MIT Museum

MIT Museum Open daily 10am-5pm
314 Main Street, Cambridge MA.

What if time could drip instead of tick? In this hands-on workshop, you’ll explore one of the earliest timekeeping devi...
05/29/2026

What if time could drip instead of tick?

In this hands-on workshop, you’ll explore one of the earliest timekeeping devices: the water clock.

Start by learning how water clocks use flow rate to track time. Then, design and build your own system. As water moves drop by drop, you’ll test how small changes can reshape the way time is measured.

Along the way, we’ll explore how different cultures have tracked time and how physical systems turn the passage of time into something you can see and experience.

By the end of the workshop, you’ll leave with a working water clock to take home and a new understanding of how time can be measured not just in numbers, but in events.

📅June 6
⏰1-2:30 pm
🎟️15 for ages 14-18, $20 for ages 19+
Registration required.
The workshop is facilitated by instructors from Clever Rock Labs.

Congratulations to the Class of 2026! At the MIT Museum, we welcome students to participate in our unique culture of pr...
05/28/2026

Congratulations to the Class of 2026!

At the MIT Museum, we welcome students to participate in our unique culture of problem solving and playful creativity throughout their learning journeys and beyond.

We are celebrating graduates Teagan Sullivan Mechanical and Ocean Engineering, 2026, David DePalma Graduate Student in Physics, MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research both who shared their expertise with our community at the MIT Museum during their time on campus!

Wishing them and the many other recipients of the Brass Rats who will join together today to sing the School Song all the best!

With admission always free for the MIT Community – students, faculty, staff, alum with one guest, we can't wait to see you soon!

05/27/2026

Our year long focus on TIME will come to an end this summer. Catch if while you can!

Split I Second takes visitors through the history of precision time measurement, offering a close-up look at the instrum...
05/27/2026

Split I Second takes visitors through the history of precision time measurement, offering a close-up look at the instruments developed to measure time as a part of our year-long exploration of TIME,

Housed in our Art + Science gallery, Split I Second features objects from our collection, combined with responses from the larger community draw from our TIME Open Call. The exhibition explores attempts to measure time using everything from sundials to quantum atomic clocks.

Learn more about the exhibition here: https://hubs.ly/Q04j33Hg0

Image: Anna Olivella

Is your teen on a quest for a summer full of hands-on exploration, design, and skill building in science, technology, e...
05/26/2026

Is your teen on a quest for a summer full of hands-on exploration, design, and skill building in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics?

The MIT Museum's bespoke STEAM Adventures Week is the perfect way to dive in and develop communication and collaboration skills. Participants aged 12-15 will work in teams to solve real-world problems, taking inspiration from the work of MIT researchers, exhibitions in the galleries, and MIT's campus.

Held in small groups, at the MIT Museum, with the MIT campus as inspiration, our STEAM Adventures Week is a great way to stay cool and build their skills over the summer.

Session I: 6/29/26 - 7/3/26
Session II: 7/20/26 - 7/24/26
Session III: 8/24/26-8/28/26

All session run from 9:30am –12:30pm and are held at the MIT Museum.

$550 per single student, $50 discount for siblings
Sessions are filling up quickly, so register here: https://hubs.la/Q04hVHDz0
Image by Chris McIntosh

05/22/2026

Introducing the world-leading researchers, designers, and innovators behind the scenes of the inaugural MIT Future Fest, September 30–October 4, on the MIT campus in Cambridge, MA.

Tickets go live in June — sign up now for early access and a discount at the link in bio.

Advisory Panel:
⏩ Paola Antonelli (), MoMA ()
⏩ Christl Baur (), Ars Electronica Festival ()
⏩ Elizabeth Bramson, MIT Technology Review ()
⏩ Stuart Candy, Tecnológico de Monterrey ()
⏩ Iain M. Cheeseman, Whitehead Institute (); MIT ()
⏩ Jose Luis de Vicente (), FAST ()
⏩ Juan Enriquez, Excel Venture Management
⏩ Behnaz Farahi (), MIT Media Lab ()
⏩ Linda Henry (), Boston Globe Media Partners ()
⏩ Manolis Kellis (), Computer Science, MIT ()
⏩ David Kong (), Community Biotechnology Initiative, (), MIT Media Lab
⏩ David Mindell, Aerospace Engineering and the History of Technology, MIT ()
⏩ John Ochsendorf, MIT Morningside Academy for Design (); School of Architecture and Planning, MIT ()
⏩ Desirée Plata, Civil and Environmental Engineering, ()
⏩ Jay Scheib (), Music and Theater Arts, MIT ()
⏩ Skylar Tibbits (), Architecture, MIT ()
⏩ John Werner (), LINK Ventures

Have you ever wondered what Kendall Square was like 50 years ago? Find out at our June After Dark: Let’s Talk. This even...
05/20/2026

Have you ever wondered what Kendall Square was like 50 years ago?

