The billion-year belch
Michael Calzadilla and colleagues describe a violent black hole outburst that provides new insight into galaxy cluster evolution.
A sign that aliens could stink
A molecule that’s known for its smelly and poisonous nature on Earth may be a sure-fire sign of extraterrestrial life.
Is there dark matter at the center of the Milky Way?
A new analysis puts dark matter back in the game as a possible source of energy excess at the galactic center.
New instrument extends LIGO’s reach
Technology “squeezes” out quantum noise so more gravitational wave signals can be detected.
Designing humanity’s future in space
The Space Exploration Initiative’s latest research flight explores work and play in microgravity.
Interdisciplinary team takes top prize in Mars colony design competition
MIT PhD student George Lordos and his brother Alexandros led the project; goal of the Mars Society competition was to establish a colony on Mars for 1,000 residents.
Phoenix cluster is cooling faster than expected
With increasingly advanced data, Michael McDonald and colleagues study a galaxy cluster bursting with new stars.
3 Questions: How to control biofilms in space
MIT and University of Colorado researchers are collaborating on an experiment to be sent to the International Space Station.
Astronomers use giant galaxy cluster as X-ray magnifying lens
New lens technique spots tiny dwarf galaxy in the first, super-energetic stages of star formation.
This is how a “fuzzy” universe may have looked
Scientists simulate early galaxy formation in a universe of dark matter that is ultralight, or “fuzzy,” rather than cold or warm.
Computing and the search for new planets
MIT planetary scientists partner with computer scientists to find exoplanets.
3Q: Scientists shave estimate of neutrino’s mass in half
Joseph Formaggio explains the discovery that the ghostly particle must be no more than 1 electronvolt, half as massive as previously thought.
TESS team is awarded NASA's Silver Achievement Medal
The honor recognizes the "stellar achievement" of the people behind the exoplanet-seeking satellite.
Scientists detect tones in the ringing of a newborn black hole for the first time
Results support Einstein’s theory and the idea that black holes have no “hair.”
Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics awarded to Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration for black hole observation
Nearly 30 MIT-affiliated researchers will share in the prize, while David Jay Julius ’77 wins Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences; assistant professor of physics Max Metlitski shares New Horizons prize with Xie Chen PhD ’12 and Michael Levin PhD ’06.