3 Questions: Fortifying our planetary defenses
MIT astronomers are developing a new way to detect, monitor, and mitigate the threats posed by smaller asteroids to our critical space infrastructure.
Finding a nanoscale solution to safer spaceflight
Using boron nitride nanotubes, mechanical engineering doctoral student Palak Patel develops materials for space that block dangerous ionizing radiation.
Engineering confidence to navigate uncertainty
In 16.85 (Design and Testing of Autonomous Vehicles), AeroAstro students build software that allows autonomous flight vehicles to navigate unknown environments.
Some early life forms may have breathed oxygen well before it filled the atmosphere
A new study suggests aerobic respiration began hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought.
Polar weather on Jupiter and Saturn hints at the planets’ interior details
New research may explain the striking differences between the two planets’ polar vortex patterns.
Nuno Loureiro, professor and director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, dies at 47
In his 10 years at MIT, Loureiro helped illuminate the physics occurring at the center of fusion vacuum chambers and at the edges of the universe.
Geologists discover the first evidence of 4.5-billion-year-old “proto Earth”
Materials from ancient rocks could reveal conditions in the early solar system that shaped the early Earth and other planets.
3 Questions: How a new mission to Uranus could be just around the corner
PhD student Chloe Gentgen discusses why the ice giant is such a high-priority solar system target, and how the Starship launch vehicle may hasten our explorations there.
Study finds exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e is unlikely to have a Venus- or Mars-like atmosphere
Astronomers led by EAPS postdoc Ana Glidden ruled out several atmospheric scenarios for the planet, narrowing ideas of what habitability there might look like.
Planets without water could still produce certain liquids, a new study finds
Lab experiments show “ionic liquids” can form through common planetary processes and might be capable of supporting life even on waterless planets.
When Earth iced over, early life may have sheltered in meltwater ponds
Modern-day analogs in Antarctica reveal ponds teeming with life similar to early multicellular organisms.
Why are some rocks on the moon highly magnetic? MIT scientists may have an answer
A large impact could have briefly amplified the moon’s weak magnetic field, creating a momentary spike that was recorded in some lunar rocks.
New research, data advance understanding of early planetary formation
Led by Assistant Professor Richard Teague, a team of international astronomers has released a collection of papers and public data furthering our understanding of planet formation.
Astronomers discover a planet that’s rapidly disintegrating, producing a comet-like tail
The small and rocky lava world sheds an amount of material equivalent to the mass of Mount Everest every 30.5 hours.
MIT welcomes 2025 Heising-Simons Foundation 51 Pegasi b Fellow Jess Speedie
The fellowship supports research contributing to the field of planetary science and astronomy.