Find out at our June After Dark: Let’s Talk.

This evening will feature the opportunity to step back in time to the historic debate that helped to shape the most innovative square mile on the planet.

Featured activities include:

Science historian, Luis Campos unpacks the controversy around a 1976 recombinant DNA lab.

Embark upon an immersive soundscape featuring realtalk@Boston

Make your own ‘conversation kit’ filled with unexpected tools, from pause buttons to prompts, designed to improve everyday dialogue.

Stay fueled with bites and brews from Babci’s Pierogis and Arlington Brewing Company, available for purchase.

Presented in collaboration with realtalk@MIT .

📆June 11
⏲️6–9pm
🎫18+ only

Adult Advance Purchase Ticket - $20 (Non-Refundable)
Same Day Ticket - $25
MIT ID holders - $10
Group Ticket - $15 (Minimum 10, Non-Refundable)
Please note that backpacks and large bags are not permitted.

Learn more and register here: https://hubs.la/Q04hc4mm0

Find out more about all of the rDNA events that we are presenting here: https://hubs.la/Q04hbv1t0

Ready for summer dreaming? We welcome you to participate in a dream study exclusively available at the MIT Museum. Join...
05/19/2026

Ready for summer dreaming?

We welcome you to participate in a dream study exclusively available at the MIT Museum.

Join us for a 90 minute nap in Hotel Room #2: Communal Dreams, a collaboration by artist Carsten Höller, dream scientist Adam Haar and MIT Museum Studio Director Seth Riskin, the work makes the dream itself a site of artistic experience. Enjoy what VOGUE shared as the opportunity “for a few suspended moments, the line between wakefulness and dreaming blurs, reminding us that perception is pliable and that science, when dressed in light and sound, can feel like pure magic.”

Sign up using this form to book your availability and we will notify you once confirmed.

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=utmvZM8Oz0q8NpNfYjW6i48SotPG6RZIi5bGLMm0s7RURUpJQlVYRUVNWVk4OFRLUEVZTDRQWEM3WC4u

Learn more about the Lighten Up! On Biology and Time exhibition along with our thematic focus on TIME. https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/exhibitions/lighten-up-on-biology-and-time

Dream study sessions will occur each Tuesday from 2:30 – 4:40pm.

Are you planning a visit to the MIT Museum? Did you know that we offer introductory tours, led by knowledgeable guides....
05/14/2026

Are you planning a visit to the MIT Museum?



Did you know that we offer introductory tours, led by knowledgeable guides. You will have the opportunity to look closely at objects from across the Museum’s collection each Wednesday and Saturday at 11 am.

Free with museum admission. No pre-registration available. Talks are limited to 20 people and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Learn more via our website.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to collaborate with a robot? Join us at our next After Dark where Wil Norto...
05/11/2026

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to collaborate with a robot?

Join us at our next After Dark where Wil Norton (MIT CSAIL) will demonstrate a humanoid robot and invite guests to experiment with creating custom hardscape designs.

Then head to the Maker Hub and Learning Labs, where hands-on activities in collaboration with the Fab Foundation let you design, experiment, and create something uniquely yours.

Enjoy music on demand with DJ Philip Tan and his genre picker wheel. Lite bites from Tandor and Curry and craft beverages from Aeronaut Brewery available for purchase.

📅 May 14
⏰ 6-9 pm
🎟️ $10 for MIT affiliates; $20 for the general public; $25 same day tickets

Learn more here: https://hubs.la/Q04g58F10

Central Square Theater and the MIT Museum present the debut of: NO RECOMBINATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION The Cambridge Ci...
05/09/2026

Central Square Theater and the MIT Museum present the debut of: NO RECOMBINATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION

The Cambridge City Council faced a decision that would echo across the globe. At the center of it all stood a new biohazard lab designed for groundbreaking recombinant DNA research—celebrated by some as the future of science, feared by others as the birthplace of “Frankenstein bacteria.” Nobel Prize–winning scientists, passionate citizens, politicians, and the global press all converged on Cambridge to confront one explosive question: Who gets to decide the boundaries of scientific discovery?

This performance is a partnership between the MIT Museum, Central Square Theater and the City of Cambridge, inspired by the continued relevance of these debates as the occasion reached its semicentennial.

Performances will occur at Sullivan Chamber in Cambridge City Hall on the following days and times:
Saturday, June 13: 2:00pm and 7:00pm
Sunday, June 14: 2:00pm and 7:00pm
Sunday, June 21: 2:00pm and 7:00pm
All shows are free and open to the public with registration.

Learn more here: https://hubs.la/Q04f_37D0

Address

314 Main Street, Gambrill Center
Cambridge, MA
02139

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+16172535927

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