Research Institutions

Latest research findings, studies and research developments.

Why John Coltrane still matters

Arts & Culture Why John Coltrane still matters John Coltrane.Photo illustration by Liz Zonarich/Harvard Staff Christina Pazzanese Harvard Staff Writer September 18, 2026 long read Jazz experts, scholars detail how iconic saxophonist, who would have turned 100 this year, reshaped most American musical genre Nearly 60 years after his last recording, trailblazing jazz saxophonist John Coltrane’s legacy remains as vital as ever. Coltrane, who died of liver cancer at 40 in 1967, is widely credited with reshaping jazz in the late 1950s and early ’60s. The Pulitzer Prize board awarded him a posthumous special career citation in 2007. Fans will celebrate his 100th birthday on Sept. 23. Coltrane play...

📅 2026-09-18 16:48:23 • Harvard Gazette

Research Institutions

A new chapter for MIT Reads

As it marks its 10-year anniversary, MIT Reads is being reimagined for the age of artificial intelligence. Recognizing the need to foster social connection and a sense of our shared humanity, the popular MIT Libraries’ program will turn its focus to fiction and memoir, and to the particular power of stories to help us understand ourselves and our place in the world. “At MIT, we spend a great deal of time on imagining and building for the future. Reading fiction prompts us to think about how what we build might change us,” says MIT Libraries Director Chris Bourg. “Reading together also gives us the increasingly rare opportunity for both individual reflection and shared connection.” MIT Reads ...

📅 2026-09-18 16:30:00 • MIT News

Research Institutions

A new understanding of how enzymes influence bacterial protein production

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most pressing global health and development challenges of our time. Bacteria and other pathogens are rapidly developing resistance to existing treatments, making infections harder to treat. Without new approaches, minor inconveniences today, such as routine surgeries or even a paper cut, could become life-threatening tomorrow. Now, an international group of scientists reports the discovery of aminovaleramididine synthetase (AvaS), the first identified pyridoxal phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme responsible for producing a chemical modification linked to how bacteria respond to metabolic stress. This discovery sheds new light on how bacteria use RNA modif...

📅 2026-09-18 16:20:00 • MIT News

Research Institutions

Chatbot attachment issues

Julian De Freitas. Photo by Grace DuVal Science & Tech Chatbot attachment issues When AI companions get a personality update, some users respond with grief, study finds Sy Boles Harvard Staff Writer September 18, 2026 4 min read Mourning the loss of somebody you care about is common after a breakup, divorce, or death. But in an era of growing reliance on AI for companionship, loss comes in a new form: the model update. In a paper in Nature Human Behavior, Julian De Freitas, associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, found that some people who engaged with social robots reported feeling closer to those companions than to most people, and experienced their loss ...

📅 2026-09-18 15:05:25 • Harvard Gazette

Research Institutions

What ‘good luck’ means to a coal miner

Lynette Roth. Photos by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer Arts & Culture What ‘good luck’ means to a coal miner Anna Lamb Harvard Staff Writer September 18, 2026 6 min read Berlin artist explores labor, pride, and unsung heroes of Germany’s ‘economic miracle’ in Harvard exhibit Following the economic and political fallout from World War II, Germany underwent what scholars call the “wirtschaftswunder” or “economic miracle” during which industry boomed and rapid reconstruction led to increased prosperity. But who was responsible for creating the miracle, and what happened when they were no longer needed? That’s what Kurdistan-born artist and Berliner Pinar Öğrenci asks in her work ...

📅 2026-09-18 15:04:22 • Harvard Gazette

Research Institutions

Fueling a return journey from Mars

When Lanie McKinney was 3 years old, her parents stopped at a massive meteor crater during a road trip through the U.S. Southwest. As they prepared to leave, McKinney began to protest.“I want to wait here for the next one,” she told them.She didn’t yet understand that another meteor wasn’t likely to land in exactly the same spot. But the story, which her parents still tell, captures a fascination that has remained with McKinney throughout her life.“I just always remember being captivated by space and what is out there,” she says.Today, McKinney is entering her fifth year as a PhD candidate at MIT, where she works in the Aerospace Plasma Group with Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Associate Prof...

📅 2026-09-18 04:00:00 • MIT News

Research Institutions

Meet the 2026 tenured professors in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

In 2026, five faculty were granted tenure in the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.Volha Charnysh is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science. She studies the role of identity in state-building and economic development and the effects of violence. Her first book, “Uprooted: How post-WWII Population Transfers Remade Europe” (Cambridge University Press, 2024), focuses on the enduring consequences of mass displacement and resulting cultural heterogeneity. She received her PhD from Harvard University in 2017 and joined the MIT faculty in 2018.Grisha Coleman is a full professor in the Music and Theater Arts Section. Her research explores tensions between our...

