KSJ at MIT

NEW! Journalists in Africa with at least three years of experience reporting on science, health or environmental issues can apply for the Africa & the Middle East fellowship at @KSJatMIT. Deadline: January 9, 2026. twp.ai/4it7hC

Está abierta la inscripción para el programa Knight Science Journalism Program en MIT (@KSJatMIT) 👌😍 👇👇👇 ksj.submittable.com/submit/666096d…

“This whole thing would be an economic boon for the county, and they were not considering that...They were just fear mongering.” KSJ Fellow @by_srmiller went on the ground to get the story of how a South Dakota county drove away millions in solar energy: theguardian.com/environment/20…

"Think of another pain you had to dance through, but it just doesn’t stop," @undarkmag editor-in-chief and former @KSJatMIT fellow Tom Zeller says in his new book, "The Headache." news.mit.edu/2025/better-un… @MITPSTS

Writing careers (and careers in general) have inflection points. For me, my time at @KSJatMIT was one. The fellowship is designed for mid-career journalists, providing both a respite from the daily grind and the mind space to explore something completely new. I decided to train myself in machine learning and AI. For my project, I asked: Can a deep neural network do what Johannes Kepler did, given the data Kepler had access to? The short answer is no! Of course, not. But I learned to code simple deep nets and LSTMs, to predict future positions of planets given enough data (from a simulation). I was able to use an Occam's razor argument to show that ML supports a solar system that is heliocentric. (The same computational resources and training data lead to a heliocentric model that can predict further into the future than a geocentric model; so the heliocentric model must be simpler to learn and hence correct. Agreed, it's a hand-wavy qualitative argument, but it's the best I could do with my then limited knowledge of deep learning and ML). But that foray was enough to stoke the desire to learn the math of ML. Which then led me deep down various rabbit holes, ultimately resulting in WHY MACHINES LEARN. It's the kind of book that I had always wanted to write, unapologetically technical, yet suffused with historical details, stories and narratives. (My role models: @stevenstrogatz's Infinite Powers and Leonard Susskind's Theoretically Minimum series (look it up if you haven't, it's awesome)). @dwarkesh_sp recently vented in a post, saying: "I find it frustrating that almost every nonfiction book is basically just a history lesson, even if it's nominally about some science/tech/policy topic. Nobody will just explain how something works." x.com/dwarkesh_sp/st… I share some of this concern, but not entirely. As science/tech writers, we owe it to our readers to do more than tell stories. Of course, stories are great--they are what shape our understanding. But the nitty-gritty matters, especially in this day of rapid change with #ArtificialIntelligence. And many writers do author such material, and I'm grateful for them. All this to say, I wouldn't have written WHY MACHINES LEARN if it hadn't been for the yearlong educational sojourn at MIT/Harvard, under the aegis of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship.

Current KSJ Fellow Christian @vonPreysing recently hung out at the @MITEdgerton Center, learning about their high speed camera strobe lab. This photo, taken by @jameswbales, shows him popping a balloon.

We are pleased to partner with @ScienceJF for its global Science Journalism Forum, as it moves to a new hybrid format. See you Oct 27–30 in the UAE or online! sciencejf.com

🌍 We’re proud to welcome @KSJatMIT as an Official Partner of #SJF25! For 40+ years, they’ve empowered science journalists through fellowships & training that shape the future of #SciComm. 📅 Oct 27–30, 2025 | Hybrid (UAE + Online) #SJF25 #ScienceJournalism #OfficialPartner

The incomparable @brookeborel and @Anna_Rothschild are back with season two of "Entanglements," the @undarkmag podcast that gets scientists to try talk through their disagreements. Episode 1 takes on gain-of-function research: undark.org/2025/08/20/pod…

Former KSJ fellows report on catastrophic flooding in Rio de Janeiro, dive deep into the science of headaches, and feast on Aztec tacos, among other things, in our latest edition of Alumni Notes: ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/08/1…

“He unleashed in me waves of positive thinking, new story ideas, and determination.” Past directors, alumni, and friends of the Knight Science Journalism Program reflect on the legacy of its founder: ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/07/2…

The Knight Science Journalism Program regrets to announce that our founding director, Victor K. McElheny, passed away this week. The pioneering journalist and author was a steadfast champion of the global science journalism community. ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/07/1…

Usha Lee McFarling, named as the next director of the Knight Science Journalism Program is "eager to take the helm during this critical time for science journalism." @ushamcfarling ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/05/1…

Congratulations to KSJ Class of 2026: @YCabreraOC, Leslye Pritz Davis, @lizalinwsj, @SmritiMallapaty, @mcbridesg, @PaulaMoura_san, @rpocisv, @sara_reardon, @by_srmiller, @vonPreysing, and Samira Hamza

Meet the Knight Science Journalism Class of 2026! Ten Academic-Year fellows and this year’s Africa and Middle East fellow were selected from a combined pool of almost 400 applicants. ksj.mit.edu/.../ksj-announ…

@gijnAfrica @MIT Deadline to apply: Jan 15 at 11:59pm EST

📣 Attention science, health, technology & environmental journalists. @KSJatMIT is accepting applications for its 2025-2026 fellowship. You'll spend 9.5 months at @MIT exploring new beats & picking up new skills. Stipend: $85,000 Deadline: Jan. 16. twp.ai/1MbprK

Applications for the Africa and Middle East Fellowship at KSJ are also due on Wednesday, January 15 at 11:59pm EST. Time to hit submit! ksj.submittable.com/submit/efbcf95…

Last call! Applications for the KSJ Academic-Year Fellowship are due on Wednesday, January 15 at 11:59pm EST. Make sure your application is complete 🔗 ksj.submittable.com/submit/e539179…

"It's just talking to each other," according to @KSJatMIT director Deborah Blum, who spoke with @guardian about science skeptics. theguardian.com/us-news/2025/j… #mitshass #mit #journalism #Science

.@KSJatMIT Fellow @lynnepeeps spoke with @NPR about inner clocks' health impacts and her new book, "The Inner Clock: Living in Sync with Our Circadian Rhythms." #thisismit #mitshass #mit #sciencejournalism npr.org/sections/shots…