The former chair of Harvard University’s chemistry department has been convicted of all six felony charges he faced related to his receipt of millions of dollars in research funding from China, and now faces up to 26 years in prison and up to $1.2 million (£900,000) in fines. Charles Lieber, who is currently battling late-stage […]

The inspiration to use Earth’s abundant supply of water as a source of hydrogen fuel is not new. But will it fuel the future? Meet two leading European innovators who are championing clean hydrogen as a key solution in building de-carbonisation strategies. Hans Marius Schuster comes from Germany’s car capital Stuttgart (one of the country’s […]

A US federal judge has granted an appeal from several states and thousands of individuals to overturn the $4.3 billion (£3.2 billion) settlement deal granted to Purdue Pharma and its owners, members of the Sackler family, in September 2021. In her decision, Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York said that the […]

An international team, including researchers from École normale supérieure (ENS) in Lyon, France and the University of Exeter in the UK, has figured out why an impact crater on the surface of Pluto called Sputnik Planitia is filled with nitrogen ice that is surprising polygonal in shape. The scientists were able to show that this […]

A field experiment in India led by MIT antipoverty researchers has produced a striking result: A one-time boost of capital improves the condition of the very poor even a decade later. The experiment, based on a “Targeting the Ultra-Poor” (TUP) program that aids people living in extreme poverty, generated positive effects on consumption, food security, […]

Despite the pandemic’s disruptions, MIT’s research community still found a way to generate a number of impressive research breakthroughs in 2021. In the spirit of reflection that comes with every new orbit around the sun, below we count down 10 of the most-viewed research stories on MIT News from the past year. We’ve also rounded […]

Just like humans, New Caledonian crows are particularly careful when handling their most valuable tools, according to a new study by researchers from the University of St Andrews and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany. The research reveals that crows are more likely to store relatively complex and efficient foraging tools […]

Far beneath the ice shelves of the Antarctic, there is more marine life than expected, finds a recent study in the journal Current Biology, published this week (20 December 2021). Despite occupying nearly 1.6 million km2, ice shelves are amongst the least known environments on Earth. Life has been seen in these perpetual dark, cold and […]

A New York-based, multi-institutional research team has found high levels of three toxic metabolites produced by gut bacteria in the cerebrospinal fluid and plasma samples of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The important findings, published in the journal Brain, further scientists’ understanding of how gut bacteria can impact the course of neurological diseases by producing compounds that […]

Agrochemical company Monsanto has agreed to plead guilty to environmental crimes related to the use and storage of pesticides in Hawaii, and will pay $12 million (£9 million) in fines, according to the US Department of Justice (DOJ). Monsanto, which was acquired by Bayer in 2018, admitted 30 misdemeanour crimes arising from allowing workers to […]