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What number is halfway between 1 and 9? Is it 5 — or 3?A new information-theoretical model of human sensory perception and memory sheds light on some peculiarities of the nervous system.

Smoother dashboard typefaces might enhance driver safetyAgeLab study suggests ‘humanist’ lettering style is easier for drivers to read quickly.

How better financing could help create new cancer drugsMIT finance researchers say a diversified ‘megafund’ of securities could help the industry deliver new products to consumers.

The mathematics of leaf decayA mathematical model reveals commonality within the diversity of leaf decay.

Department snapshot: Aeronautics and AstronauticsAeroAstro takes off in new directions — prompting a 50 percent spike in new undergraduate enrollments.

Too much information?MIT Sloan marketing professor Catherine Tucker analyzes the boundaries of privacy in a connected world.

Women’s impact in clean energy is growing worldwideMIT symposium highlights women’s increasing leadership in energy research, industry and government.

Probing the mysteries of cracks and stressesAnalysis of molecular-level fracture and stress mechanisms could have broad implications for understanding materials’ behavior.

Measuring the universe’s ‘exit door’For the first time, an international team has measured the radius of a black hole.

How attention helps you rememberNew study finds long-overlooked cells help the brain respond to visual stimuli.

A brain beyond bordersMIT senior Victoria Okuneye traveled to Mexico and Jamaica to pursue her passions for neuroscience and global service.

Oscillating microscopic beads could be key to biolab on a chipMIT team finds way to manipulate and measure magnetic particles without contact, potentially enabling multiple medical tests on a tiny device.

Automatic building mapping could help emergency respondersA prototype sensor array that can be worn on the chest automatically maps the wearer’s environment, recognizing movement between floors.

‘We are all in this great enterprise together’In his inaugural address, President L. Rafael Reif aims MIT on a course to shape new directions in education.

Innovation in the classroom‘Future of Education’ symposium, held before the inauguration of President L. Rafael Reif, examines the evolution of teaching and learning.

MIT’s place in the worldInaugural symposium addresses the Institute’s global engagement.

Inauguration festivities off to a stimulating startInnovation symposium touches on a dizzying array of topics, with themes of interdisciplinary collaboration, energy and innovation for the developing world.

NASA-JPL director Charles Elachi talks about latest Mars missionCuriosity is the most ambitious planetary rover mission ever, but it’s just one of the many exploratory projects JPL is undertaking.

Explained: Femtoseconds and attosecondsAs electronic and optical devices get ever faster, terms for ever-smaller increments of time are coming into wider use.

Watching electrons move at high speedNew MIT system allows femtosecond-resolution movie of electrons in a topological insulator, a promising new electronic material.