New Alzheimer’s insights + “ghost” particles + democracy

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September 20, 2025
Greetings! Here's a roundup of the latest from the MIT community.
 
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New Insight on Alzheimer’s
     
MIT neuroscientists have found a rare gene variant may contribute to Alzheimer’s by disrupting lipid metabolism and cell membranes, leading neurons into a stressed state that can damage DNA and cellular components. But the effects can be reversed through treatment with choline. 
Top Headlines
Could a primordial black hole’s last burst explain a mysteriously energetic neutrino?
If a new proposal by MIT physicists bears out, the recent detection of a record-setting neutrino could be the first evidence of elusive Hawking radiation.
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Technology originating at MIT leads to approved bladder cancer treatment
A system conceived in Professor Michael Cima’s lab was approved by the Food and Drug Administration after positive results in patients.
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The test of democracy
Lily Tsai, professor of political science and director and founder of the MIT Governance Lab, explores what makes democracies work.
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A more precise way to edit the genome
MIT researchers have dramatically lowered the error rate of prime editing, a technique that holds potential for treating many genetic disorders.
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A new community for computational science and engineering
The stand-alone PhD program is building connections and preparing students to make a difference.
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Biogen groundbreaking stirs optimism in Kendall Square
The gathering of Biogen and MIT employees, business leaders, and public officials celebrated the first building to be constructed at Kendall Common.
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#ThisisMIT
In the Media
MIT researchers built a suit to show what aging feels like // WBZ News Radio
MIT AgeLab researchers developed a bodysuit to help replicate what aging feels like. The Age Gain Now Empathy System or AGNES suit “mimics the visual capability, motor ability, and strength of people in their 70s and 80s.”
10 years ago we first saw gravitational waves — what we’ve seen since // CBC Quirks and Quarks
Professor Nergis Mavalvala, dean of the MIT School of Science, discusses how 10 years after LIGO’s first detection of gravitational waves the observatories are still “helping scientists better understand the life cycles of stars, the nature of gravity, and transforming the way we explore the farthest reaches of space.”
Thinking of cities as green machines // The Boston Globe
Work from the MIT Senseable City Lab is featured in the new “Urban Natures” exhibition at Harvard University’s Druker Design Gallery. The exhibit spotlights how MIT researchers are measuring tree canopy cover in cities as part of an effort to design cities that are more sustainable and livable.
“The Shape of Wonder” review: Loving their lab lives // The Wall Street Journal
“The Shape of Wonder: How Scientists Think, Work, and Live,” a new book by professor of the practice Alan Lightman and Britain’s former Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, “sets out to remind us of the hardworking human beings who devote their lives to” the pursuit of science.
Cool to Be Square
This past Tuesday, we celebrated Perfect Square Day. That date, 09/16/25, consisted of three perfect squares in its month, day, and year, as well as consecutive square roots (3², 4², 5²). 2025 also marks a perfect square year, 45², and is the sum of the cubes of all single-digit numbers: 1³ + 2³ + 3³ + 4³ + 5³ + 6³ + 7³ + 8³ + 9³.
Watch This
In a new course from MIT’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Advanced Manufacturing for Aerospace Engineers (16.811), students design, build, and test a laboratory-scale electric turbopump, commonly used in jet engines and rockets. While students learn foundational building concepts and tools, they oversee the design and implementation of their turbopumps, allowing for specialized features and utilization of modern manufacturing tools, such as metal and plastic 3D printing. “It’s nice to have a system that you can take responsibility of the whole thing, and then figure out all the little details that end up to what puts … people on the moon,” says Jack Ansley ’25.
Get Ready to Vote
Election Day in the United States is Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025 — make your voice heard! Use MIT’s TurboVote to register, request an absentee ballot or check your registration status. The Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center offers additional resources to support your civic engagement.
This edition of the MIT Weekly was brought to you by 10 important places around MIT for new grad students to find. 🍌

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