In 2021, MIT researchers made advances toward fusion energy, confirmed
Stephen Hawking’s black hole theorem, developed a Covid-detecting face mask,
and created a programmable fiber. All were among the year’s top research stories on MIT News.
Despite the pandemic’s disruptions, MIT’s research community still
found a way to generate a number of impressive research breakthroughs in 2021.
MIT has listed the 10 of the most-viewed research stories on MIT News.
10. Giving cancer treatment a recharge. In October, researchers
discovered a way to jump-start the immune system to attack tumors. The method combines
chemotherapy and immunotherapy to spur immune cells into action. The researchers
hope it could allow immunotherapy to be used against more types of cancer.
9. Generating 3D holograms in real-time. Computer
scientists developed a deep-learning-based system that allows computers to create
holograms almost instantly. The system could be used to create holograms for virtual reality,
3D printing, medical imaging, and more — and it’s efficient enough to run on a smartphone.
8. Creating inhalable vaccines.
Scientists at the Koch Institute developed a method for delivering vaccines directly to the
lungs through inhalation. The new strategy induced a strong immune response in the lungs of mice
and could offer a quicker response to viruses that infect hosts through mucosal surfaces.
7. Assessing Covid-19 transmission risk. Two MIT professors proposed a new approach to estimating
the risks of exposure to Covid-19 in different indoor settings. The guidelines suggest a limit
for exposure based on factors such as the size of the space, the number of people,
the kinds of activity, whether masks are worn, and ventilation and filtration rates.
6. Teaching machine learning models to adapt. Researchers in CSAIL developed a new type of
neural network that can change its underlying equations to continuously adapt to new data.
The advance could improve models’ decision-making based on data that
changes over time, such as in medical diagnosis and autonomous driving.
5. Programming fibers. In June, a team created the first fabric fiber with digital capabilities.
The fibers can sense, store, analyze, and infer data and activity after being sewn into a shirt.
The researchers say the fibers could be used to monitor physical performance,
to detect diseases, and for a variety of medical purposes.
4. Examining the limitations of data visualizations. A collaboration between
anthropologists and computer scientists found that coronavirus skeptics have used sophisticated data
visualizations to argue against public health orthodoxy like wearing a mask. The researchers
concluded that data visualizations aren’t sufficient to convey the urgency of the Covid-19
pandemic because even the clearest graphs can be interpreted through a variety of belief systems.
3. Developing a Covid-detecting face mask. Engineers at MIT and Harvard University
designed a prototype face mask that can diagnose the person wearing the mask with Covid-19 in
about 90 minutes. The masks are embedded with tiny, disposable sensors that can be fitted into
other face masks and could also be adapted to detect other viruses.
2. Confirming Hawking’s black hole theorem. Using observations of gravitational waves,
physicists from MIT and elsewhere confirmed a major theorem created by Stephen Hawking
in 1971. The theorem states that the area of a black hole’s event horizon — the boundary beyond
which nothing can ever escape — will never shrink.
1. Advancing toward fusion energy. In September,
researchers at MIT and the MIT spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems
ramped up a high-temperature superconducting electromagnet to a field strength of 20 tesla,
the most powerful magnetic field of its kind ever created on Earth. The demonstration was three
years in the making and is believed to resolve one of greatest remaining points of uncertainty in
the quest to build the world’s first fusion power plant that produces more energy than it consumes.