🦜 MIT News
@news.mit.edu.rss.research@rss-parrot.net
I'm an automated parrot! I relay a website's RSS feed to the Fediverse. Every time a new post appears in the feed, I toot about it. Follow me to get all new posts in your Mastodon timeline!
Brought to you by the RSS Parrot.
---
MIT News is dedicated to communicating to the media and the public the news and achievements of the students, faculty, staff and the greater MIT community.
Your feed and you don't want it here? Just
e-mail the birb.
Understanding how “marine snow” acts as a carbon sink
https://news.mit.edu/2026/understanding-how-marine-snow-acts-as-carbon-sink-0309
Published: March 9, 2026 19:00
A new study finds hitchhiking bacteria dissolve essential ballast in ubiquitous “snow” particles, which could counteract the ocean’s ability to sequester carbon.
Neurons receive precisely tailored teaching signals as we learn
https://news.mit.edu/2026/neurons-receive-precisely-tailored-teaching-signals-as-we-learn-0309
Published: March 9, 2026 16:50
New work suggests the brain can deliver neuron-specific feedback during learning — resembling the error signals that drive machine learning.
Improving AI models’ ability to explain their predictions
https://news.mit.edu/2026/improving-ai-models-ability-explain-predictions-0309
Published: March 9, 2026 04:00
A new approach could help users know whether to trust a model’s predictions in safety-critical applications like health care and autonomous driving.
Seeds of something different
https://news.mit.edu/2026/seeds-something-different-kate-brown-book-0306
Published: March 6, 2026 05:00
Kate Brown’s book, “Tiny Gardens Everywhere,” examines the hidden history of urban farming, its extensive use, and the politics of growing food.
X-raying rocks reveals their carbon-storing capacity
https://news.mit.edu/2026/x-raying-rocks-reveals-their-carbon-storing-capacity-0306
Published: March 6, 2026 05:00
New research by MIT geophysicists could assist efforts to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it underground.
New insights into a hidden process that protects cells from harmful mutations
https://news.mit.edu/2026/new-insights-hidden-process-protects-cells-harmful-mutations-0305
Published: March 5, 2026 22:15
Research reveals how cells may activate a compensation system that can reduce the effects of harmful genetic mutations. This could inform gene therapy development.
Recreating the forms and sounds of historical musical instruments
https://news.mit.edu/2026/recreating-forms-sounds-historic-musical-instruments-0305
Published: March 5, 2026 22:00
Through an interdisciplinary collaboration between MIT and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, researchers are creating playable physical and synthesized replicas.
New catalog more than doubles the number of gravitational-wave detections made by LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA observatories
https://news.mit.edu/2026/new-catalog-doubles-gravitational-wave-detections-made-ligo-virgo-kagra-0305
Published: March 5, 2026 13:00
The latest crop of space-time wobbles includes a variety of heavy, fast-spinning, and lopsided colliding black holes.
Nitrous oxide, a product of fertilizer use, may harm some soil bacteria
https://news.mit.edu/2026/nitrous-oxide-product-fertilizer-use-may-harm-some-soil-bacteria-0304
Published: March 4, 2026 14:00
While some N2O is produced naturally at the plant root, agricultural practices can increase its levels, to the detriment of some microbes that support plant growth.
How some skills become second nature
https://news.mit.edu/2026/how-some-skills-become-second-nature-0304
Published: March 4, 2026 05:00
Patterns of gaze and attention can reveal how some people unconsciously figure out how to master a task, new research shows.
A “ChatGPT for spreadsheets” helps solve difficult engineering challenges faster
https://news.mit.edu/2026/chatgpt-spreadsheets-helps-solve-difficult-engineering-challenges-faster-0304
Published: March 4, 2026 05:00
The approach could help engineers tackle extremely complex design problems, from power grid optimization to vehicle design.
Injectable “satellite livers” could offer an alternative to liver transplantation
https://news.mit.edu/2026/injectable-satellite-livers-could-offer-alternative-liver-transplantation-0303
Published: March 3, 2026 16:00
The engineered tissue grafts could take on the liver’s function and help thousands of people with liver failure.
W.M. Keck Foundation to support research on healthy aging at MIT
https://news.mit.edu/2026/keck-foundation-to-support-research-on-healthy-aging-0302
Published: March 2, 2026 23:30
Assistant Professor Alison Ringel will investigate the intersection of immunology and aging biology, aiming to define mechanisms that underlie aging-related decline, thanks to a grant from the foundation.