📅 2026-09-17 20:50:00 • MIT News

Research Institutions

MIT School of Engineering faculty and staff receive awards in spring 2026

Each year, faculty and researchers across the MIT School of Engineering are recognized with prestigious awards for their contributions to research, technology, society, and education. To celebrate these achievements, the school periodically highlights select honors received by members of its departments, institutes, labs, and centers. The following individuals were recognized in spring 2026:Faez Ahmed, the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, received a 2025 Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program Award. The award provides early-career U.S. scientists and engineers with up to $450,000 over three years to sup...

📅 2026-09-17 20:20:00 • MIT News

Research Institutions

Record 38% of new vehicle sales to be EVs in 2030, study finds

Work & Economy Record 38% of new vehicle sales to be EVs in 2030, study finds Report sees strong growth despite recent loss of federal incentives Alvin Powell Harvard Staff Writer September 17, 2026 5 min read Elaine Buckberg is a senior fellow at the Salata Institute and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct the estimated percentage of 2030 new car sales that would be made up of EVs from 32 percent to 38 percent. A new analysis of U.S. electric vehicle sales projects that a record share of new vehicles sold in 2030 will be electric, despite recent steps by the federal government to re...

📅 2026-09-17 20:18:44 • Harvard Gazette

Research Institutions

Understanding the world, from the Cold War to the age of AI

At a moment when global alliances are shifting, technological change is accelerating, and the boundaries between science and geopolitics are dissolving, understanding the world demands new ways of thinking. For 75 years, the MIT Center for International Studies (CIS) has helped meet that challenge — bringing together engineers, social scientists, and policy practitioners to confront the most pressing global challenges of their time. From developing the foundations of modern international security to redefining how the United States engages with the world, CIS has not only studied global affairs, it has helped shape them. What distinguishes CIS is not just the scope of its work, but the way i...

📅 2026-09-17 19:25:00 • MIT News

Research Institutions

Lincoln Laboratory summer research interns take on national security challenges

Nearly 170 interns recently dispersed from MIT Lincoln Laboratory to return to their undergraduate or advanced degree programs. For Anna Raymaker and Vivek Jagadeesh, however, the work is just getting started. They are among more than two dozen interns staying on as student technical assistants, continuing to support the laboratory's national security research during the 2026-27 academic year."Our summer research program is a key pathway for developing talent to support defense-critical programs," says Robert Loynd, executive officer in the Director's Office. "Interns are embedded in R&D teams across nearly all mission areas, from missile defense and cyber operations to advanced communicatio...

📅 2026-09-17 18:30:00 • MIT News

Research Institutions

International search begins for Dean with a radical vision to lead Rokos School of Government

International search begins for Dean with a radical vision to lead Rokos School of Government Craig Brierley Thu, 09/17/2026 - 16:42 The School – announced in March this year – aims to prepare future leaders to be able to navigate the ever-more-challenging demands of both domestic and international politics in a new and complex world of great structural change.Speaking at the time of the launch, Chris Rokos said that he wanted the School to be “a unique forum for radical and remarkable thinking, capturing the inspiration of the brightest minds from around the world and harnessing new technologies in order to meet the needs of modern government.”The University today launches its search for an...

📅 2026-09-17 15:42:21 • Cambridge News

Research Institutions

CERN’s new internal justice system is now in force

TOPIC:At CERN CERN’s new internal justice system is now in force The reform marks an important step towards a more modern, accessible, professional and independent system of internal justice — 17 September, 2026 CERN’s new internal justice system is now officially in force. Developed through close collaboration between the Management, the Staff Association and external experts, and through a process of concertation, this reform marks an important step towards a more modern, accessible, professional and independent system of internal justice. The new internal justice system aims to clarify the options available to personnel and strengthen the fair and consistent handling of disputes, reports ...

📅 2026-09-17 14:50:55 • CERN

Research Institutions

The September/October 2026 issue of the CERN Courier is out

TOPIC:Physics The September/October 2026 issue of the CERN Courier is out Written by: CERN Courier — 17 September, 2026 (Image: Grégory Millasseau/CERN) In his landmark 1945 report Science, the Endless Frontier, Vannevar Bush argued that basic research is the fund from which applications, and with them prosperity, are drawn. Eight decades on, the High-Luminosity LHC is expected to return to society nearly twice its cost, before a single discovery is counted. The largest share comes from the skills researchers take into the wider economy. Technological spillovers come close behind, as demanding contracts leave suppliers with new techniques and markets. The LHC demanded large-scale industrial ...

