Insights into political outsiders
As the old saw has it, 90 percent of politics is just showing up. Which is fine for people who are already engaged in the political system and expect to influence it. What about everyone else? The U.S....
View ArticleStudy shows how households can cut energy costs
Many people around the globe are living in energy poverty, meaning they spend at least 8 percent of their annual household income on energy. Addressing this problem is not simple, but an experiment by...
View ArticleMaking the art world more accessible
In the world of high-priced art, galleries usually act as gatekeepers. Their selective curation process is a key reason galleries in major cities often feature work from the same batch of artists. The...
View ArticleAligning AI with human values
Senior Audrey Lorvo is researching AI safety, which seeks to ensure increasingly intelligent AI models are reliable and can benefit humanity. The growing field focuses on technical challenges like...
View ArticleStudy in India shows kids use different math skills at work vs. school
In India, many kids who work in retail markets have good math skills: They can quickly perform a range of calculations to complete transactions. But as a new study shows, these kids often perform much...
View ArticleBridging philosophy and AI to explore computing ethics
During a meeting of class 6.C40/24.C40 (Ethics of Computing), Professor Armando Solar-Lezama poses the same impossible question to his students that he often asks himself in the research he leads with...
View ArticleCultivators of research
“Intelligent, caring, inspiring, and full-of-wisdom,” one student described Kenneth Oye. Another lauded that “We are beyond lucky to have such a caring, supportive, empathetic and compassionate leader”...
View ArticleMIT Human Insight Collaborative launches SHASS Faculty Fellows program
A new initiative will offer faculty in the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) the opportunity to participate in a semester-long internal fellows program.The SHASS Faculty...
View ArticleMIT faculty, alumni named 2025 Sloan Research Fellows
Seven MIT faculty and 21 additional MIT alumni are among 126 early-career researchers honored with 2025 Sloan Research Fellowships by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.The recipients represent the MIT...
View ArticleTimes Higher Education ranks MIT No. 1 in arts and humanities, business and...
The 2025 Times Higher Education World University Ranking has ranked MIT first in three subject categories: Arts and Humanities, Business and Economics, and Social Sciences. The Times Higher Education...
View ArticleWhy rationality can push people in different directions
It’s not a stretch to suggest that when we disagree with other people, we often regard them as being irrational. Kevin Dorst PhD ’19 has developed a body of research with surprising things to say about...
View ArticleA leg up for STEM majors
Senior Kevin Guo, a computer science major, and junior Erin Hovendon, studying mechanical engineering, are on widely divergent paths at MIT. But their lives do intersect in one dimension: They share an...
View ArticleBuilding trust in science through conversation and empathy
How do we foster trust in science in an increasingly polarized world? A group including scientists, journalists, policymakers and more gathered at MIT on March 10 to discuss how to bridge the gap...
View ArticleQS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 11 subjects for 2025
QS World University Rankings has placed MIT in the No. 1 spot in 11 subject areas for 2025, the organization announced today.The Institute received a No. 1 ranking in the following QS subject areas:...
View Article2025 MacVicar Faculty Fellows named
Three outstanding educators have been named MacVicar Faculty Fellows: associate professor in comparative media studies/writing Paloma Duong, associate professor of economics Frank Schilbach, and...
View ArticleMaking airfield assessments automatic, remote, and safe
In 2022, Randall Pietersen, a civil engineer in the U.S. Air Force, set out on a training mission to assess damage at an airfield runway, practicing “base recovery” protocol after a simulated attack....
View ArticleWhen did human language emerge?
It is a deep question, from deep in our history: When did human language as we know it emerge? A new survey of genomic evidence suggests our unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years...
View ArticleThree economists with MIT ties win BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award
Olivier Blanchard PhD ’77, the Robert M. Solow Professor of Economics Emeritus, has been named a winner of the 2025 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Economics, Finance and Management for...
View Article“An AI future that honors dignity for everyone”
Ben Vinson III, president of Howard University, made a compelling call for artificial intelligence to be “developed with wisdom,” as he delivered MIT’s annual Karl Taylor Compton Lecture on campus...
