of privately-funded missions to hunt for life on Earth's sibling planet.
Research finds potential mechanism linking autism, intestinal inflammation
Infection during pregnancy with elevated levels of the cytokine IL-17a may yield microbiome alterations that prime offspring for aberrant immune responses, mouse study suggests.
Graduate students honored with national math prize
Travis Dillon and Alex Cohen are recognized with 2022 AMS-MAA-SIAM Frank and Brennie Morgan Prize for Outstanding Research in Mathematics.
Measuring cancer cell state can reveal drug susceptibility
Study results also show that pancreatic tumor cells can be forced into a more susceptible state by changing their environment.
NASA selects three MIT alumni for astronaut training
Marcos Berríos ’06, Christina Birch PhD ’15, and Christopher Williams PhD ’12 make up a third of the 2021 NASA astronaut candidate class.
Study reveals a protein’s key contribution to heterogeneity of neurons
Tomosyn’s tight regulation of neurotransmitter release distinguishes functions of two neuron classes at the fly neuromuscular junction.
Technique enables real-time rendering of scenes in 3D
The new machine-learning system can generate a 3D scene from an image about 15,000 times faster than other methods.