In an article for Physics Today, Prof. Anna Frebel details the formation of the heaviest elements. While scientists previously thought that supernova explosions were responsible for the creation of elements heavier than iron, Frebel notes that evidence from LIGO and from a faint galaxy known as Reticulum II suggest, “neutron-star mergers are the universe’s way to make elements such as gold and platinum.”
Prof. Susan Solomon has been named one of two recipients of this year’s Crafoord Prize for her contributions to climate research, according to the Associated Press. Solomon was honored for her, "fundamental contributions to understanding the role of atmospheric trace gases in Earth's climate system."
The Boston Globe Magazine highlights two MIT spinoffs in a list spotlighting 19 bold new ideas and fresh faces from 2017. Startup Ministry of Supply, which creates custom apparel using high-tech design, has made “getting a great-fitting blazer...a seamless experience,” while another startup, Biobot, has begun analyzing sewer waste to determine which communities are most affected by opioids.
Boston Globe reporter Marin Finucane writes that with the help of around 10,000 citizen scientists, a team of astronomers has discovered five planets outside our solar system. “It’s exciting because we’re getting the public excited about science, and it’s really leveraging the power of the human cloud,” says Prof. Ian Crossfield of the discovery.
Daniel Michaels and Andy Pasztor of The Wall Street Journal highlight Prof. Dava Newman’s BioSuit in an article about upgrades and improvements in space suits. Regarding the skintight, flexible suit, Michaels and Pasztor write that Newman’s suit differs in that, “pressure comes not from gas but from tiny electrically activated coils embedded in fabric.”
A study by Prof. Daniel Rothman shows that there could be enough carbon in the Earth’s oceans by 2100 to trigger a sixth mass extinction, reports Mark Fischetti and Jen Christiansen for Scientific American.
In this video, Reuters reporter Elly Park spotlights a new technique developed by MIT researchers to purify contaminated water. Park explains that the, “highly-selective process can even capture micropollutants, things that can exist in small, but potentially dangerous amounts in water.”
Prof. Emeritus Rainer Weiss has been named to The Boston Globe’s list of the 2017 Bostonians of the Year for his work starting a new revolution in astronomy. Globe reporter Eric Moskowitz notes that Weiss, “shared the Nobel Prize for Physics for conceiving and shepherding a set of observatories that allowed scientists to prove Einstein’s assertion about gravitational waves.”
In a Boston Globe Magazine article about bioelectronic medicine, writer Jessie Scanlon highlights research by Profs. Ed Boyden and Daniela Rus. Boyden notes that by creating light-sensitive molecules, which can be switched on and off and inserted into neurons, “groups in academia and industry are using the tool to discover patterns of neural activity.”
The discovery of the oldest and most distant black hole ever detected has provided a team of astronomers new insights into our universe, writes Alyssa Meyers for The Boston Globe. “In some sense, what we’ve done is determine with a high degree of accuracy when the first stars in the universe turned on,” explains Prof. Robert Simcoe.
The discovery of the oldest and most distant black hole ever observed could provide scientists with insights into the early stages of our universe, reports Will Dunham for Reuters. “This object provides us with a measurement of the time at which the universe first became illuminated with starlight,” explains Prof. Robert Simcoe.
NPR’s Nell Greenfieldboyce reports that scientists have discovered the most distant supermassive black hole every discovered, and that the findings are shedding light on when starlight first appeared in our universe. "We have an estimate now, with about 1 to 2 percent accuracy, for the moment at which starlight first illuminated the universe,” explains Prof. Robert Simcoe.
USA Today reporter Doyle Rice writes that a team of astronomers, including several from MIT, has discovered the oldest and most distant supermassive black hole ever detected. “The black hole resides in a quasar and its light reaches us from when the universe was only 5% of its current age — over 13 billion years ago,” explains Rice.
Newsweek reporter Joseph Frankel writes that MIT researchers have found that the brain relies on a network of neurons to keep track of time. The researchers found that, “neurons appear to fire in a similar pattern, whether operating at fast or slow speeds...But interestingly, the same patterns stretch or compress over time, depending on the rate of the task.”
MIT researchers have found that a network of neurons compress or stretch their activity in order to control the brain’s timing, reports Alyssa Meyers for The Boston Globe. “Instead of passively waiting for a clock to reach a certain point, the team found the system of neurons changes its state independently based on the action being performed.”