Research

An aerial view of Las Tintoreras, Isla Isabela in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.

How long will a volcanic island live?

Plate tectonics and mantle plumes set the lifespan of volcanic islands like Hawaii and the Galapagos.

January 1, 2020

A new analysis of moon rocks pins down the end of the lunar dynamo, the process by which the moon once generated a magnetic field.

Scientists pin down timing of lunar dynamo’s demise

Findings suggest the moon’s magnetic field was produced by the fallout of a crystallizing iron core.

January 1, 2020

Assistant Professor Valerie Karplus and her collaborators have demonstrated that measurements of air pollutants taken by NASA satellites are often a good indicator of emissions on the ground. Their approach provides regulators with a low-cost tool to ensure that industrial firms are complying with emissions standards.

Tracking emissions in China

Evaluating a 2014 policy change yields some good news and some concerns.

December 30, 2019

Inspired by tissue that keep mussels attached to rocks underwater, MIT graduate student Seth Cazzell (pictured) and Associate Professor Niels Holten-Andersen found that controlling pH enables reversible hydrogel formation.

Widening metal tolerance for hydrogels

MIT graduate student Seth Cazzell shows controlling pH enables reversible hydrogel formation in wider range of metal concentrations.

December 23, 2019

Giant cavities in the X-ray emitting intracluster medium (shown in blue, as observed by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory) have been carved out by the black hole outburst. The X-ray data are overlaid on top of optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope (in red/orange), where the central galaxy that is likely hosting the culprit supermassive black hole is also visible.

The billion-year belch

Michael Calzadilla and colleagues describe a violent black hole outburst that provides new insight into galaxy cluster evolution.

December 23, 2019

The co-beta peptide treatment is shown to eradicate biofilm bacteria such as MRSA, a particularly difficult form of bacteria to treat.

SMART and NTU researchers design polymer that can kill drug-resistant bacteria

Polymer may pave the way for drugs to which bacteria are significantly less resistant, a breakthrough that could save hundreds of thousands of lives per year.

December 20, 2019

A new ultrasound technique uses lasers to produce images beneath the skin, without making contact with the skin as conventional ultrasound probes do. The new laser ultrasound technique was used to produce an image (left) of a human forearm (above), which was also imaged using conventional ultrasound (right).

Researchers produce first laser ultrasound images of humans

Technique may help remotely image and assess health of infants, burn victims, and accident survivors in hard-to-reach places.

December 19, 2019

An automated machine-learning model developed by MIT researchers significantly outperforms human Wall Street analysts in predicting quarterly business sales.

Model beats Wall Street analysts in forecasting business financials

Using limited data, this automated system predicts a company’s quarterly sales.

December 19, 2019

A small-scale device, seen here, was used in the lab to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new shockwave-based system for removing radioactive contaminants from the cooling water in nuclear powerplants.

A new way to remove contaminants from nuclear wastewater

Method concentrates radionuclides in a small portion of a nuclear plant’s wastewater, allowing the rest to be recycled.

December 19, 2019

Illustration of patch with microneedles being applied to skin

Storing medical information below the skin’s surface

Specialized invisible dye, delivered along with a vaccine, could enable “on-patient” storage of vaccination history to save lives in regions where paper or digital records aren’t available.

December 18, 2019