3 Questions: Richard Binzel on the discovery of three large, near-Earth asteroids
The largest asteroid is 12 miles in diameter, but poses little immediate threat to Earth.
The moon’s face doesn’t tell its whole story
Researchers find that huge craters on the near side of the moon may overstate the intensity of asteroid impacts about 4.1 billion years ago.
Big plans for small spacecraft
Paulo Lozano is designing tiny ion thrusters for the next generation of satellites
Scientists generate first map of clouds on an exoplanet
Map reveals a lopsided cloud distribution on an extremely hot planet.
Dina Katabi and Sara Seager win MacArthur ‘genius grants’
Two MIT professors are among 24 recipients nationwide of this year’s unrestricted $625,000 prizes from the MacArthur Foundation.
Inflatable antennae could give CubeSats greater reach
Design inflates with a powder that turns into gas.
An answer to why our galaxy’s black hole is a finicky eater
Researchers find material ejects itself before black hole can devour it.
Detecting DNA in space
Researchers, in a step toward analyzing Mars for signs of life, find that gene-sequencing chip can survive space radiation.
An answer to a lunar mystery: Why is the moon’s gravity so uneven?
Simulations based on GRAIL data show how gravitational anomalies developed early in lunar history.
New five-planet system contains two that are in the ‘habitable zone’
Potentially habitable planets are slightly larger than Earth.
NASA selects MIT-led TESS project for 2017 mission
$200 million project will launch telescopes to perform full-sky search for transiting exoplanets.
CERN announces measurement of antimatter excess in space
MIT physicist and AMS spokesman Samuel Ting presents results via webcast.
Mapping the early history of the moon
In 41st annual Killian Lecture, Maria Zuber describes looking deep into the moon’s interior to chart its early history.
Mercury may have harbored an ancient magma ocean
Massive lava flows may have given rise to two distinct rock types on Mercury’s surface.