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When it rains, it poursStudy estimates rate of intensification of extreme tropical rainfall with global warming.

3 Questions: Violence and protests in the Muslim worldMIT political scientist Fotini Christia talks about the attacks on U.S. and Western embassies in North Africa and the Middle East.

Probing matters of the heartNew study of stem cell differentiation could help researchers better understand the genetic basis of heart disease.

Getting (drugs) under your skinUsing ultrasound waves, researchers boost skin’s permeability to drugs.

Tracking stem cell reprogrammingBiologists reveal genes key to development of pluripotency, in single cells.

In profile: Chris ZegrasMIT urban planner builds tools that help designers make cities cleaner and greener.

How to clean up oil spillsMIT researchers devise a surprisingly simple but effective method for magnetically separating oil and water.

Preview of an inaugurationIn addition to marking the beginning of L. Rafael Reif’s term as MIT’s 17th president, the festivities will celebrate the MIT community’s ethic of service.

Q&A: Junot Díaz on his new bookThe MIT professor and Pulitzer-winning writer talks about the people and ideas in his newest work, This Is How You Lose Her — and explains why women form a big part of his core audience.

Deciphering the language of transcription factorsA new method identifies the precise binding sites of transcription factors — proteins that regulate the production of other proteins — with 10 times the accuracy of its predecessors.

Get to know the Class of 2016MIT’s freshman class represents 54 nations and is 46 percent female.

Weapon-wielding marine microbes may protect populations from foesIn some populations, natural antibiotics are produced by a few individuals whose closest relatives carry genes conferring resistance.

Predicting how patients respond to therapyBrain scans could help doctors choose treatments for people with social anxiety disorder.

Researchers identify biochemical functions for most of the human genomeNew map provides a reference for interpreting function of disease-associated regions.

Mapping neurological diseaseNew algorithm can analyze information from medical images to identify diseased areas of the brain and connections with other regions.

Understanding gambling addictionFor machine gamblers, it’s not whether they win or lose — it’s how much they play the game.

In The World: Helping Brazilians turn waste into productsInternational summit fosters ways of producing everything from food to flooring, using discarded materials.

Making Web applications more efficientA new system that automatically streamlines database access patterns can make large Web applications up to three times as fast.

Protein impedes microcirculation of malaria-infected red blood cellsMIT-led research team finds that protein significantly reduces infected cells’ ability to squeeze through tiny channels compared to healthy cells.

A one-way street for spinning atomsWork correlating ultracold atoms’ spin with their direction of motion may help physicists model new circuit devices and unusual phases of matter.