Researchers from MIT and Harvard have directly observed a quantum tornado, reports Elizabeth Gamillo for Smithsonian. “Scientists observed the tornado-like behavior after trapping and spinning a cloud of one million sodium atoms using lasers and electromagnets at 100 rotations per second,” writes Gamillo.
STAT reporter Megan Molteni writes that a new study by MIT researchers finds that senescent cells, which are linked to aging, may potentially be a cause of Down syndrome. “We hope it opens up new avenues for how we look at Down syndrome — that there seems to be this whole other element that plays on a different timeline that we really need to explore more.”
Renaldo Webb ’10 founded PetPlate, a fresh-cooked pet food company that delivers personalized meal plans directly to pet owners, reports Igor Bosilkcovski for Forbes. “Webb got the idea for the company when he worked with pet food companies as a consultant, and was able to realize that the low quality ingredients in the pet food had been the underlying reason for many health issues with pets, particularly obesity,” writes Bosilkcovski.
Popular Science reporter Nikita Amir writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds has identified a chemical pathway by which life could make a home for itself in Venus’ toxic clouds by producing ammonia. “Life on Venus, if it exists, is not like life on Earth,” says research affiliate Janusz Petkowski. “It’s life as we don’t know it. The only question is, to what degree it is different?”
Prof. Timothy Lu, Prof. Jim Collins and Philip Lee ’03 co-founded Senti Bio, a biotechnology company that uses gene circuit technology to create cell and gene therapies that can sense and respond to ailments inside the body, reports Sohini Podder for Reuters. “The way I like to think about it – just like you can program a computer with different programs or different maps, we can do the same thing with medicines,” says Lu.
Prof. Sara Seager speaks with New York Times reporter Dennis Overybye about the James Webb Telescope. Seager is part of a team that is planning to use the telescope to observe an exoplanet named Trappist-1e to determine if the planet has an atmosphere.
Popular Science reporter Leto Sapunar spotlights the efforts of MIT researchers who are investigating the origins of a fast blue optical transient nicknamed “the Cow.” To research scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham, “this looks like a sign that matter is closely orbiting a ‘newborn’ black hole or a type of neutron star called a magnetar, and the matter shines with x-rays each time it completes a quick orbit,” writes Sapunar.
Axios reporter Miriam Kramer notes that scientists from MIT and other institutions are planning a mission to probe the atmosphere of Venus for any potential signs of life. The probe “will come equipped with a laser designed to help it figure out what kind of chemistry is happening in droplets in Venus' atmosphere during a three-minute flight through the planet's clouds,” writes Kramer.
Newsweek reporter Robert Lea spotlights how MIT researchers traced the source of a bright blue cosmic explosion to the birth of a neutron star or black hole. “We have likely discovered the birth of a compact object in a supernova” says research scientists Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham. “This happens in normal supernovae, but we haven’t seen it before because it’s such a messy process. We think this new evidence opens possibilities for finding baby black holes or baby neutron stars.”
Gizmodo reporter Isaac Schultz writes that MIT astronomers have found that a black hole or neutron star may have been produced by a burst of stellar light, known as “the Cow." “I think the Cow is just the beginning of what is to come,” explains research scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham. “More such objects would provide a new window into these extreme explosions.”
New Scientist reporter Leah Crane writes that astronomers have found evidence that a large stellar explosion detected in 2018 was likely caused by a dying star that gave birth to a neutron star or small black hole. “People have been suspecting that these kind of extreme explosions could be the birth of black holes or neutron stars, but this is a final piece of evidence that I think really settles the case,” says research scientist Dheeraj “DJ” Pasham.
MIT researchers have uncovered evidence that the creation of a new black hole or neutron star caused a strange blue flash of light in space that was detected in 2018, reports Téa Kvetenadze for Forbes. An explanation for the event was elusive until researchers “focused on the X-rays emitted by the flash and found the Cow was producing a pulse of X-rays every 4.4 milliseconds.”
CNET reporter Monisha Ravisetti writes that MIT researchers have found that a super-bright stellar explosion detected in 2018 likely gave rise to a new black hole or neutron star. "Usually, I dare not say 'first time,'" explains research scientist Dheeraj "DJ" Pasham. "But I truly think this is the first time that you have direct confirmation, so to say, that a star dies and you immediately see the baby compact object."
A number of MIT researchers were named as top ten finalists for the Physics World 2021 Breakthrough of the Year. Prof. Wolfgang Ketterle and his colleagues were honored for their work in “independently observing Pauli blocking in ultracold gases of fermionic atoms” and astronomers with the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration were honored for “creating the first image showing the polarization of light in the region surrounding a supermassive black hole.”
Marcos Berríos ‘06, Christina Birch PhD ’15, and Christopher Williams PhD ’12 are among the ten selected to be a part of NASA’s 2021 astronaut candidate class, reports Emre Kelly for USA Today. “Flanked by T-38 Talon jets to be used over their two-year training course at Johnson Space Center in Houston, NASA officials introduces the 2021 class of six men and four women in front of their families, friends, and soon-to-be colleagues,” writes Kelly.