View ArticleCredit where it’s due
When most people buy cars, the sticker price is only part of the cost. The other part involves the loan, since folks usually borrow money for auto purchases. Therefore the interest rate, monthly...
View ArticleMIT affiliates named 2024 AAAS Fellows
Six current MIT affiliates and 27 additional MIT alumni have been elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The 2024 class of AAAS Fellows includes 471...
View ArticleNew Alliance for Data, Evaluation and Policy Training will advance...
On March 25, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT launched the global Alliance for Data, Evaluation, and Policy Training (ADEPT) with Community Jameel at an event in São Paulo,...
View ArticleSupersize me
Well into the late 19th century, the U.S. retail sector was overwhelmingly local, consisting of small, independent merchants throughout the country. That started changing after Sears and Roebuck’s...
View ArticleExploring the impacts of technology on everyday citizens
Give Dwai Banerjee credit: He doesn’t pick easy topics to study.Banerjee is an MIT scholar who in a short time has produced a wide-ranging body of work about the impact of technology on society — and...
View ArticleFour from MIT awarded 2025 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
MIT graduate students Sreekar Mantena and Arjun Ramani, and recent MIT alumni Rupert Li ’24 and Jupneet Singh ’23, have been named 2025 P.D. Soros Fellows. In addition, Soros Fellow Andre Ye will begin...
View ArticleMIT Press announces new Faculty and Alumni Book Awards
The MIT Press announced today the inception of its new Faculty and Alumni Book Awards program, along with the inaugural winners.The new awards are made possible by an anonymous donor and are intended...
View ArticleBuilding for Ukraine: A hackathon with a mission
“No cash prizes. But our friends in Kiev are calling in, and they’ll probably say thanks,” was the the tagline that drew students and tech professionals to join MIT-Ukraine’s first-ever hackathon this...
View ArticleUnparalleled student support
MIT Professors Andrew Vanderburg and Ariel White have been honored as Committed to Caring for their attentiveness to student needs and for creating a welcoming and inclusive culture. For MIT graduate...
View ArticleMIT Lincoln Laboratory is a workhorse for national security
In 1949, the U.S. Air Force called upon MIT with an urgent need. Soviet aircraft carrying atomic bombs were capable of reaching the U.S. homeland, and the nation was defenseless. A dedicated center —...
View ArticleHow should we prioritize patients waiting for kidney transplants?
At any given time, about 100,000 people in the U.S. are waiting to become kidney transplant recipients. Roughly one-fifth of those get a new kidney each year, but others die while waiting. In short,...
View ArticleAdam Berinsky awarded Carnegie fellowship
MIT political scientist Adam Berinsky has been named to the 2025 class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows, a high-profile honor for scholars pursuing research in the social sciences and humanities.The...
View ArticleEnhancing the future of teaching and learning at MIT
As technology rapidly propels society forward, MIT is rethinking how it prepares students to face the world and its greatest challenges. Generations of educators have shared knowledge at MIT by...
View ArticleSix from MIT elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2025
Six MIT faculty members are among the nearly 250 leaders from academia, the arts, industry, public policy, and research elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the academy announced April...
View ArticleArtificial intelligence enhances air mobility planning
Every day, hundreds of chat messages flow between pilots, crew, and controllers of the Air Mobility Command's 618th Air Operations Center (AOC). These controllers direct a thousand-wide fleet of...
View ArticleStudying work, life, and economics
For policymakers investigating the effective transition of an economy from agriculture to manufacturing and services, there are complex economic, institutional, and practical considerations. “Are...
View ArticleThe age-old problem of long-term care
Caring well for the elderly is a familiar challenge. Some elderly people need close medical attention in facilities; others struggle with reduced capabilities while not wanting to leave their homes....
View ArticleIf time is money, here’s one way consumers value it
As the saying goes, time is money. That’s certainly evident in the transportation sector, where people will pay more for direct flights, express trains, and other ways to get somewhere quickly.Still,...
View Article