Using the James Webb Telescope, researchers at MIT and elsewhere are studying the potential presence of “an Earth-like atmosphere on an exoplanet for the first time,” reports Jacopo Prisco for CNN. “The planet is part of a planetary system about 40 light-years away from Earth called TRAPPIST-1,” explains Prisco.
Gizmodo reporter Gayoung Lee writes that MIT researchers created “lab quakes” or miniature versions of earthquakes in a controlled setting and found that “anywhere between 68 and 98% of the energy goes into generating heat around a quake’s epicenter.” The findings “could help inform the creation of a physical model for earthquake dynamics or seismologists’ efforts to pick out regions most vulnerable to earthquakes.”
After observing the collision between a supernova and a black hole, researchers at MIT and elsewhere are rethinking our understanding of the life and death of stars, reports Jeanine Santucci for USA Today. "One of the only reasons that we were able to make this discovery and understand how scientifically interesting it was was through the combination of researchers in machine learning and in astrophysics," says postdoctoral scholar Alex Gagliano.
With the help of a newly designed machine learning algorithm, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have spotted a “never-before-seen type of supernova that involves a nearby black hole,” reports Andrew Paul for Popular Science. “We’re now entering an era where we can automatically catch these rare events as they happen, not just after the fact,” said postdoctoral scholar Alex Gagliano. “That means we can finally start connecting the dots between how a star lives and how it dies, and that’s incredibly exciting.”
Using an AI algorithm, researchers at MIT and elsewhere have been able to identify a previously unobserved explosion in the universe that they consider a “new flavor of supernova,” reports Kasha Patel for The Washington Post. “We think that statistically we’re overdue for a supernova in our own galaxy,” says postdoctoral scholar Alex Gagliano. “There are many people that are trying to establish early warning systems so that as soon as our telescopes pick up on something unusual, we can all aim our telescopes in that location.”
Researchers at MIT have proposed that liquids, such as ionic fluids, are “what’s important for extraterrestrial habitability, and not just water,” reports Gayoung Lee for Gizmodo. If confirmed, this research would “dramatically expand what’s considered the ‘habitable zone’ among known exoplanets,” writes Lee. “By current standards, the habitable zone is defined as the band within planetary systems in which liquid water can remain stable on the surface. When it comes to life, we’re understandably biased towards water; all life as we know it depends on it.”
Guy Consolmagno '74, SM '75, director of the Vatican Observatory, speaks with Rebecca Mead of The New Yorker about his journey from suburban Detroit to MIT to his current role as the Pope’s Astronomer, and the intersection between science and religion. “If people think you have to be a weird kind of scientist to be religious, or a weird kind of religious to be a scientist, then we’ve missed the point,” says Consolmagno. “The point is that our faith—our ordinary faith—fits perfectly with our ordinary, but wonderful, delightful science.”
Graduate student Isabella Macias speaks with CBS News about her experience studying astronomy and planetary formation at the Vatican Observatory. “The Vatican has such a deep, rich history of working with astronomers,” says Macias. “It shows that science is not only for global superpowers around the world, but it's for students, it's for humanity.” Br. Guy Consolmagno '74, SM '75, director of the Vatican Observatory, shares how he feels astronomy can help unite people around the world.
Prof. Noelle Selin speaks with Fast Company reporter Kristin Toussaint about the importance of air quality monitoring. “It’s really important to encourage people to understand their environment and to democratize access to measurements and science,” says Selin.
Using the Hubble Space Telescope, Prof. Julien de Wit and his colleagues have “detected microflares coming from the TRAPPIST-1 star every hour or so that last for several minutes,” reports Alex Wilkins for New Scientist. “These tiny bursts of radiation appear to interfere with our ability to observe the light that passes through the planets’ atmospheres – if they exist – thwarting the main method of detecting what chemicals might be in any atmospheres,” explains Wilkins.
A study by researchers at MIT and elsewhere has proposed an alternative scenario to how life survived “Snowball Earth,” a “super ice age that froze the entire planet from poles to the equator” during the Cryogenian period, reports David Bressan for Forbes. “The scientists found that lifeforms could have survived the global freeze by thriving in watery oases on the surface,” explains Bressan.
A study by Prof. Noelle Selin has found that climate change will impact our ability to curb smoke and smog pollutants, reports Vivian La for WBUR. The researchers “used computer models to predict how air pollution will develop in the Eastern United States over the next few decades,” explains La. Selin underscored the importance of policies that reduce air pollution noting that: “what we’re doing to the atmosphere has impacts and it’s important not to roll these back.”
MIT astronomers have found evidence that a massive asteroid impact billions of years ago “may have briefly amplified the moon's old, weak magnetic field, leaving behind a magnetic imprint still detectable in lunar rocks,” reports Sharmila Kuthunur for Space.com. “While the moon once had a weak magnetic field generated by a small molten core, the team's research suggests it likely wouldn't have been strong enough on its own to magnetize surface rocks,” Kuthunur explains. “However, a massive asteroid impact may have changed that — at least briefly.”
Ars Technica reporter Jennifer Oulette writes that MIT researchers have found that a “large asteroid impact briefly boosted the Moon's early weak magnetic field—and that this spike is what is recorded in some lunar samples.”
Chronicle visits MIT to learn more about how the Institute “nurtures groundbreaking efforts, reminding us that creativity and science thrive together, inspiring future advancements in engineering, medicine, and beyond.” Prof. Julien de Wit and Research Scientist Artem Burdanov discuss their planetary defense efforts aimed at identifying small asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth, and Prof. Canan Dağdeviren demonstrates her work developing ultrasound devices to detect the earliest stages of breast cancer. Host Anthony Everett notes that: “Big ideas have a way of breaking out of conventional boundaries, just part of what makes MIT one giant laboratory of groundbreaking ideas."