“At MIT, innovation ranges from awe-inspiring technology to down-to-Earth creativity,” noted Chronicle, during a campus visit this year for an episode of the program. In 2025, MIT researchers made headlines across print publications, podcasts, and video platforms for key scientific advances, from breakthroughs in quantum and artificial intelligence to new efforts aimed at improving pediatric health care and cancer diagnosis.
MIT faculty, researchers, students, alumni and staff helped demystify new technologies, highlighted the practical hands-on learning the Institute is known for, and shared what inspires their research with viewers, readers and listeners around the world. Below is a sampling of news moments to revisit.
Let’s take a closer look at MIT: It’s alarming to see such a complex, important institution subject to the whims of today’s politicsWashington Post columnist George F. Will reflects on MIT and his view of “the damage that can be done to America’s meritocracy by policies motivated by hostility toward institutions vital to it.” Will notes that MIT has an “astonishing economic multiplier effect: MIT graduates have founded companies that have generated almost $1.9 trillion in annual revenue (a sum almost equal to Russia’s GDP) and 4.6 million jobs.”Full story via The Washington Post
At MIT, groundbreaking ideas blend science and breast cancer detection innovationChronicle visited MIT this spring to learn more about how the Institute “nurtures groundbreaking efforts, reminding us that creativity and science thrive together, inspiring future advancements in engineering, medicine, and beyond.”Full story via Chronicle
New MIT provost looks to build more bridges with CEOsProvost Anantha Chandrakasan shares his energy and enthusiasm for MIT, and his goals for the Institute.Full story via The Boston Globe
Five things New England researchers helped develop with federal fundingProfessors John Guttag and David Mindell discuss MIT’s long history of developing foundational technologies — including the internet and the first widely used electronic navigation system — with the support of federal funding.Full story via The Boston Globe
Bostonians of the Year 2025: First responders, university presidents, and others who exemplified couragePresident Sally Kornbluth is honored by The Boston Globe as one of the Bostonians of the Year, a list that spotlights individuals across the region who, in choosing the difficult path, “showed us what strength looks like.” Kornbluth was recognized for her work being of the “most prominent voices rallying to protect academic freedom.”Full story via The Boston Globe
Practical education and workforce preparation
College students flock to a new major: AIMIT’s new Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making major is aimed at teaching students to “develop AI systems and study how technologies like robots interact with humans and the environment.”Full story via New York Times
50 colleges with the best ROIMIT has been named among the top colleges in the country for return on investment. MIT “is need-blind and full-need for undergraduate students. Six out of 10 students receive financial aid, and almost 88% of the Class of 2025 graduated debt-free.”Full story via Boston 25
Desirée Plata: Chemist, oceanographer, engineer, entrepreneurProfessor Desirée Plata explains that she is most proud of her work as an educator. “The faculty of the world are training the next generation of researchers,” says Plata. “We need a trained workforce. We need patient chemists who want to solve important problems.”Full story via Chemical & Engineering News
Taking a quantum leap
MIT launches quantum initiative to tackle challenges in science, health care, national securityMIT is “taking a quantum leap with the launch of the new MIT Quantum Initiative (QMIT). “There isn’t a more important technological field right now than quantum with its enormous potential for impact on both fundamental research and practical problems,” said President Sally Kornbluth.Full story via State House News Service
Peter Shor on how quantum tech can help climateProfessor Peter Shor helps disentangle quantum technologies.Full story via The Quantum Kid
MIT researchers develop device to enable direct communication between multiple quantum processorsMIT researchers made a key advance in the creation of a practical quantum computer.Full story via Military & Aerospace Electronics
Fortifying national security and aiding disaster response
Nano-material breakthrough could revolutionize night visionMIT researchers developed “a new way to make large ultrathin infrared sensors that don’t need cryogenic cooling and could radically change night vision for the military.”Full story via Defense One
MIT researchers develop robot designed to help first-responders in disaster situationsResearchers at MIT engineered SPROUT (Soft Pathfinding Robotic Observation Unit), a robot aimed at assisting first-responders.Full story via WHDH
MIT scientists make “smart” clothes that warn you when you’re sickAs part of an effort to help keep service members safe, MIT scientists created a programmable fiber that can be stitched into clothing to help monitor the wearer’s health.Full story via FOX 28
MIT Lincoln Lab develops ocean-mapping technologyMIT Lincoln Laboratory researchers are developing “automated electric vessels to map the ocean floor and improve search and rescue missions.”Full story via Chronicle
