Top MIT research stories of 2020
The year’s popular research stories include astronomical firsts, scientific breakthroughs, and engineering milestones addressing Covid-19 and other global problems.
Dec. 22, 2020 • ~5 min
covid-19 pandemic research school-of-architecture-and-planning school-of-engineering school-of-science mit-sloan-school-of-management school-of-arts-humanities-and-social-sciences
SLS: Crucial test for Nasa's 'mega-rocket'
Part of a giant rocket that will send humans back to the Moon has undergone a critical test.
Dec. 21, 2020 • ~6 min
nasa mars mississippi human-spaceflight space-exploration boeing artemis the-moon exploration-of-mars exploration-of-the-moon
Thousands of ocean fishing boats could be using forced labor – we used AI and satellite data to find them
Forced labor is a widespread problem in fisheries on the high seas. Between 2012 and 2018, an estimated 100,000 people may have been victims of forced labor on thousands of different boats.
Dec. 21, 2020 • ~8 min
machine-learning artificial-intelligence fisheries fishing human-rights satellite-data slavery forced-labor human-rights-violations
Not so fast: why India’s plan to reintroduce cheetahs may run into problems
India's last cheetah was killed 70 years ago. Should the country import a different subspecies from Namibia?
Dec. 18, 2020 • ~6 min
india wildlife-conservation human-wildlife-conflict lions tiger big-cats cheetah
Can mammogram screening be more effective?
Study: Healthier women are more likely to follow age-based guidelines, leaving room for better-targeted testing.
Dec. 17, 2020 • ~9 min
medicine economics policy women health-care social-sciences research school-of-humanities-arts-and-social-sciences national-science-foundation-nsf national-institutes-of-health-nih
A better kind of cybersecurity strategy
New model shows why countries that retaliate too much against online attacks make things worse for themselves.
Dec. 10, 2020 • ~7 min
economics policy research cyber-security school-of-humanities-arts-and-social-sciences technology-and-society national-science-foundation-nsf security-studies-and-military game-theory
Artemis: Nasa picks astronauts for new Moon missions
Nasa has announced 18 astronauts who will travel to the Moon under the agency's Artemis programme.
Dec. 9, 2020 • ~2 min
human-spaceflight artemis
MISTI pilots conversations in energy
The MISTI Career Conversations: Energy program serves as an innovative pivot from international internships to a virtual seminar series.
Dec. 8, 2020 • ~7 min
energy europe research mechanical-engineering school-of-engineering global alumniae school-of-humanities-arts-and-social-sciences international-initiatives materials-science-and-engineering mit-energy-initiative chemical-engineering misti center-for-international-studies mit-india careers
Editing the DNA of human embryos could protect us from future pandemics
We could start making our genomes equipped to deal with more frequent pandemics. But it may come at a cost.
Dec. 7, 2020 • ~7 min
crispr covid-19 coronavirus germline-editing human-genome-editing
Editing the DNA of human embryos could be used to protect us from future pandemics
We could start making our genomes equipped to deal with more frequent pandemics. But it may come at a cost.
Dec. 7, 2020 • ~7 min
crispr covid-19 coronavirus germline-editing human-genome-editing
/
40