Via @mit on Instagram: “Beautiful campus aerial photos from the first snowfall of 2025.”

Astronomers observed flashes of X-rays coming from a supermassive black hole at an increasing clip. The source could be a white dwarf teetering at the black hole’s edge. “This would be the closest thing we know of around any black hole,” Megan Masterson says.

Industrial processes that use heat to purify a mixture’s components account for roughly 10 percent of the energy use in the U.S. Zachary Smith is developing highly efficient filters that do the job at room temperature, reducing costs and environmental impact.

More puzzles, less sleep: The annual three-day MIT Mystery Hunt, a tradition since 1981, returns to campus on January 17. Here’s how last year’s puzzle marathon played out.

To help design large structures, Zane Schemmer writes algorithms that optimize function, minimize carbon footprint, and produce a manufacturable result. The goal is “to make it easier to take our designs out of the computer and create them in real life,” he says.

Ariel White explores how previously incarcerated people and others on the margins of U.S. politics might participate more fully in our democracy. Although they tend to be left out of discussions on voting, “I think there is a much broader story to be told here,” she says.