MIT Physics

This article from Quanta Magazine details a significant evolution in physics: the transition from viewing fluid dynamics through 19th-century formulas to a modern, fundamental understanding based on effective field theories and symmetries. For over a century, the Navier-Stokes equations have been the standard tool for predicting fluid behavior, despite being mere approximations that ignore the [……

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has selected MIT to establish and lead a new Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) focused on materials technologies for medical imaging, sustainable metals production, and next-generation semiconductors, according to an NSF announcement released July 30. Expected to provide $18 million in research funding over six years, the award brings …

Astronomers at MIT and elsewhere have spotted an extremely bright red spot in the early universe. The object resembles an enormous star, spanning the size of our solar system. But it also is putting out 100 billion times more energy than any known star can physically produce. In fact, such energies are closer to what […] The post Astronomers discover a brand-new type of astrophysical object: A bl…

Physicists across the globe are on a quest for a particle that makes up nearly 85 percent of all matter in the universe, yet no one has ever directly detected it. Jessica Fry, a fifth-year physics PhD candidate in the Laboratory for Nuclear Science (LNS), is one such hunter. Fry grew up in the San Francisco […] The post On the hunt for dark matter appeared first on MIT Physics .

MIT researchers have discovered space matter that has been ‘missing’ since the 1990s using Fast Radio Bursts, individual flashes of radio waves traveling through space and coming from the distant universe, reports WCVB 5’s Cindy Fitzgibbon. “The takeaway of the study is that by discovering the distribution of the missing matter around galaxies, we have found […] The post This space matter has bee…

A tall glass of ice water isn’t just a thirst quencher; it’s also an everyday example of coexisting phases. Water’s molecular makeup can exist simultaneously in both a liquid and solid phase. And as it turns out, this phase duality can exist in more exotic, quantum materials, and in ways that are far more complicated […] The post Physicists watch a material’s electrons assemble, and reassemble, i…

The same overheating problem that happens to our laptops also plagues computer servers and data centers around the world — and heat management is only getting harder as computer chips get more compact and powerful. Understanding how heat moves through chips at the micro scale is essential for continuing to improve their performance. Unfortunately, most […] The post A new way to watch heat move th…

Super-thin superconducting materials, which are only one or a few atoms thick, have unique properties scientists can leverage to produce more compact, scalable, and efficient quantum devices. But these fragile materials degrade so rapidly in air that they are difficult to study or manufacture. Now, researchers from MIT and elsewhere have discovered and harnessed a […] The post Researchers make ai…

A study published in the Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment (JSTAT), inspired by the behavior of bacterial colonies observed in previous experiments, uses mathematical models to describe the expansion of competing populations. The aim is to understand which factors determine the success of one population over another. According to the study, fitness—understood here […] The po…

In Professor Anna-Christina Eilers’ research group, mentorship happens through small, meaningful gestures: thoughtful feedback on a draft, a check-in after a rough week, and a readiness to help when things get tough. For her students, these everyday moments have become a defining feature of her approach. An observational astrophysicist, Eilers studies how the universe evolved […] The post Looking…

MIT researchers are set to contribute to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Genesis Mission, with 15 collaborative projects among those selected for funding under Genesis Phase I, DOE announced Wednesday. The Genesis Mission, a national initiative, intends to build “the world’s most powerful integrated science discovery platform” by incentivizing cross-sector collaborations that leverage AI, s…

As a Massachusetts Boys Soccer Player of the Year and an All-American in high school, Dilin Meloni had choices when it came to college. He came to MIT because he knew he wanted to be an Engineer (on the field) and an engineer (off) after he read a paper from the Plasma Science and Fusion […] The post MIT student leaders: Q&A with men’s soccer captain Dilin Meloni appeared first on MIT Physics .

Growing up on a small farm in Nebraska, Megan Donahue ’85 discovered the wider world by reading her way through her local library. Today, she is learning how the wider world works by studying galaxy clusters. A professor of physics and astronomy at Michigan State University, Donahue is trying to answer big questions, including How […] The post Nebraska Native Explores Galaxies Far, Far Away appea…

Stars and galaxies make up much of the universe’s ordinary, observable matter. But for decades, scientists have wrestled with a cosmic conflict: There should be much more.  Physicists have good estimates of how much matter was present in the early universe. Shortly after the Big Bang, roughly 83 percent of all matter in the universe […] The post Diffuse puffs of “missing” matter surround most gal…

As sea levels rise due to climate change, encroaching sea water will likely make freshwater environments saltier. In a new study, MIT researchers have shown how that increase in salinity might affect microbial ecosystems found in environments such as rivers and estuaries. These microbial communities play important roles in the carbon cycle, and they also […] The post How an influx of salt may aff…

Ritvik Narayan, TOI-5882, brown dwarf, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/science/space/planetary-engulfment-hungry-star.html The post This Star Just Ate a Planet, and It’s Not Done Yet appeared first on MIT Physics .

George B. Benedek, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away on July 5, 2026 at home at the age of 97. George was born in 1928 in the Bronx, NY, to Jewish Hungarian immigrants Viola and Alex, who designed and manufactured lace collars and cuffs in New York’s garment district. He went on to […] The post George B. Benedek, pioneer in experimental biophysics and physic…

The Standard Model of particle physics is a well established theory that describes the fundamental particles and forces that govern the universe. Yet it cannot explain dark matter, the matter–antimatter imbalance, or gravity at the quantum scale, all of which suggest that additional particles and forces beyond the Standard Model may exist. One promising place […] The post 3 Questions: Searching f…

When a star dies, a black hole is born. This has been the textbook origin story for most black holes. At the end of a massive star’s life, its outer layers blast away in a brilliant supernova, and its core collapses into a gravitationally tight and dense region, forming a black hole. Recent discoveries from […] The post Many black holes had past lives, new research shows appeared first on MIT Phy…

Professor Jesse Thaler has been named director of the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Science (LNS), effective Aug. 1. He succeeds Professor Bolek Wyslouch, who directed LNS for the past decade. Thaler is a theoretical particle physicist who combines techniques from quantum field theory and machine learning to address outstanding questions in fundamental physics.  “In his […] The post Jesse Thaler nam…