Asteroid grains shed light on the outer solar system’s origins
A weak magnetic field likely pulled matter inward to form the outer planetary bodies, from Jupiter to Neptune.
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Revealing causal links in complex systems
MIT engineers’ algorithm may have wide impact, from forecasting climate to projecting population growth to designing efficient aircraft.
2024 Math Prize for Girls at MIT sees six-way tie
Contest hosted by the Department of Mathematics attracts 274 participants and celebrates 16th anniversary.
Oceanographers record the largest predation event ever observed in the ocean
The scientists’ wide-scale acoustic mapping technique could help track vulnerable keystone species.
Physicists discover first “black hole triple”
System observed 8,000 light-years away may be the first direct evidence of “gentle” black hole formation.
Astronomers detect ancient lonely quasars with murky origins
The quasars appear to have few cosmic neighbors, raising questions about how they first emerged more than 13 billion years ago.
Solar-powered desalination system requires no extra batteries
Because it doesn’t need expensive energy storage for times without sunshine, the technology could provide communities with drinking water at low costs.
An interstellar instrument takes a final bow
The Plasma Science Experiment aboard NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft turns off after 47 years and 15 billion miles.
Helping robots zero in on the objects that matter
A new method called Clio enables robots to quickly map a scene and identify the items they need to complete a given set of tasks.
Mars’ missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight
A new study shows Mars’ early thick atmosphere could be locked up in the planet’s clay surface.
Study evaluates impacts of summer heat in U.S. prison environments
MIT researchers identify facility-level factors that could worsen heat impacts for incarcerated people.
Engineers 3D print sturdy glass bricks for building structures
The interlocking bricks, which can be repurposed many times over, can withstand similar pressures as their concrete counterparts.
A wobble from Mars could be sign of dark matter, MIT study finds
Watching for changes in the Red Planet’s orbit over time could be new way to detect passing dark matter.
Study: Early dark energy could resolve cosmology’s two biggest puzzles
In the universe’s first billion years, this brief and mysterious force could have produced more bright galaxies than theory predicts.
Atoms on the edge
Physicists capture images of ultracold atoms flowing freely, without friction, in an exotic “edge state.”