TESS discovers its first Earth-sized planet
Orbiting a nearby star, the new planet is the smallest identified so far by the TESS mission.
MIT celebrates 50th anniversary of historic moon landing
Symposium featuring former astronauts and other Apollo mission luminaries examines the program’s legacy.
Microgravity research after the International Space Station
Researchers say new facilities in space should be available to scientists from any country.
Study: Much of the surface ocean will shift in color by end of 21st century
Climate-driven changes in phytoplankton communities will intensify the blue and green regions of the world’s oceans.
Engineers program marine robots to take calculated risks
Algorithm could help autonomous underwater vehicles explore risky but scientifically-rewarding environments.
MIT’s REXIS and Bennu’s watery surface
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample-return spacecraft, carrying MIT instrument, arrived at asteroid in December; now begins the science to select a sampling location.
3Q: On the significance of Ultima Thule
New Horizons Mission Team members Alissa Earle and Richard Binzel discuss the revelations the icy world provides about the formation of our solar system.
Robert Simcoe named director of MIT Kavli Institute
An expert in instrumentation and early universe observations, Simcoe succeeds Jacqueline Hewitt as head of MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.
Astronomers observe evolution of a black hole as it wolfs down stellar material
Halo of highly energized electrons around the black hole contracts dramatically during feeding frenzy.
TESS discovers its third new planet, with longest orbit yet
Measurements indicate a dense, gaseous, “sub-Neptune” world, three times the size of Earth.
Tiny satellites could be “guide stars” for huge next-generation telescopes
Researchers design CubeSats with lasers to provide steady reference light for telescopes investigating distant planets.
Laser-pointing system could help tiny satellites transmit data to Earth
Platform offers the precision that shoebox-sized CubeSats need to beam down hefty data packets.
New climate model to be built from the ground up
Scientists and engineers will collaborate in a new Climate Modeling Alliance to advance climate modeling and prediction.
3 Questions: MIT goes interstellar with Voyager 2
MIT Kavli's John Richardson describes MIT's role in the historic passing of the Voyager 2 craft past the heliopause and into the interstellar medium.
Terahertz laser for sensing and imaging outperforms its predecessors
High-power, tunable design could be used for chemical detection in outer space, medical imaging, more.