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A study by Prof. Daniel Rothman shows that there could be enough carbon in the Earth’s oceans by 2100 to trigger a sixth mass extinction, reports Mark Fischetti and Jen Christiansen for Scientific American. 

A new study by MIT researchers found that the Clean Air Act has had a larger impact on reducing the mortality rate than originally thought, reports Alan Moses for U.S. News & World Report. The researchers found that, “the decline in organic aerosol may account for more lives saved than the EPA had estimated.”

WHDH speaks with MIT staff member Maia Weinstock, who designed the original concept for the Women of NASA LEGO set. Weinstock explained that she is “really excited to see teachers and parents and kids tell me their stories of how they are going to use the set.”

UPI reporter Brooks Hays writes that an international team of astronomers, including MIT Prof. Saul Rappaport, has detected comets outside the Milky Way. “The distant ice balls, roughly the size of Halley's Comet, were spotted orbiting a small star 800 light-years from Earth. They were documented using transit photometry,” Hays explains. 

Writing for U.S. News & World Report, Alexa Lardieri highlights how Prof. Daniel Rothman has analyzed carbon changes over the past 540 million years and found that the next mass extinction could start in 2100. Rothman found that, “mass extinctions can occur if changes in the carbon cycle over long time periods outpace global ecosystems' abilities to adapt to those changes.”

In this video, Nicholas Cardona reports for USA Today that Prof. Daniel Rothman has predicted that the Earth’s next mass extinction event could begin in 2100, based on an analysis of the last five mass extinction events. Rothman found that, “each of the events saw high increases in global carbon. That leads to a destabilized ecosystem,” Cardona reports. 

In a new study, Prof. Daniel Rothman has predicted that the oceans may hold enough carbon to trigger a sixth mass extinction by 2100, reports Trevor Nace for Forbes. Rothman’s analysis showed that, “given the current rate of carbon being emitted into the atmosphere, we will likely reach a mass extinction threshold by the year 2100.”

HuffPost reporter Thomas Tamblyn writes that Prof. Daniel Rothman has analyzed the Earth’s five previous mass extinctions and found that a sixth could be triggered by 2100. Rothman found that, “if a certain amount of carbon dioxide was added to the oceans on top of its existing levels it would result in a sixth mass extinction event.”

A new study by Prof. Daniel Rothman provides evidence that by 2100 the world’s oceans may hold enough carbon to trigger a sixth mass extinction, reports Alyssa Meyers for The Boston Globe. Rothman found that if, “310 gigatons of carbon dioxide are added to the oceans, it could be a crucial tipping point for the carbon cycle.”

Prof. Warren Hoburg speaks with Jeffrey Mervis of Science about his decision to leave MIT to join NASA’s 2017 class of astronauts. He explains that he is working on ensuring his students can continue their research. “I think we have a bunch of ideas that are really powerful, and I want to set up my students to continue that research.”

A study co-authored by MIT researchers shows that the moon’s magnetic field could have lasted for as long as two billion years, according to Xinhua. “The researchers are planning to analyze more lunar rocks to determine when the dynamo died off completely.”

MIT researchers have found that the moon’s magnetic field lasted at least 1 billion years longer than initially thought, reports Charles Q. Choi for NBC News. “Understanding more about the nature of the magnetic field of Earth's moon could shed light on the magnetic fields of distant moons and planets, which could influence their habitability."

By examining a lunar rock from the Apollo 15 mission, researchers from MIT and Rutgers University have found that the moon had a magnetic field for at least one billion years longer than initially thought, reports Nicola Davis for The Guardian. The researchers found that the, “lunar dynamo was still going until somewhere between one billion and 2.5bn years ago.”

Boston Globe reporter Martin Finucane writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers provides evidence that the moon’s magnetic field lasted 1 billion years longer than previously thought. “Researchers now believe the moon’s magnetic field existed for a total of at least 2 billion years,” Finucane explains. 

MIT researchers have developed a laser sensing technique that can decipher the makeup of space debris orbiting around Earth, reports Alex Kingsbury for The Boston Globe. Knowing what material the debris is made of, “will allow for more precise calculations of momentum, velocity, and the danger they may pose to other objects aloft in orbit,” explains Kingsbury.