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A regulatory loophole could delay ozone recovery by years
Often hailed as the most successful international environmental agreement of all time, the 1987 Montreal Protocol continues to successfully phase out the global production of chemicals that were creating a growing hole in the ozone layer, causing skin cancer and other adverse health effects. MIT-led studies have since shown the subsequent reduction in ozone-depleting substances […]
How bacteria suppress immune defenses in stubborn wound infections
Chronic wound infections are notoriously difficult to manage because some bacteria can actively interfere with the body’s immune defenses. In wounds, Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is particularly resilient — it can survive inside tissues, alter the wound environment, and weaken immune signals at the injury site. This disruption creates conditions where other microbes can easily […]
Seeing sounds
As one of the first students in MIT’s new Music Technology and Computation Graduate Program, Mariano Salcedo ’25 is researching the intersection between artificial intelligence and music visuals. Specifically, his graduate research focuses on neural cellular automata (NCA), which merges classical cellular automata with machine learning techniques to grow images that can regenerate. When paired with […]
MIT hackathon tackles real-world challenges in Ukraine
During this year’s Independent Activities Period (IAP), students, researchers, and collaborators across seven time zones came together to tackle urgent technical challenges facing Ukraine as the full-scale war enters its fourth year. A four-week hackathon, Build for Ukraine 2.0, brought MIT students and Ukrainian collaborators into a shared innovation environment where power outages, air-raid alerts, […]
Active Surfaces aims to install peel-and-stick solar panels everywhere
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 […]
Advancing international trade research and finding community
The sense of support and community was palpable when Sojun Park, a postdoc at the Center for International Studies (CIS), delivered a recent presentation on The Global Diffusion of AI Technologies and Its Political Drivers. The event, part of the CIS Global Research and Policy Seminar, filled the venue with audience members from across MIT. […]
Improving cartilage repair through cell therapy
Researchers have developed a new method for monitoring iron flux — the movement and rate at which cells take in, store, use and release iron — in stem cells known as mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). The system can provide insights within a minute about a cell’s ability to grow cartilage tissue for cartilage repair. The […]
Pursuing a passion for public health
MIT senior Srihitha Dasari never imagined she would be speaking in front of the United Nations about health care, technology, and the power of co-designing public health interventions in collaboration with impacted communities. But when she stepped up to the podium to speak about digital well-being and community-centered health care design, she carried with her […]
Sustaining diplomacy amid competition in US-China relations
The United States and China “are the two largest emitters of carbon in the world,” said Nicholas Burns, former U.S. ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, at a recent MIT seminar. “We need to work with each other for the good of both of our countries.” During the MITEI Presents: Advancing the Energy Transition […]
3 Questions: Developing sustainable guidelines for rebuilding in Gaza
Shireen Bader Alqadi, MIT’s first Global MIT At-Risk Fellow (GMAF) from Palestine, reflects on spending the Fall 2025 semester in the MIT’s Sustainable Design Lab with Architecture Professor Christoph Reinhart and team. Global MIT At-Risk Fellows (GMAF) brings international scholars to MIT for semester-long study and research meant to benefit their regions of origin while […]