Science

Side by side of mouse embryos. The one on the left appears to be developing normally, but the one on the right has an extra pair of legs.
Genetics
How turning off one gene causes mice to grow 6 legs
A study of embryo development in mice led to the creation of a mutant mouse fetus with an extra pair of legs in place of genitals.
Kristin Houser
A man in a suit stands next to a robotic arm with computer-brain interfaces on a stage under blue lighting.
Big Tech
In a future with brain-computer interfaces like Elon Musk’s Neuralink, we may need to rethink freedom of thought
In a future with more “mind reading,” thanks to computer-brain interfaces, we may need to rethink freedom of thought.
Parker Crutchfield
Oceans
Artificial reef designed by MIT engineers could protect marine life, reduce storm damage
An MIT team is hoping to fortify coastlines with “architected” reefs engineered to mimic the wave-buffering effects of natural reefs.
Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office
A close up of a green worm exhibiting cryptobiosis.
Animals
Nematodes survive 46,000 years on ice
Kevin Dickinson
A man is petting a northern white rhino in a field.
Animals
Northern white rhinos are set for extinction. Only a technological moonshot can save them.
Kevin Dickinson
Four different electron microscopy images of giant viruses on a purple background.
Virology
These giant viruses are unlike any we’ve ever seen before
Kristin Houser
A close up of a dandelion with water droplets.
Physics
Quantum superposition begs us to ask, “What is real?”
Marcelo Gleiser
a hand holding a plate with a lab-grown cotton plant in it.
Sustainability
Lab-grown cotton is on its way to consumers
Kristin Houser
An image of an atomic bomb exploding over the ocean, inspired by HG Wells.
Books
How an H.G. Wells sci-fi novel predicted Oppenheimer and atomic bombs
Émile P. Torres
A close up of a leaf.
Biology
Quantum biology: Your nose and house plants are experts at particle physics
Elizabeth Fernandez
a close-up of a colony of Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus
Animals
“Zombie” cells are the key to a tiny sea creature’s full-body regeneration
Kristin Houser
A monkey sitting on a branch in the forest.
Memory
One shot of the klotho protein boosted memory in old monkeys
Kristin Houser
a 3D-model of a Fanzor protein based gene-editing system
CRISPR
First CRISPR-like system discovered in animals
Kristin Houser