New genetics of the inactive X chromosome reveals its surprisingly active role in the cell
The sex chromosome has been misunderstood for nearly sixty years. Researchers at the Whitehead Institute are working to restore its reputation.
E. coli doesn’t just cause Doom and mayhem in your guts
From microwaves to pregnancy tests, Ramlan is just continuing the tradition of “Doom running on everything.”
Lessons Learned from Moungi Bawendi’s Nobel Lecture
Even after winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Bawendi says that he still needs to “learn more.”
Celina Zhao ’24 shares her journey in science journalism
Explaining scientific concepts can be hard. But Celina Zhao '24 makes it look easy.
Uncovering secrets at the bottom of Earth’s oceans
From sharks that can live for up to 400 years to microbes that could be the evolutionary ancestors of all complex life on Earth: if we’ve learned anything about Earth’s oceans in the past decade, it’s how little we really know. When each year brings a new and unexpected find, one begins to wonder: how much are we missing?
Can scientists mimic the benefits of CBD without using cannabis?
A team of researchers has uncovered a mechanism by which CBD prevents severe epileptic seizures.
Being pre-med at MIT: Chloe McCreery ’23 and Joanna Lin ’23
Chloe McCreery ’23 and Joanna Lin ’22, both alumni of The Tech, sat down to reflect on their journeys in medicine. McCreery graduated with a degree in Biological Engineering, and is a research associate in the Engreitz Lab at Stanford Medicine. Lin graduated with degrees in Biology and French in 2021, and then studied abroad in France. She is a 2nd-year medical student at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Silicon Souls: Priming beliefs about AI in chatbot conversations
I“The robotic shell or the human soul: Which one actually makes the AI? Is it the observable behavior that we see when we think of AI, or what we imagine the AI is on the inside that made it affect you?”
MIT Free Speech Alliance assembles a panel to debate whether STEM is systemically racist
"Polls show that many people do not dare to discuss this topic or other topics about racial justice, for fear of being accused of causing harm.”
Siddhu Pachipala ’27 on why politics is a necessary complement to scientific research
Siddhu Pachipala ’27 intends to study Course 17 (political science) at MIT. He believes there is a need to become fluent in both the languages of science and politics in order to change the world for the better. He sat down with The Tech to discuss his journey from a psychology researcher to an aspiring politician.
Drone deliveries will leave privacy concerns up in the air
Drone delivery services may become ubiquitous soon enough as drone operating prices decrease and demand for rapid delivery options increase. But what will they imply for consumer privacy?
LIGO researchers surpass the quantum limit
On Oct. 23, LIGO researchers at MIT, Caltech, and other institutions reported that they had surpassed the quantum limit. This marked a significant advance in quantum squeezing, a method for reducing quantum noise to obtain more precise measurements. Researchers will now be able to measure a larger volume of the universe by analyzing gravitational frequencies.
Your immune system could be the cause of memory loss
The immune response damages our ability to learn and remember things, even before symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease become apparent.
Data-driven policy for a better world
Blueprint Labs works on two major research areas within data and economics: market design and research design.
Nuclear thermal propulsion: a key technology for space exploration
Research and development of nuclear thermal propulsion was stagnant between the end of the Space Race and the 2010s.
Discovering nature’s properties through nonlinear solid mechanics
The study of nonlinear solid mechanics subjects materials to extreme stress or strain to observe their properties and behavior. Examining these extremes enables a more complete understanding of these materials.
What’s it like to design a meal that floats?
What happens to astronauts when dinners, normally served off plates here on Earth, are instead squirted from shriveled plastic packages fitted with sphincters and tubes? When the movement and music of cooking is replaced with the injection of warm water into said packages?
For the love of broccoli
With steamed, unseasoned broccoli, I can look at its hierarchy of stalks that are self-similar at all levels and detailed heads to the point that my food gets cold.
Biosensing with fluorescent emulsions
Moreover, while the published work on this Janus detection system was for Listeria, this method is hardly limited to Listeria. By switching out the antibody from one to another, this system can be applied to practically any pathogen, whether bacterial or viral.
How the leopard gets its spots
Turing showed that with a combination of chemical kinetics (reaction speeds) and diffusion, structures now eponymously known as Turing patterns emerge.