News

A black hole’s spinning energy, like a flat pancake.

MIT astronomers discover the earliest known flickering quasar

When the universe was just 850 million years old, this voracious black hole was already surprisingly mature, a new study finds.

June 8, 2026
Categories: Research, Faculty, Postdocs, Astrophysics Observation, Instrumentation, and Experiment

Filter by

A magnifying glass seeing into a semiconductor and finding atoms, which look like smooth spheres but some are cracked and brittle.

MIT researchers use AI to uncover atomic defects in materials

March 29, 2026
Categories: In The News, Undergraduates, Nuclear Physics Experiment
A dense star field shows thousands of stars of varying colors and brightness scattered across a dark background.

Primitive star offers glimpse of early universe

March 26, 2026
Categories: In The News, Faculty, Astrophysics Observation, Instrumentation, and Experiment
Spherical contraption tethered by a rope to launching vehicle

Did Scientists Just Detect an Exploding Black Hole?

March 26, 2026
Categories: Research, Faculty, Graduate Students, High Energy and Particle Theory

“Near-misses” in particle accelerators can illuminate new physics, study finds

March 25, 2026
Categories: Research, Faculty, Nuclear Physics Experiment

QS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 12 subjects for 2026

March 24, 2026
Categories: Awards/Honors, Education
Two black holes with misaligned accretion disks on the cusp of merging

A boom in gravitational waves leaves scientists with more questions than answers

March 16, 2026
Categories: Research, Faculty, Graduate Students, Astrophysics Observation, Instrumentation, and Experiment
big bang plasma

Scientists Just Recreated the Plasma That Existed Before Anything Else in the Universe

March 15, 2026
Categories: In The News, Faculty, Particle Physics Experiment, Quantum Gravity and Field Theory
image of Nergis Mavalvala and Salvatore Vitale

Professors Mavalvala and Vitale discuss the science behind the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) on GBH’s Curiosity Desk

March 11, 2026
Categories: In The News, Faculty, Astrophysics Observation, Instrumentation, and Experiment

3 Questions: On the future of AI and the mathematical and physical sciences

March 10, 2026
Categories: Interview/Q&A, Faculty, High Energy and Particle Theory, Strong Interactions and Nuclear Theory
headshot

The Rooted Leader: Self-Leadership as a Strategic Advantage for Women in STEM

March 9, 2026
Categories: In The News, Faculty, WiSTEM

How Joseph Paradiso’s sensing innovations bridge the arts, medicine, and ecology

March 9, 2026
Categories: In The News, Alumni, High Energy and Particle Theory
Neil Pappalardo smiling at the 2005 Physics Fall Reception.

A. Neil Pappalardo ’64 remembered for his lasting impact on the MIT Department of Physics

March 5, 2026
Categories: In Remembrance, Pappalardo Fellows
1 2 3 4 5 6 … 102