Transformative tech
This MIT scientist is rewiring robots to keep the humanity in techProfessor Daniela Rus, director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, discusses her work revolutionizing the field of robotics by bringing “empathy into engineering and proving that responsibility is as radical and as commercially attractive as unguarded innovation.”Full story via Forbes
Watch this tiny robot somersault through the air like an insectProfessor Kevin Chen designed a tiny, insect-sized aerial microrobot.Full story via Science
It’s actually really hard to make a robot, guysProfessor Pulkit Agrawal delves into his work engineering a simulator that can be used to train robots.Full story via NPR
Shape-shifting fabrics and programmable materials redefine design at MITAssociate Professor Skylar Tibbits is embedding intelligence into the materials around us, while Professor Caitlin Mueller and Sandy Curth PhD ’25 are digging into eco-friendly construction.Full story via Chronicle
Building a healthier future
MIT launches pediatric research hub to address access gapsThe Hood Pediatric Innovation Hub is addressing “underinvestment in pediatric healthcare innovations.”Full story via Boston Business Journal
Bionic knee helps amputees walk naturally againProfessor Hugh Herr developed a prosthetic that could increase mobility for above-the-knee amputees. “The bionic knee developed by MIT doesn’t just restore function, it redefines it.”Full story via Fox News
MIT drug hunters are using AI to design completely new antibioticsProfessor James Collins is using AI to develop new compounds to combat antibiotic resistance.Full story via Fast Company
Innovative once-weekly capsule helps quell schizophrenia symptomsA new pill from the lab of Associate Professor Giovanni Traverso “can greatly simplify the drug schedule faced by schizophrenia patients.”Full story via Newsmax
Renewing American manufacturing
US manufacturing is in “pretty bad shape.” MIT hopes to change that.MIT launched the Initiative for New Manufacturing to help “build the tools and talent to shape a more productive and sustainable future for manufacturing.”Full story via Manufacturing Dive
Giving US manufacturing a boostBen Armstrong of the MIT Industrial Performance Center discusses how to reinvigorate manufacturing in America.Full story via Marketplace
New England companies are sparking an industrial revolution. Here’s how to harness it.Professor David Mindell spotlights how “a new wave of industrial companies, many in New England, are leveraging new technologies to create jobs and empower workers.”Full story via The Boston Globe
Improving aging
My day as an 80-year-old. What an age-simulation suit taught me.To get a better sense of the experience of aging, Wall Street Journal reporter Amy Dockser Marcus donned the MIT AgeLab’s age-simulation suit and embarked on multiple activities.Full story via The Wall Street Journal
New mobile robot helps seniors walk safely and prevent fallsA mobile robot created by MIT engineers is designed to help prevent falls. “It’s easy to see how something like this could make a big difference for seniors wanting to stay independent.”Full story via Fox News
The senior population is booming. Caregiving is struggling to keep upProfessor Jonathan Gruber discusses the labor shortages impacting senior care.Full story via CNBC
Upping our energy resilience
New MIT collaboration with GE Vernova aims to accelerate energy transition“A great amount of innovation happens in academia. We have a longer view into the future,” says Provost Anantha Chandrakasan of the MIT-GE Vernova Energy and Climate Alliance.Full story via The Boston Globe
The environmental impacts of generative AINoman Bashir, a fellow with MIT’s Climate and Sustainability Consortium, explores the environmental impacts of generative AI.Full story via Fox 13
Is the clean energy economy doomed?Professor Christopher Knittel discusses how the U.S. can be in the best position for global energy dominance.Full story via Marketplace
Advancing American workers
WTH can we do to prevent a second China shock? Professor David Autor explainsProfessor David Autor shares his research examining the long-term impact of China entering the World Trade Organization, how the U.S. can protect vital industries from unfair trade practices, and the potential impacts of AI on workers.Full story via American Enterprise Institute
The fight over robots threatening American jobsProfessor Daron Acemoglu highlights the economic and societal implications of integrating automation in the workforce, advocating for policies aimed at assisting workers.Full story via Financial Times
Moving toward automationResearch Scientist Eva Ponce of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics notes that robotics and AI technologies are “replacing some jobs — particularly more manual tasks including heavy lifting — but have also offered new opportunities within warehouse operations.”Full story via Financial Times
Planetary defense and out-of-this world exploration
MIT researchers create new asteroid detection methods to help protect EarthAssociate Professor Julien de Wit and Research Scientist Artem Burdanov discuss their work developing a new method to track asteroids that could impact Earth.Full story via WBZ Radio
