3 Questions: Applying lessons in data, economics, and policy design to the real world

Gevorg Minasyan MAP ’23 draws on experiences in MIT’s Data, Economics, and Design of Policy MicroMasters and master’s programs to shape policymaking at the Central Bank of Armenia.

Robot, know thyself: New vision-based system teaches machines to understand their bodies

Neural Jacobian Fields, developed by MIT CSAIL researchers, can learn to control any robot from a single camera, without any other sensors.

Pedestrians now walk faster and linger less, researchers find

A computer vision study compares changes in pedestrian behavior since 1980, providing information for urban designers about creating public spaces.

New machine-learning application to help researchers predict chemical properties

ChemXploreML makes advanced chemical predictions easier and faster — without requiring deep programming skills.

Scientists apply optical pooled CRISPR screening to identify potential new Ebola drug targets

Combining powerful imaging, perturbational screening, and machine learning, researchers uncover new human host factors that alter Ebola’s ability to infect.

Theory-guided strategy expands the scope of measurable quantum interactions

An oft-ignored effect can be used to probe an important property of semiconductors, a new study finds.

Astronomers discover star-shredding black holes hiding in dusty galaxies

Unlike active galaxies that constantly pull in surrounding material, these black holes lie dormant, waking briefly to feast on a passing star.

Professor Emeritus Keith Johnson, pioneering theorist in materials science and independent filmmaker, dies at 89

Longtime MIT solid-state physicist brought theoretical insights to an experiment-driven discipline — and later, to film.

Adhesive inspired by hitchhiking sucker fish sticks to soft surfaces underwater

The mechanical system could be used to deliver drugs in the GI tract or monitor aquatic environments.

Victor K. McElheny, founding director of MIT’s Knight Science Journalism Program, dies at 89

The pioneering journalist and author was a steadfast champion of science journalism and its global community of practitioners.