Aeronautics and Astronautics

CHIME, pictured here, consists of four large antennas, each about the size and shape of a snowboarding half-pipe, and is designed with no moving parts. Rather than swiveling to focus on different parts of the sky, CHIME stares fixedly at the entire sky, looking for fast radio burst sources across the universe.

Astronomers detect regular rhythm of radio waves, with origins unknown

Signal from 500 million light years away is the first periodic pattern of radio bursts detected.

June 17, 2020

“I knew the science was sound, I knew the math was sound, but even when everything is going as planned and you are actually seeing it happening with your own eyes, it’s still surreal,” says Jacqueline Thomas PhD ’20 on watching a Boeing 777 commercial airplane land using an approach she designed as an MIT grad student.

From delayed deceleration to Zooming

Jacqueline Thomas PhD ’20 recounts her final academic year at MIT, from once-in-a-lifetime field work to a virtual thesis defense.

June 14, 2020

QS ranks MIT the world’s No. 1 university for 2020-21

Ranked at the top for the ninth straight year, the Institute also places first in 12 subject areas.

June 9, 2020

More than 100 people participated in a four-hour online robot race, which served as the final project for MIT Course 6.141/16.405 (Robotics: Science and Systems).

Photorealistic simulator made MIT robot racing competition a live online experience

Teaching assistants in Robotics: Science and Systems pulled out all the stops to help engineering students race across the finish line this spring.

June 9, 2020

MIT News recently spoke with three leaders of MIT’s Task Force on the Work of the Future. Left to right: co-chair David A. Mindell, professor of aeronautics and astronautics, the Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing at MIT; executive director Elisabeth Beck Reynolds PhD ‘10, who is also executive director of the MIT Industrial Performance Center; and co-chair David ...

The changing world of work

MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future responds to rapid changes brought by the pandemic.

May 18, 2020

Researchers with the IDSS Covid-19 Collaboration (Isolat) are designing a control model for testing and isolating members of communities like MIT’s to reduce Covid-19 infection.

A data-driven response to a pandemic

Isolat, a volunteer collaboration organized by the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, informs coronavirus policy by analyzing data associated with the pandemic.

May 15, 2020

To ensure the best coverage of our solar system, MIT Assistant Professor Richard Linares envisions a constellation of "statites" that communicate and work together, only activating the statite in the optimum position to fly by or rendezvous with an interstellar object successfully. Other statites in the constellation can continue to wait for the next ISO to appear.

To catch an interstellar visitor, use a solar-powered space slingshot

MIT research proposal for rendezvous missions with interstellar objects selected for NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program.

May 6, 2020

New research suggests that next-generation telescopes might look first for hydrogen atmospheres, as hydrogen can be a viable, easily detectable biosignature of life.

Study: Life might survive, and thrive, in a hydrogen world

When searching for extraterrestrial life, astronomers may want to look at planets with hydrogen-rich atmospheres.

May 4, 2020

A new hospital status app aims to balance hospitals’ Covid-19 load. Based on crowdsourced data, the app gives patients, EMTs, and physicians tools to report and check on availability of hospital resources, from ventilators and ICU beds to average wait times.

Reporting tool aims to balance hospitals’ Covid-19 load

Based on crowdsourced data, app helps patients, EMTs, and physicians determine real-time availability of hospital resources.

April 23, 2020

I expected to feel lonely during my six months in space, but it was quite the opposite. Having a daily sense of purpose, countless tasks and experiments to perform, and communication with people all over the world provided so much engagement with the world that loneliness was not a factor. There are some lessons here, perhaps, for everyone who now has to stay at home during this crisis. — Greg C...

A message from MIT astronauts: Accept the mission and find your motivators

To help us navigate this time of social distancing, three MIT astronauts share lessons of isolated living aboard the International Space Station.

March 24, 2020

MIT’s graduate program in engineering has again earned a No. 1 spot in U.S. News and World Report’s annual rankings, a place it has held since 1990, when the magazine first ranked such programs.

MIT graduate engineering, business programs ranked highly by U.S. News for 2021

Graduate engineering program is No. 1 in the nation; MIT Sloan is No. 5.

March 17, 2020

Milo Phillips-Brown (left) and Marion Boulicault are part of a team working on transforming technology ethics education at MIT.

3 Questions: Marion Boulicault and Milo Phillips-Brown on ethics in a technical curriculum

Philosophers are part of a team working on transforming technology ethics education at MIT.

March 11, 2020

Members of the MIT engineering faculty receive many awards in recognition of their scholarship, service, and overall excellence.

School of Engineering fourth quarter 2019 awards

Faculty members recognized for excellence via a diverse array of honors, grants, and prizes over the last quarter.

March 6, 2020

Roboticists are developing automated robots that can learn new tasks solely by observing humans. At home, you might someday show a domestic robot how to do routine chores.

Showing robots how to do your chores

By observing humans, robots learn to perform complex tasks, such as setting a table.

March 5, 2020

Afternoon light streams into MIT’s Lobby 7.

QS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 12 subjects for 2020

Institute ranks second in five subject areas.

March 3, 2020

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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