An international team of scientists, including astronomers from MIT, has discovered seven Earth-sized planets, reports Sarah Kaplan for The Washington Post. Julien de Wit, a postdoc at MIT who is leading the study of the planets’ atmospheres, explains that repeated observations of the planets, “lifted the veil on the architecture of the system.”
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 study by Prof. Michael McDonald details how a black hole in the Phoenix cluster is producing star-making fuel, reports Andy Rosen for The Boston Globe. “It’s an extreme system that doesn’t seem to follow all the rules that we’ve found, so it gives us a clue to what the rules are,” McDonald explains.
Institute Professor Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus, who was known as the “queen of carbon science” and was an advocate for women in STEM, died at 86, reports Mark Anderson for IEEE Spectrum. Dresselhaus “pioneered the study of carbon nanostructures at a time when studying physical and material properties of commonplace atoms like carbon was out of favor.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Akst writes that MIT researchers have developed a way to “tap into the insight of the expert minority within a crowd—a minority whose views would otherwise be swamped in a simple majority vote or poll.” The technique significantly enhanced “the wisdom of crowds, reducing errors by more than 20%.”
Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham writes that a committee co-chaired by Prof. Richard Hynes has made a series of recommendations for the use of gene editing in humans. Graham explains that the committee recommended “leaving the door open to altering the human genome in ways that would affect the descendants of patients with hereditary diseases and disabilities.”
A committee co-chaired by Prof. Richard Hynes has presented a set of guidelines for using the CRISPR gene-editing tool in humans, reports Lauran Neergaard for the AP. Neergaard writes that Hynes noted, “safety is one reason for caution, as scientists will have to learn whether editing one gene has unwanted downstream effects.”
Washington Post reporter Sarah Kaplan writes that a new study by MIT postdoc Julien de Wit provides evidence of a star that pulses when in proximity to its orbiting planet. De Wit and his colleagues found that the “star's brightness oscillated according to the exact rhythm of its planet's orbit.”
Washington Post reporter Joel Achenbach writes that a committee co-chaired by Prof. Richard Hynes has presented a series of guidelines for applying CRISPR gene editing in humans. “We say proceed with all due caution, but we don’t prohibit germline, after considerable discussion and debate,” says Hynes. “We’re talking only about fixing diseases.”
MIT astronomers have discovered a star that pulsates in response to an exoplanet orbiting around it, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. The findings “contradict the wisdom of most stellar models, which suggest planets can't influence their host stars in such a manner,” Hays explains.
Postdoc Jennifer Burt speaks with Boston Globe reporter Andrew Grant about a new database of nearby stars that has been made publically available. “This could be a great way to get undergrad and high school students involved in science,” Burt explains. “We’re inspiring the next generation of scientists and that’s awesome.”
MIT researchers have used starlight to test Einstein’s “spooky action” theory and have presented a strong demonstration of quantum entanglement, reports Calla Cofield for CBS News. Cofield explains that the researchers “measured about 100,000 pairs of entangled photons…and their results suggested that the particles were truly entangled.”
A study by MIT researchers provides evidence that gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn formed within the first 4 million years of the solar system’s development, reports Samantha Mathewson for Scientific American. "We obtained an accurate and precise age for the lifetime of our solar system's ancient [solar] nebula and the magnetic field," explains Prof. Benjamin Weiss.
The Atlantic’s Natalie Wolchover writes that MIT physicists have presented a demonstration of quantum entanglement, addressing a loophole in quantum theory. Prof. Andrew Friedman says his team will continue testing the loophole, explaining, “either we close the loophole more…or we see something that could point toward new physics.”
Boston Herald reporter Jordan Graham writes that the McGovern Institute has established a new center focused on autism research, thanks to a gift from Lisa Yang and Hock Tan ’75 SM ’75. Graham explains that the center will “focus on trying to make significant jumps through new technologies such as gene editing with CRISPR/Cas9.”