An unexpected origin story for a lopsided black hole merger
Researchers suggest a novel process to explain the collision of a large black hole and a much smaller one.
Are we still listening to space?
Despite the planet’s seeming standstill, graduate students continue to use LIGO to identify astrophysical events.
Lava oceans may not explain the brightness of some hot super-Earths
By making their own lava and cooled glass, scientists find these materials likely aren’t responsible for the unexpected glow of some exoplanets.
With Perseverance and a little MOXIE, MIT is going to Mars
Led by MIT researchers, one of the experiments aboard the next mission to the Red Planet aims to generate oxygen from Martian air.
An origin story for a family of oddball meteorites
Study suggests the rare objects likely came from an early planetesimal with a magnetic core.
In a first, astronomers watch a black hole’s corona disappear, then reappear
A colliding star may have triggered the drastic transformation.
Portable system boosts laser precision, at room temperature
“Light squeezer” reduces quantum noise in lasers, could enhance quantum computing and gravitational-wave detection.
Quantum fluctuations can jiggle objects on the human scale
Study shows LIGO’s 40-kilogram mirrors can move in response to tiny quantum effects, revealing the “spooky popcorn of the universe.”
TESS mission discovers massive ice giant
Neptune-sized planet may be remnant core of a much larger planet.
Astronomers detect regular rhythm of radio waves, with origins unknown
Signal from 500 million light years away is the first periodic pattern of radio bursts detected.
Capturing stardust
Danielle Frostig, a physics graduate student, is developing an instrument to study how the heaviest elements in the universe are produced.
Citizen scientists spot closest young brown dwarf disk yet
Discovery made through the Disk Detective project could help the search for new planets.
Lincoln Laboratory decommissions Lincoln Experimental Satellite–9
After more than 44 years of providing satellite communications, the LES-9 workhorse retires from service with a record of groundbreaking technical achievement.
When baby planets melt
MIT scientists identify first magmas generated in solar system’s building blocks, unexpectedly answering questions about meteorites and formation of rocky planets.
To catch an interstellar visitor, use a solar-powered space slingshot
MIT research proposal for rendezvous missions with interstellar objects selected for NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program.