In 2025, the MIT research community enjoyed another prolific year filled with exciting scientific and technological advances. To celebrate the achievements of the last 12 months, MIT News highlights some of our most-read stories from this year.
- More powerful concrete “batteries”: MIT researchers combined cement, water, ultra-fine carbon black and electrolytes to create electron-conducting carbon concrete. Researchers say the material could allow everyday structures such as walls, sidewalks and bridges to store and release electrical energy.
- Confirmation of the famous double slit experiment: Physicists have performed an idealized version of one of the most famous experiments in quantum physics, demonstrating with atomic precision the dual nature of light. The experiment confirmed that light exists as both a particle and a wave, although this duality cannot be observed simultaneously.
- Periodic Table of Machine Learning: Researchers have created a table that reveals the connections between more than 20 classic machine learning algorithms. The table arises from the idea that all algorithms learn a specific type of relationship between data points. This framework could help scientists merge different methods to improve existing AI models or create new ones.
- Photographing atoms “in the wild”: Physicists have captured the first images of individual atoms interacting freely in space. The experiment used single-atom microscopy and ultracold quantum gases to reveal correlations between particles that had been predicted but never before observed.
- Extracting drinking water from the air: Engineers have developed a window-sized device that acts as an atmospheric water collector to produce fresh water anywhere. The origami-inspired device uses a hydrogel material that swells to absorb water – it even works in Death Valley, California.
- Generative AI against drug-resistant bacteria: With the help of artificial intelligence, researchers have designed new antibiotics capable of fighting two drug-resistant infections. First, a generative AI algorithm designed over 35 million compounds. Next, researchers examined their antimicrobial properties and discovered drug candidates that were structurally distinct from all existing antibiotics.
- Monitoring the recovery of the ozone layer: Study confirms Antarctica’s ozone layer is healing thanks to global efforts to reduce ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, chemicals used in refrigeration, air conditioning, insulation and aerosol propellants.
- First evidence of “proto Earth”: Scientists have discovered extremely rare remains of an early version of our planet that formed around 4.5 billion years ago, before a colossal collision irreversibly changed its composition and gave rise to the Earth as we know it today. The results will help scientists piece together the primordial ingredients that forged the beginnings of Earth and the rest of the solar system.
- Restoring movement with a bionic knee: Researchers have developed a bionic knee that can help above-knee amputees walk faster, climb stairs and avoid obstacles. In one small study, users navigated more easily and reported that the limb felt more like a part of their body than traditional prosthetics.
- How people walk in crowds:Mathematicians have studied the flow of human crowds and developed a first-of-its-kind method for predicting when pedestrian paths will go from orderly to tangled. The findings could help inform the design of public spaces and promote safe and efficient communication routes.