A new study by MIT researchers suggests that, contrary to previous findings, the human brain may store short-term and long-term memories at the same time, reports Andy Rosen for The Boston Globe. Rosen writes that the findings could “lead toward a better understanding of memory diseases like Alzheimer’s.”
Meg Tirrell of CNBC spotlights research by Prof. Li-Huei Tsai that shows that flashing lights could be used as a non-invasive treatment method for Alzheimer’s disease. Tsai and her colleagues found that flashing light could potentially be used to restore gamma rhythms in the brain, which are often impaired in people with Alzheimer’s.
Wired reporter Nicola Davison spotlights the work of graduate student Dheeraj Roy, whose research is focused on developing new techniques to help Alzheimer’s patients remember lost memories. Davison writes that Roy’s findings offer a potential “strategy for improving memory that could go beyond the modest benefit of available drugs.”
Postdoc Matthew Peterson speaks with WGBH reporter Edgar Herwick about why humans make eye contact. Peterson explains that humans are not good at judging where they are looking when talking to others, adding that the information we use is “highly concentrated in the eye region. So even if we're not looking at the eyes directly, we're using the eyes."
MIT researchers have observed a black hole devouring a star, reports Torah Kachur for CBC News. After looking at about a year’s worth of data, researchers found that the “star was getting pulled apart and literally shredded into a debris stream that spiraled around the center of this black hole,” writes Kachur.
Elizabeth Howell writes for Scientific American that a team of researchers, including scientists from MIT, have observed that when a black hole consumes a star there is a burst of electromagnetic activity. Howell explains that the “new research suggests that interactions among the debris could generate the optical and UV emission.”
Calla Cofield writes for Scientific American that a grant will allow the HERA team to search for light from the universe’s first generation of stars. Prof. Jacqueline Hewitt, who is leading the grant, says it’s “remarkable we're designing instruments so we can detect what was happening 13 billion years ago.”
MIT researchers have observed a black hole devouring a star almost 300 million light years away, writes Andy Rosen for The Boston Globe. “We are actually mapping out in real time what is happening as the star is getting ripped [apart] and it’s falling onto the black hole,” says postdoctoral fellow Dheeraj Pasham.
Science reporter Elizabeth Pennisi spotlights Institute Professor Sallie “Penny” Chisholm’s pioneering research into uncovering the secrets of Prochlorococcus. Prof. Michael Follows says that Chisholm, "has beautifully shown us how this microbe works and how the ocean world is organized."
Clive Cookson of the Financial Times spotlights the work of Institute Professor Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus, who died at 86. Known as the “Queen of Carbon,” Dresselhaus’ research “led the way to round molecules with 60 carbon atoms, known as fullerenes or buckyballs, and ultimately to graphene,” explains Cookson.
Wall Street Journal reporter James Hagerty spotlights Institute Professor Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus’ pioneering work in thermoelectric materials and as an advocate for women in science. Prof. Pablo Jarillo-Herrero says that Dresselhaus, who died on February 20th, was also known for helping struggling students. “She was always able to see the best in you and bring it out.”
In an article for Scientific American, Laura Geggel writes that a new study by MIT researchers shows that the Earth’s mantle is hotter than previously thought. “The finding will help scientists more accurately model Earth's many geodynamic processes, including plate tectonics,” reports Geggel.
MIT researchers have developed a cost-effective, cell analysis method using graphene sheets, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. The new technique could allow “simple sheets of graphene oxide to function as a diagnostics device for medical and biological tests,” Hays explains.
NPR reporter Colin Dwyer writes about the life and work of Institute Professor Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus, who died at 86. Dwyer writes that “during her celebrated career, she sought to prepare a path for potential successors — the female scientists whom she mentored and opened doors for across decades.”
Writing for The Washington Post, Prof. Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president for research, outlines how the U.S. can reduce coal emissions without “declaring war on coal communities.” Zuber argues that the U.S. must “commit to helping the workers and communities that are hurt when coal mines and coal plants reduce their operations or shut down.”