Science

Why happiness is not the best indicator of well-being

Achieving values and pursuing growth is the real secret to a fulfilled life.

Jason Crawford

How Arc Institute is bringing science into the century of biology

Stephen Johnson

A vibrant graphic illustration featuring a large leafy plant with integrated plant sensors, comic-style speech bubbles containing exclamation marks, and a round bubble depicting ants, set against a blue textured background.

Agriculture

Plant sensors could act as an early warning system for farmers

Using sensors made from carbon nanotubes, researchers discovered signals that help plants respond to stresses like heat, light, or attack.

Anne Trafton | MIT News Office

Virology

Molecular farming could be the future of vaccines

Edible plant-based vaccines could revolutionize how we fight diseases.

Amanda Winkler

Physics

Scientists observed what Einstein predicted a century ago

Physicists claim to have generated matter from pure light particles for the first time — a spectacular display of Einstein's most famous equation.

Teresa Carey

Food

3D printing gives lab-grown beef Wagyu marbling

Japanese researchers have created a morsel of lab-grown beef with the distinct marbling of fat found in Wagyu steaks.

Kristin Houser

Climate Crisis

How to slay a hurricane

Hurricanes are becoming more powerful — can scientists engineer a way to weaken them and save lives?

Amanda Winkler

Neuroscience

Mini brains grown in the lab sprout primitive “eyes”

Researchers have grown mini brains with light-sensitive eye structures that could lead to breakthrough treatments for vision disorders.

Kristin Houser

Disaster Response

Major earthquake in Haiti tracked by citizen seismologists

Private citizens are helping scientists study the recent earthquake in Haiti by hosting low-cost quake-monitoring devices.

Kristin Houser

Food

Cultured meat for pets is about to hit store shelves

Biotech startup Because, Animals is creating cultured meat for pets, using mouse cells to grow the meat found in its new cat treat.

Kristin Houser

Brain

I took a creativity test, and this is what it told me

Researchers made a creativity test with objective and automated scoring that gives an accurate measure of verbal creativity.

Teresa Carey

Engineering

Microbes inside concrete can warn us about rotting infrastructure

By learning about the bacteria that live inside concrete, scientists hope to develop early warning systems about damage.

B. David Zarley

Paleontology

Clues in woolly mammoth tusk reveal a lifetime of travels

Researchers have reconstructed the life of a woolly mammoth that lived more than 17,000 years ago by deciphering clues hidden in his tusk.

Kristin Houser

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