Institute Professor Emeritus Mario Molina, environmental leader and Nobel laureate, dies at 77
The atmospheric chemist shared the Nobel Prize for the discovery that chemicals known as CFCs deplete the ozone layer.
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3 Questions: Why getting ahead of Covid-19 requires modeling more than a health crisis
Researchers urge a holistic approach to forecasting the virus’ impact on public health and the economy.
Andrea Ghez ’87 wins a share of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics
MIT alumna and two others honored for discoveries in black hole physics.
Geologists raise the speed limit for how fast continental crust can form
Study suggests parts of the Sierra Nevadas formed in a “geologic instant,” more than twice as fast as previously thought.
Antarctic sea ice may not cap carbon emissions as much as previously thought
Study suggests sea ice blocks the flow of carbon both into and out of the ocean, in roughly equal measure.
Astronomers discover an Earth-sized “pi planet” with a 3.14-day orbit
The rocky world, with its baking-hot surface, is likely not habitable.
Engineers produce a fisheye lens that’s completely flat
The single piece of glass produces crisp panoramic images.
Did our early ancestors boil their food in hot springs?
Scientists have found evidence of hot springs near sites where ancient hominids settled, long before the control of fire.
Astronomers may have found a signature of life on Venus
Evidence indicates phosphine, a gas associated with living organisms, is present in the habitable region of Venus’ atmosphere.
Four from MIT awarded 2021 New Horizons in Physics and New Frontiers in Mathematics prizes
Physicists Tracy Slatyer and Netta Engelhardt and mathematicians Lisa Piccirillo and Nina Holden PhD ’18 are honored by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation.
Velcro-like food sensor detects spoilage and contamination
Color-changing array of silk microneedles could help stem outbreaks and avoid food waste.
A “bang” in LIGO and Virgo detectors signals most massive gravitational-wave source yet
A binary black hole merger likely produced gravitational waves equal to the energy of eight suns.
An unexpected origin story for a lopsided black hole merger
Researchers suggest a novel process to explain the collision of a large black hole and a much smaller one.
A fall semester welcome to undergraduates
“We will find great meaning and satisfaction in having endured this historic test together,” President Reif told new and returning students.
Cosmic rays may soon stymie quantum computing
Building quantum computers underground or designing radiation-proof qubits may be needed, researchers find.