What happens to the bodies of NASA astronauts returning to Earth?Professor Dava Newman speaks about how long-duration stays in space can affect the human body.Full story via News Nation
Lunar lander Athena is packed and ready to explore the moon. Here’s what on boardMIT engineers sent three payloads into space on a course set for the moon’s south polar region.Full story via USA Today
Scanning the heavens at the Vatican ObservatoryBr. Guy Consolmagno ’74, SM ’75, director of the Vatican Observatory, and graduate student Isabella Macias share their experiences studying astronomy and planetary formation at the Vatican Observatory. “The Vatican has such a deep, rich history of working with astronomers,” says Macias. “It shows that science is not only for global superpowers around the world, but it’s for students, it’s for humanity.”Full story via CBS News Sunday Morning
The story of real-life rocket scientistsProfessor Kerri Cahoy takes viewers on an out-of-this-world journey into how a college internship inspired her research on space and satellites.Full story via Bloomberg Television
On the air
While digital currency initiatives expand, we ask: What’s the future of cash?Neha Narula, director of the MIT Digital Currency Initiative, examines the future of cash as the use of digital currencies expands.Full story via USA Today
The high stakes of the AI economyProfessor Asu Ozdaglar, head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and deputy dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, explores AI’s opportunities and risks — and whether it can be regulated without stifling progress.Full story via Is Business Broken?
The LIGO Lab is pushing the boundaries of gravitational-wave researchAssociate Professor Matt Evans explores the future of gravitational wave research and how Cosmic Explorer, the next-generation gravitational wave observatory, will help unearth secrets of the early universe.Full story via Scientific American
Space junk: The impact of global warming on satellitesGraduate student Will Parker discusses his research examining the impact of climate change on satellites.Full story via USA Today
Endometriosis is common. Why is getting diagnosed so hard?Professor Linda Griffith shares her work studying endometriosis and her efforts to improve healthcare for women.Full story via Science Friday
There’s nothing small about this nanoscale researchProfessor Vladimir Bulović takes listeners on a tour of MIT.nano, MIT’s “clean laboratory facility that is critical to nanoscale research, from microelectronics to medical nanotechnology.”Full story via Scientific American
Marrying science and athletics
The MIT scientist behind the “torpedo bats” that are blowing up baseballAaron Leanhardt PhD ’03 went from an MIT graduate student who was part of a research team that “cooled sodium gas to the lowest temperature ever recorded in human history” to inventor of the torpedo baseball bat, “perhaps the most significant development in bat technology in decades.”Full story via The Wall Street Journal
Engineering athletes redefine routineAfter suffering a concussion during her sophomore year, Emiko Pope ’25 was inspired to explore the effectiveness of concussion headbands.Full story via American Society of Mechanical Engineers
“I missed talking math with people”: why John Urschel left the NFL for MITAssistant Professor John Urschel shares his decision to call an audible and leave his NFL career to focus on his love for math at MIT.Full story via The Guardian
Making a statement, MIT’s football team dons extra head padding for safetyIt’s a piece of equipment that may become more widely used as research continues into its effectiveness — including from at least one of the players on the current team.Full story via GBH Morning Edition
Agricultural efficiency
New MIT breakthrough could save farmers billions on pesticidesMIT engineers developed a system that helps pesticides adhere more effectively to plant leaves, allowing farmers to use fewer chemicals.Full story via Michigan Farm News
Bug-sized robots could help pollination on future farmsInsect-sized robots crafted by MIT researchers could one day be used to help with farming practices like artificial pollination.Full story via Reuters
See how MIT researchers harvest water from the airAn ultrasonic device created by MIT engineers can extract clean drinking water from atmospheric moisture.Full story via CNN
Appreciating art
Meet the engineer using deep learning to restore Renaissance artGraduate student Alex Kachkine talks about his work applying AI to develop a restoration method for damaged artwork.Full story via Nature
MIT’s Linde Music Building opens with a free festival“The extent of art-making on the MIT campus is equal to that of a major city,” says Institute Professor Marcus Thompson. “It’s a miracle that it’s all right here, by people in science and technology who are absorbed in creating a new world and who also value the past, present and future of music and the arts.”Full story via Cambridge Day
“Remembering the Future” on display at the MIT MuseumThe “Remembering the Future” exhibit at the MIT Museum features a sculptural installation that uses “climate data from the last ice age to the present, as well as projected future environments, to create a geometric design.”Full story via The New York Times