📅 2026-09-17 14:40:43 • CERN

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Upgrading the CMS muon chamber electronics

Ongoing upgrades on the road to HiLumi Upgrading the CMS muon chamber electronics Work on the CMS muon system upgrade is now underway, with teams starting to install the new electronic system for the Drift Tube (DT) chambers. By 2028, all the 250 muon chambers in the CMS barrel will be equipped with the new mini crates housing the electronic boards to read out and control the DT chambers These boards digitise signals from muons passing through the DT with nanosecond-level precision and transmit the information via high-speed optical links to the backend electronics. The new architecture will contribute to improve the performance of the CMS trigger system for the High-Luminosity LHC era, whic...

📅 2026-09-17 14:10:44 • CERN

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The disconnection of the LHC has begun

TOPIC:Accelerators The disconnection of the LHC has begun Work has begun to disconnect the focusing magnets on either side of the ATLAS and CMS experiments, a key step on the road to the HiLumi LHC Written by: Anaïs Schaeffer — 17 September, 2026 CERN Director-General, Mark Thomson, visited the LHC tunnel to mark the start of the dismantling of the accelerator sections that will be replaced by the new HiLumi LHC components. (Image: CERN) The 27 km circumference of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) contains thousands of magnets of different types – dipoles, quadrupoles, sextupoles, octupoles, decapoles, etc. – which each play a very specific role. Among them are the inner triplets: sets of thre...

📅 2026-09-17 13:25:25 • CERN

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Computer Security: Kids at the keyboard

TOPIC:Computing Computer Security: Kids at the keyboard Written by: Computer Security Office — 17 September, 2026 Last weekend, while the sun was shining brightly, nature was flourishing in all its colours, flavours and scents and hundreds of birds were chirping their favourite tunes, I decided to go for a stroll with my dog. A nice two-hour walk in the vineyards around CERN, hiking up the Jura, enjoying the view and returning home full of energy. So nice and neat. Or not… Under the supervision (or not) of my eldest daughter, I left my young son at home (as both were, as usual, not interested in a walk, and I was not interested in an argument about that). My daughter upstairs chatting with f...

📅 2026-09-17 09:29:52 • CERN

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Strong evidence for quantum entanglement between Z bosons found by ATLAS and CMS

TOPIC:Physics Strong evidence for quantum entanglement between Z bosons found by ATLAS and CMS The mind-bending phenomenon is now becoming evident in a new particle Written by: Rory Harris — 17 September, 2026 Artistic impression of quantum entanglement between two Z bosons (Image: Daniel Dominguez/CERN) Quantum entanglement is certainly one of the stranger concepts to have emerged from the melting pot of 20th-century physics. Many great physicists, including Einstein, struggled to accept that the phenomenon could be real but, for decades now, the number of examples demonstrating it has been increasing. And, recently, the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations have added to these results by finding st...

📅 2026-09-17 08:15:26 • CERN

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Robotic lab sets up and runs optics experiments on demand

Every new generation of phone display, television screen, and solar panel is a result of precision optics experiments, which use lasers and other light sources to measure the optical properties of candidate materials. These experiments can take months to run, requiring scientists to meticulously angle and adjust delicate light sources, mirrors, cameras, and other components, in a careful and constant tuning that can be physically tedious and time-consuming. But MIT scientists say the whole process of building and running an optics experiment could one day be fully automated. Taking a step toward such a future, they have developed a reconfigurable, robotic optics laboratory. The new robotic l...

📅 2026-09-17 04:00:00 • MIT News

Research Institutions

You like Ike. But AI may help campaigns figure how to ensure you actually vote

Doug Sosnik (left) and Sara Fagen. Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer Nation & World You like Ike. But AI may help campaigns figure how to ensure you actually vote Strategists predict powerful new technology will bring seismic shifts in U.S. political life Christina Pazzanese Harvard Staff Writer September 16, 2026 4 min read At a Harvard Kennedy School event Monday, strategists from both parties forecast that the 2028 presidential election will mark the start of a seismic and generational shift in U.S. politics as campaigns fully embrace the rapidly escalating power of AI. “It’ll be the first AI campaign, so the stakes are going to be unbelievably high,” said Doug Sosnik, a former Whi...

📅 2026-09-16 21:09:49 • Harvard Gazette

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