Scientists from MIT and MGH have found that while certain brain functions decline with age, others, like vocabulary skills, peak later in life, reports Kay Lazar for The Boston Globe. The researchers found that "the ability to reason, learn, and recall information ebbs and flows over our lifespan.”
MIT researchers have found that the high temperature of intracluster gas, which condenses to form stars, may be hindering the development of new stars, reports Jonathan O’Callaghan for the Daily Mail. The researchers hope to use the new findings to better understand how stars form in surrounding galaxies.
Jeffrey Mervis writes for Science that Prof. Marc Kastner will serve as president of the Science Philanthropy Alliance, a group aimed at boosting support for basic scientific research. Kastner’s new position will allow him to make the case for the importance of basic research on a “national scale.”
Asma Khalid profiles Professor Alan Guth for WBUR's “Visionaries” series, which features experts in a variety of fields. Guth reminisces about how a high school teacher fostered his interest in physics, his time as a student at MIT and his development of the theory behind why the universe expanded so quickly after the Big Bang.
Tom Zeller reports for Forbes on the Climate Feedback project developed by post-doctoral researcher Emmanuel W. Vincent that allows users to select and critique portions of articles on climate change. “If a newspaper claims that something is based on science,” Vincent said, “we want to examine whether they are making their case on solid scientific ground.”
USA Today reporter Melissa Pandika spotlights Prof. Kay Tye, highlighting her journey to MIT, her award-winning breakdancing skills and her neuroscience research. Tye’s current work examines how optogenetics can be used to control certain behaviors, such as overeating and anxiety.
Francie Diep writes for Popular Science about how a new mathematical theory developed by MIT researchers may help to explain how surfaces wrinkle. “The equation could help chemists working on high-tech materials,” explains Diep.
Professor Paul O’Gorman speaks with Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson about his recent research showing that despite climate change, massive snowstorms could still occur. “In some regions, fairly cold regions, you could have a decrease in the average snowfall in a year, but actually an intensification of the snowfall extremes,” explains O’Gorman.
Chris Berdik writes for Boston Magazine about Professor Sara Seager’s search for Earth-like exoplanets. “I believe that in our lifetime we will be able to take children to a dark sky,” said Seager. “And point to a star and say, That star has a planet with signs of life in its atmosphere.”
New research by Professor Daniel Rothman and postdoctoral associate Yossi Cohen has raised questions about the feasibility of carbon capture, reports Ken Silverstein for Forbes. The researchers found that “only a ‘small fraction’ of the carbon dioxide solidifies and turns into rock after it is injected 7,000 feet below the earth’s surface,” explains Silverstein.
In an article for Scientific American about a blizzard hitting the East Coast of the Unites States, Andrea Thompson cites an MIT study that found that while overall snowfall may decrease due to climate change, extreme snowstorms will still occur.
In this New York Times video, James Gorman explores new MIT research examining how rainfall produces a scent. The researchers found that when raindrops hit porous surfaces they release aerosols. The scent is “not from the rain itself,” explains Prof. Cullen Buie, “it’s from the earth.”
New MIT research suggests that brain scans may be helpful in predicting a person’s future behavior, reports Andrea Timpano for Boston Magazine. “Researchers found a strong correlation between brain measures, known as neuromarkers, and behavioral outcomes such as a patient’s reading ability or reaction to medication,” Timpano explains.
Karen Hopkin of Scientific American writes about a new method developed by MIT researchers for increasing the size of tissue samples to allow for better observation. Thus far, the researchers have used the new technique to “peer into the brains of mice, fruit flies and zebrafish,” Hopkin explains.
MIT researchers have found that carbon sequestration may not be as effective at storing greenhouse gas emissions as originally thought, reports Christopher Martin for Bloomberg News. The researchers found that “much of the carbon dioxide will remain in its gaseous state, and may eventually escape into the atmosphere.”