Science

A vibrant graphic illustration featuring a large leafy plant with integrated plant sensors, comic-style speech bubbles containing exclamation marks, and a round bubble depicting ants, set against a blue textured background.

Plant sensors could act as an early warning system for farmers

Using sensors made from carbon nanotubes, researchers discovered signals that help plants respond to stresses like heat, light, or attack.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office

A diamond held securely by tweezers against a dark background

Engineering

Synthetic diamonds may have just gotten way easier to make

Scientists in South Korea have developed a new technique for creating synthetic diamonds that works under ambient pressure.

Kristin Houser

Brain

What hybrid mouse/rat brains are showing us about the mind

Modified mice with hybrid brains that include rat neurons could one day lead to new breakthroughs in neuroscience.

Kristin Houser

Physics

Nuclear isomers were discovered 100 years ago

Protons and neutrons in an atom’s nucleus can be arranged in different configurations, creating nuclear isomers.

Dennis Mücher and Artemis Spyrou

Physics

Lasers could cut lifespan of nuclear waste from “a million years to 30 minutes,” says Nobel laureate

If no solution is found, we're already stuck with some 22,000 cubic meters of long-lasting hazardous waste.

Robby Berman

Food

Real cheese without the cow

Biotech startup Formo uses genetically modified microorganisms to produce a completely lab-grown milk that can be made into cheese.

William Lockett

CRISPR

First CRISPR’d cockroaches open door to other gene-edited insects

It’s now easier for scientists to create gene-edited insects thanks to a new technique called “direct parental CRISPR.”

Kristin Houser

Physics

Einstein was right. Flying clocks around the world in opposite directions proved it.

By flying planes both with and against Earth's rotation, and returning them all to the same starting point, we tested Einstein's theory.

Ethan Siegel

Outer Space

Search reveals eight new sources of black hole echoes

The researchers' findings will help scientists trace a black hole’s evolution as it feeds on stellar material.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office

Physics

Scientists blow up their lab after creating strongest magnet ever

Scientists knew that it would probably explode, but they did not expect to reach such a record magnetic field.

Brandon A. Weber

Biology

Inspired by kombucha tea, engineers create living materials

A symbiotic culture of specialized yeast and bacteria can generate tough materials able to perform a variety of functions.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office

Agriculture

An ancient enzyme could supercharge photosynthesis

Researchers have resurrected an ancient version of the enzyme Rubisco in the hope of supercharging photosynthesis in today’s plants.

Kristin Houser

Genetics

Mutations in 16 species reveal clues to human aging

A surprising pattern in how often mammal cells undergo somatic mutations could be a boon to longevity research.

Kristin Houser

Sections

Video

Freethink

We focus on solutions: the smartest people, the biggest ideas, and the most ground breaking technology shaping our future.