Institute Professor Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus, who was known as the “queen of carbon science” and was an advocate for women in STEM, died at 86, reports Mark Anderson for IEEE Spectrum. Dresselhaus “pioneered the study of carbon nanostructures at a time when studying physical and material properties of commonplace atoms like carbon was out of favor.”
MIT researchers have used starlight to test Einstein’s “spooky action” theory and have presented a strong demonstration of quantum entanglement, reports Calla Cofield for CBS News. Cofield explains that the researchers “measured about 100,000 pairs of entangled photons…and their results suggested that the particles were truly entangled.”
A study by MIT researchers provides evidence that gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn formed within the first 4 million years of the solar system’s development, reports Samantha Mathewson for Scientific American. "We obtained an accurate and precise age for the lifetime of our solar system's ancient [solar] nebula and the magnetic field," explains Prof. Benjamin Weiss.
The Atlantic’s Natalie Wolchover writes that MIT physicists have presented a demonstration of quantum entanglement, addressing a loophole in quantum theory. Prof. Andrew Friedman says his team will continue testing the loophole, explaining, “either we close the loophole more…or we see something that could point toward new physics.”
In this FOX 25 segment, Prof. John Leonard explains why he created an online lesson that demonstrates the science behind the Deflategate controversy. He notes that the lesson is aimed at giving “students the tools so they can be the scientists,” adding that he also hopes to “get more young people excited about math and science.”
Rick Shaffer highlights WiTricity, an MIT spinout, in a Boston Herald article about affordable, easily accessible alternative energy. The company is developing wireless charging pads for electric and hybrid vehicles, which will prevent people from “forgetting to plug a charging cord into their vehicle when they return home.”
Prof. John Leonard prepared a free video lesson explaining the science behind the Deflategate controversy, writes Adam Vaccaro for The Boston Globe. Vaccaro writes that Leonard explained he hopes the lesson will help students “understand the physics of air pressure and temperature by connecting them to a major event in popular culture.”
Inside Higher Ed reporter Carl Straumsheim writes that researchers from MIT and Harvard have released the latest findings from an ongoing study analyzing learner engagement and behavior in 290 MOOCs. Among other findings, researchers found that “about one-third (32 percent) of the people who participate in edX MOOCs work or used to work as teachers.”
MIT researchers have developed a new technique to improve atom interferometers, which are used to measure gravity, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. The researchers “found a way to improve the precision of atom interferometers by augmenting the condensates.”
Wired reporter Kathryn Nave speaks with research scientist Sheperd Doeleman about the Event Horizon Telescope project, which is aimed at imaging a black hole using telescopes stationed around the world. "We have good evidence there are black holes at the center of galaxies just from the orbits of stars around them, but we've never actually seen one," Doeleman explains.
The writers and editors of Science named the successful detection of gravitational waves by researchers from MIT, Caltech and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration as their top breakthrough of 2016. Science reporter Adrian Cho writes that “physicists are eagerly anticipating what may come next, because gravitational waves promise an entirely new way to peer into the cosmos.”
In their round up of the top science stories of 2016, Science News highlighted several MIT research breakthroughs. The top story of the year was the successful detection of gravitational waves by researchers from MIT, Caltech and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. Another highlight was the discovery by Prof. Susan Solomon that the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica is shrinking.
Washington Post reporter Nick Anderson writes that four MIT students - Matthew Cavuto, Zachary Hulcher, Kevin Zhou and Daniel Zuo - have been named recipients of the prestigious Marshall scholarships. The MIT group is “the largest delegation of Marshall Scholars named this year from a single school.”
Prof. Janet Conrad discusses what inspired her to study neutrinos, her hunt for the elusive “sterile” neutrino, and her work on the Ghostbusters reboot in this article published by Wired. Conrad notes that “serious research can be a lot of fun. Being fun doesn’t make it less important—those are not mutually exclusive.”
In an in-depth piece for The New York Times Magazine, Chris Jones spotlights Prof. Sara Seager, exploring her quest for an Earthlike exoplanet. Jones writes there has been an explosion of knowledge about exoplanets in part because of “Seager’s pioneering theoretical work in using light to study the composition of alien atmospheres.”