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.
Students take control of satellites on the International Space Station
200 high-school students participate in MIT’s annual Zero Robotics competition.
When the first stars blinked on
The very first stars may have turned on when the universe was 750 million years old.
GRAIL reveals a battered lunar history
Twin spacecraft create a highly detailed gravity map of the moon, finding an interior pulverized by early impacts.
Scientists discover water ice on Mercury
Ice and organic material may have been carried to the planet by passing comets.
Scientists find first evidence of dynamo generation on an asteroid
A meteorite found in Antarctica holds evidence of a once-active dynamo on Vesta.
NASA-JPL director Charles Elachi talks about latest Mars mission
Curiosity is the most ambitious planetary rover mission ever, but it’s just one of the many exploratory projects JPL is undertaking.
River networks on Titan point to a puzzling geologic history
Findings suggest the surface of Saturn’s largest moon may have undergone a recent transformation.