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The Siberian Traps were created about 250 million years ago by massive volcanic eruptions. The lava that covered the land formed flat plains as it cooled. Over the millennia, weathering has caused the rock to crack and wear, forming steep mountains. Some rock resists weathering, creating spires of rock.

An eruption-fueled extinction?

Enormous volcanic eruptions may have triggered the worst extinction in Earth’s history.

January 11, 2012

Here comes the sun

A new sunflower-inspired pattern increases concentrated solar efficiency.

January 11, 2012

Geologic map of United States decribing bedrock types and age of bedrock formations. Age of bedrock, from youngest to oldest, is indicated by color change: yellow, green, blue, red.

At the core of a continent

New data finds regions of North America have remained extremely stable for more than one billion years.

January 6, 2012

Diverse microorganisms undergoing growth and reproduction. As organisms evolved from simple prokaryotes to unicellular eukaryotes to multicellular organisms their strategies for internal energy partitioning dramatically changed as illustrated by a recent mathematical model.

Microbe metabolism

For the smallest organisms, size determines how microbes spend energy.

January 4, 2012

Proposal for MIT Global Environment Initiative seeks public comment

Initiative expected to focus on six broad environmental research themes.

December 21, 2011

Two new exoplanets, Kepler 20e and 20f, are part of a five-planet system orbiting a sun-like star, similar to the artist’s rendering above. Researchers have found the new planets are likely scorching hot, circling their star at a much closer distance than Mercury orbits the Sun.

Two new Earth-sized exoplanets discovered

Some 950 light-years away, team finds smallest exoplanets yet detected.

December 21, 2011

At a crossroads

New research predicts which cars are likeliest to run lights at intersections.

November 30, 2011

Nicholas Roy, an MIT associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics

Robots in reality

Nicholas Roy designs robots for real-world challenges.

November 28, 2011

Next stop: Kendall Square

Tech hub attracts players large and small to support innovation.

November 23, 2011

Inside an innovation ecosystem

History, proximity and serendipity make Kendall Square fertile ground for the next big idea.

November 22, 2011

Timeline of a mass extinction

New evidence points to rapid collapse of Earth’s species 252 million years ago.

November 18, 2011

MIT researchers have found hundreds of tiny fossils of the first known ciliates. The ciliates, named tintinnids, resided in hard, flask-shaped shells with bubbled exteriors that likely help them float.

The first hairy microbes

New fossils reveal oldest known ciliates.

November 16, 2011

Blooming ocean fronts

Study finds fronts are hot spots for phytoplankton blooms.

November 4, 2011

A Rosetta mission image of the asteroid 21 Lutetia.

Battered asteroid may have warm core

New analysis of Lutetia finds evidence for molten interior.

October 28, 2011

Searching for balloons in a social network

The key to mobilizing large numbers of people is incentives, study finds.