New York Times reporter Kenneth Chang writes about the discovery of seven Earth-sized exoplanets by a team of researchers, including MIT scientists. The discovery makes “the search for life in the galaxy imminent,” says Prof. Sara Seager. “We just have to wait and then make very careful observations and see what is in the atmospheres of the Trappist planets.”
A new study co-authored by Prof. Susan Solomon provides evidence that the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica is starting to heal, reports Pilita Clark for the Financial Times. Clark explains that the findings suggest that “more than half the shrinkage in the ozone hole is due to the reduction in atmospheric chlorine coming from CFCs.”
Scientists have found that the Antarctica ozone hole is showing signs of healing and is forming at a slower rate, writes Megan Daley for The Los Angeles Times. Prof. Susan Solomon explains that the findings show that the Montreal Protocol, which banned the use of ozone-destroying chloroflourocarbons, “produced the positive result that we hoped for.”
Scientists have found evidence that the ozone hole over Antarctica is getting smaller and forming later in the year, reports Seth Bornstein for the Associated Press. Prof. Susan Solomon, lead author of the study, says the findings are a "tremendous cause for hope" for fixing other environmental problems.
USA Today reporter Doyle Rice reports that a team of researchers led by MIT Prof. Susan Solomon has found that the Antarctica ozone heal is beginning to heal. “The discovery shows global attempts to improve Earth's environment can work, providing a template for how humanity could tackle the exponentially larger issue of climate change,” Doyle writes.
New York Times reporter Henry Fountain writes that researchers have found evidence that the ozone hole over Antarctica is getting smaller. “We are seeing the planet respond as expected to the actions of people,” says Prof. Susan Solomon. “It’s really a story of the public getting engaged, policy makers taking action, and business getting engaged.”
Researchers from MIT and other institutions have found that the Antarctic ozone hole has begun to heal, reports Chris Mooney for The Washington Post. “If you use the medical analogy, first the patient was getting worse and worse, and then the patient is stabilized, and now, “explains Prof. Susan Solomon, “the patient is really starting to get better.”
As part of their “This Day in History” series, The Boston Globe highlights how on April 24, 1962, MIT researchers “achieved the first satellite relay of a television signal, using NASA’s Echo 1 balloon satellite to bounce a video image from Camp Parks, Calif., to Westford, Mass.”
Alvar Saenz-Otero, director of the Space Systems Laboratory, speaks with WGBH Radio’s Edgar Herwick about the problem of space debris. Otero and his team are “refining a system that would enable a spacecraft to match the spin of a piece of space junk, capture it, and haul it out of orbit.”
In an article for New Scientist, Lisa Grossman writes that Prof. Paulo Lozano is developing a miniature propulsion system for steering CubeSats, a type of tiny satellite, around in space. “We want to offer space access to people who don’t currently have space access,” explains Lozano.
Jordan Graham writes for The Boston Herald about a system created by Prof. Brian Williams that allows unpiloted underwater vehicles to make decisions without human intervention. Williams explains that the system was developed so that an underwater robot would not need low-level commands, “you just give it your goals.”
Brooks Hays of UPI writes that Prof. Brian Williams has developed a new system that allows autonomous underwater vehicles to operate independently. Robots using the new system “are able to navigate underwater expanses and execute research tasks on their own. Researchers simply dictate high-level goals, and the submersible calculates the most efficient path forward."
MIT researchers have developed a new system that gives underwater robots more decision-making capabilities, reports Kelsey Atherton for Popular Science. Atherton explains that developing machines that can operate without human control could “usher in a whole new age of discovery.”
Jon Christian of The Boston Globe reports that MIT startup Accion Systems has developed a thruster technology that will allow satellites to adjust their orbits. “Eventually, we hope to be able to scale up the performance to address the really large, school bus-size satellites,” explains Accion co-founder and MIT alumna Natalya Brikner.
Prof. Kerri Cahoy speaks with John Hopton of redOrbit about miniature satellites or CubeSats. Cahoy explains that CubeSats are becoming increasingly popular because “they can be tucked into rockets and taken into space pretty cheaply, and we’ve been miniaturizing our electronics and our mechanical devices for spacecrafts so we can actually do something with these mini satellites.”