MIT researchers have found that tracking specific changes in the number of chromosomes inside prostate cancer cells might help determine whether tumors should be treated, reports Robert Preidt for HealthDay News. “Besides giving new insights into how prostate tumors form and spread, the chromosomal data might someday be employed clinically to inform risk stratification and treatment decisions,” Preidt explains.
Boston Globe reporter Ben Volin speaks with graduate student John Urschel about his new book “Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football.” “I love solving sort of interesting and tough problems that have to do with our world in some way,” says Urschel of his dreams for after he graduates from MIT. “And I also love teaching.”
Newsweek reporter Aristos Georgiou writes that MIT researchers have found that explosions of our universe’s first stars sent the first heavy elements into neighboring galaxies. “These elements provided the raw material for the formation of a second generation of stars, some of which survive to this day,” Georgiou explains.
Popular Science reporter Nicole Wetsman writes that MIT researchers have found light pulses could potentially be used to help ease the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers found that “light pulses and gamma oscillations protect against neurodegeneration and change the expression of genes involved with inflammation and neuron health in the brains of mice.”
Sky and Telescope editor Monica Young speaks with WBUR about how scientists from the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories, including MIT researchers, may have detected a black hole colliding with a neutron star. Young explains that upgrades made to both observatories should enable investigation of not only individual cosmic events, but also the study of neutron stars and black holes as populations.
Adrian Cho of Science magazine writes that the possible black hole-neutron star merger spotted by LIGO and Virgo would be a “gem for scientists,” but work remains to confirm the signal. Prof. Salvatore Vitale, a LIGO member from MIT, tells Cho: “If you ask me, ‘Would you bet a coffee, your car, or your house on this?’ I would say, ‘I’d bet your car.’”
Gizmodo reporter Ryan Mandelbaum explores the five potential gravitational wave detections made by the LIGO and Virgo observatories in the last month. Prof. Salvatore Vitale explained that the possible detection of a black hole colliding with a neutron star could provide scientists with a better way to measure how quickly the universe is expanding.
“LIGO/VIRGO has opened up its notification process to the public,” explains Ars Technica reporter John Zimmer. “In short, anyone who’s interested can find out what LIGO is seeing within a day of when the LIGO scientists themselves do.”
The LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors have identified five new cosmic events since resuming operations last month, reports Sarah Lewin for Space.com. “The most exciting thing of the beginning of O3 [this third observation round] is that it's clear we are going from one event every few months to a few events every month," explains Prof. Salvatore Vitale.
Writing for Quanta Magazine, David Freedman spotlights Prof. Pablo Jarillo-Herrero’s discovery that when twisted to a “magic” angle, graphene can act as a semiconductor. Freedman writes that the “discovery has given scientists a relatively simple platform for exploring exotic quantum effects.”
A gift from alumnus Charles Broderick will enable researchers at MIT and Harvard to investigate how cannabis effects the brain and behavior, reports Felice Freyer for The Boston Globe. Prof. John Gabrieli explains that it has been “incredibly hard” to get funding for marijuana research. “Without the philanthropic boost, it could take many years to work through all these issues,” he notes.
WBUR reporter Carey Goldberg spotlights how a gift from alumnus Charles Broderick is funding research on cannabis and its impacts on the brain. "We were saying, 'Wouldn't it be great to study this?'” says Prof. Myriam Heiman of the need to study the impacts of cannabis. "And then this gift comes along and really is enabling us to do everything we wanted to do."
A new study by MIT researchers provides evidence that life on Earth may have begun in shallow bodies of water, reports Martin Finucane for The Boston Globe. The researchers found that ponds “could have held high concentrations of a key ingredient, nitrogen, while that would have been less likely in the ocean,” Finucane explains.
Inside Science reporter Yuen Yiu writes that MIT researchers have developed a new AI system that can summarize scientific research papers filled with technical terms. Yiu writes that the system “is a dramatic improvement from current programs, and could help scientists or science writers sift through large numbers of papers for the ones that catch their interest.”
Prof. Frank Wilczek writes for The Wall Street Journal about how the first image of a black hole could help scientists gain a better understanding of how galaxies form and evolve. “To a thinking mind, the image reflects the glory of understanding, and to an alert imagination it opens new portals into space, time and deep history,” writes Wilczek.