TESS discovers a planet the size of Mars but with the makeup of Mercury
The boiling new world, which zips around its star at ultraclose range, is among the lightest exoplanets found to date.
One year on this giant, blistering hot planet is just 16 hours long
A newly discovered “ultrahot Jupiter” has the shortest orbit of any known gas giant.
American Physical Society honors nine with MIT ties for physics research
Faculty, staff, and alumni recognized for outstanding contributions to physics research, education, and policy.
Mark Vogelsberger: Simulating galaxy formation for clues to the universe
“In astrophysics, we have only this one universe which we can observe,” the physics professor says. “With a computer, we can create different universes, which we can check.”
School of Science appoints 11 faculty members to named professorships
Those selected for these positions receive additional support to pursue their research and develop their careers.
Taming the data deluge
A National Science Foundation-funded team will use artificial intelligence to speed up discoveries in physics, astronomy, and neuroscience.
Neutron star collisions are a “goldmine” of heavy elements, study finds
Mergers between two neutron stars have produced more heavy elements in last 2.5 billion years than mergers between neutron stars and black holes.
Astronomers detect signs of an atmosphere stripped from a planet during giant impact
Such planetary smashups are likely common in young solar systems, but they haven’t been directly observed.
Astronomers nail down the origins of rare loner dwarf galaxies
The results provide a blueprint for finding such systems in the universe’s quieter, emptier regions.
TESS Science Conference II draws nearly 700 virtual attendees
Not just an exoplanet-finder anymore, TESS yields diverse astrophysics results at second science conference.
School of Science welcomes new faculty
Twelve professors begin in the departments of Biology; Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Chemistry; Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences; Mathematics; and Physics.
Life in space: Preparing for an increasingly tangible reality
The Space Exploration Initiative supports research across and beyond MIT in two microgravity flights this spring.
Physicists observationally confirm Hawking’s black hole theorem for the first time
Study offers evidence, based on gravitational waves, to show that the total area of a black hole’s event horizon can never decrease.
LIGO and Virgo detect rare mergers of black holes with neutron stars for the first time
In a 3Q, Salvatore Vitale describes how gravitational-wave signals suggest black holes completely devoured their companion neutron stars.
Physicists bring human-scale object to near standstill, reaching a quantum state
The results open possibilities for studying gravity’s effects on relatively large objects in quantum states.