Ward: Education

424

The gear meant to protect firefighters may carry hidden dangers

Firefighter turnout gear is designed to shield first responders from extreme heat and danger, but new research suggests it may also introduce chemical exposures. A U.S. study found that brominated flame retardants are present across multiple layers of firefighter gear, including newer equipment mark…

422

From biting flies to feathered dinosaurs, scientists reveal 70 new species

Researchers announced over 70 new species in a single year, including bizarre insects, ancient dinosaurs, rare mammals, and deep-river fish. Many were found not in the wild, but in museum collections, proving that major discoveries can still be hiding in plain sight.

329

Vine-inspired robotic gripper gently lifts heavy and fragile objects

The new design could be adapted to assist the elderly, sort warehouse products, or unload heavy cargo.

320

Scalable method enables ultrahigh-resolution quantum dot displays without damaging performance

Over the past decade, colloidal quantum dots (QDs) have emerged as promising materials for next-generation displays due to their tunable emission, high brightness, and compatibility with low-cost solution processing. However, a major challenge is achieving ultrahigh-resolution patterning without dam…

319

18,000 years ago, ice age humans built dwellings out of mammoth bones in Ukraine

Some people in Ukraine weathered the harshest moments of the last ice age by creating shelters made partly of mammoth bones and tusks.

320

A new tool is revealing the invisible networks inside cancer

Spanish researchers have created a powerful new open-source tool that helps uncover the hidden genetic networks driving cancer. Called RNACOREX, the software can analyze thousands of molecular interactions at once, revealing how genes communicate inside tumors and how those signals relate to patient…

319

Mystery of King Tut’s jars solved? Yale researchers find opium clues

Traces of opium found inside an ancient alabaster vase suggest drug use was common in ancient Egypt, not rare or accidental. The discovery raises the possibility that King Tut’s famous jars once held opiates valued enough to be buried with pharaohs—and stolen by tomb raiders.

310

Why evolution rewarded ants that sacrificed protection

Some ants thrive by choosing numbers over strength. Instead of heavily protecting each worker, they invest fewer resources in individual armor and produce far more ants. Larger colonies then compensate with collective behaviors like group defense and coordinated foraging. The strategy has been linke…

232

Oldest evidence of fire-lighting comes from early humans in Britain

An excavation in Suffolk, UK, has uncovered pyrite and flint that appear to have been used by ancient humans to light fires some 400,000 years ago

232

MIT HEALS leadership charts a bold path for convergence in health and life sciences

Angela Koehler, Iain Cheeseman, and Katharina Ribbeck are shaping the collaborative as a platform for transformative research, translation, and talent development across MIT.

221

De-extinction was big news in 2025 – but didn't live up to the hype

Biologists poured cold water on Colossal Biosciences’ claim to have brought the dire wolf back from extinction, and some worry the overblown headlines will undermine conservation work

221

Emphasizing immigrants' deservingness can shift attitudes

A study conducted during the 2024 French elections finds that information about immigrants' efforts to overcome poverty and learn French reduces negative beliefs about immigration and modestly decreases opposition to immigration among voters. The study is published in the journal PNAS Nexus.

220

A molecular switch for green hydrogen: Catalyst changes function based on how it's assembled

Hydrogen production through water electrolysis is a cornerstone of the clean energy transition, but it relies on efficient and stable catalysts that work under acidic conditions—currently dominated by precious metals like iridium and platinum.

218

A hidden T cell switch could make cancer immunotherapy work for more people

Scientists have discovered that T cell receptors activate through a hidden spring-like motion that had never been seen before. This breakthrough may help explain why immunotherapy works for some cancers and how it could be improved for others.

220

People saw a new colour for the first time in 2025

Scientists found a way to let people perceive an intense blue-green hue unlike anything they had seen before – and the technique could help people with colour blindness

219

We’ve finally cracked how to make truly random numbers

From machine learning to voting, the workings of the world demand randomisation, but true sources of randomness are surprisingly hard to find. Now quantum mechanics has supplied the answer

222

Nuno Loureiro, professor and director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, dies at 47

In his 10 years at MIT, Loureiro helped illuminate the physics occurring at the center of fusion vacuum chambers and at the edges of the universe.

221

Are they really listening? Watch their blinks

Your eyes may reveal when your brain is working overtime. Researchers found that people blink less when trying to understand speech in noisy environments, especially during the most important moments. The effect stayed the same in bright or dark rooms, showing it’s driven by mental effort, not light…

221

A better DNA material for genetic medicine

With its circular single-stranded DNA molecules, MIT spinout Kano Therapeutics plans to make gene and cell therapies safer and more effective.

228

MIT scientists strip cancer of its sugar shield

Scientists at MIT and Stanford have unveiled a promising new way to help the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells more effectively. Their strategy targets a hidden “off switch” that tumors use to stay invisible to immune defenses—special sugar molecules on the cancer cell surface that sup…