The discovery of a new exoplanet will provide researchers an opportunity to explore the atmosphere of a galactic neighbor, reports Joshua Sokol for New Scientist. “There’s this huge forest out there of worlds like this one,” explains MIT postdoc Zachory Berta-Thompson. “But we’ve never had the opportunity to look at any one of those trees.”
Washington Post reporter Joel Achenbach writes that researchers have discovered a new Earth-sized exoplanet. “It was very hard to find, and just barely at the limit of our detection, but it gives us finally a chance to really study a rocky planet around another star in an unprecedented level of detail,” explains MIT postdoc Zachory Berta-Thompson.
Deborah Netburn of The Los Angeles Times reports on the discovery of an exoplanet 39 light-years away. "The discovery of this planet gives us the opportunity to switch our focus from imagining what is out there to testing our theories observationally,” says MIT postdoc Zachory Berta-Thompson.
Boston Globe reporter Felicia Gans writes that researchers have discovered an exoplanet 39 light-years away. “By studying this new world, I’m optimistic we’ll learn a little more about how planets work and bring us a little closer to that big exciting question of empirically figuring out whether life is out there in the galaxy,” says MIT postdoc Zachory Berta-Thompson.
Researchers have discovered a rocky, Earth-sized exoplanet that is close enough for astronomers to study its atmosphere, according to the Associated Press. “While the scientists say the planet is too hot for life, it's still much cooler than the rocky fireballs known to orbit stars beyond our solar system.”
Forbes reporter Bruce Dorminey writes about a new MIT study showing that refueling at the moon would make Mars missions more efficient. Prof. Olivier de Weck explains that this strategy could “represent a savings of $5.8 billion per mission.”
Prof. Matthew Evans speaks with New Scientist reporter Joshua Sokol about the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Evans relates that while every generation has told their students that they will detect gravitational waves, “I tell my grad students this, and I think it’s really true.”
Graduate student Sydney Do speaks with Huffington Post Live about the technological shortfalls that currently make the Mars One plan for colonizing the Red Planet unrealistic. “Our finding is the Mars One plan is inherently unsustainable and is hence infeasible,” explains Do. “The technology that’s required is just not there yet.”
Prof. Sara Seager and her team are building a list of biosignatures - chemicals that could suggest the presence of life on other planets - in their search for extraterrestrial life, writes Joshua Sokol for New Scientist. Seager is “looking at all small molecules, not just the ones linked to life as we know it.”
Graduate students Sydney Do and Andrew Owens will debate Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp at a convention celebrating the red planet this month, writes Steve Annear for The Boston Globe: “Do, Owens, and other MIT researchers released a paper in October questioning the Mars One mission design and practicality.”
Justine Hofherr writes for Boston.com about Prof. Dava Newman, highlighting her new role as deputy administrator of NASA, her work planning for a manned mission to Mars and her goal to encourage more young girls to pursue careers in STEM. “I’m motivated every single day because my passion is exploration,” says Newman.
Lily Rothman writes for TIME about how during computer scientist Margaret Hamilton’s time at MIT, she led the development of critical flight software that helped make the Apollo 11 moon landing possible. Hamilton recalls that she was “more happy about it [the on-board flight software] working than about the fact that we landed.”
Felicia Gans writes for The Boston Globe that the images and information gathered by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has changed the way that Prof. Richard Binzel and other scientists think about Pluto. “We had expected to be surprised by what Pluto had to offer, but this is beyond anything we imagined,” says Binzel.
CBS Boston reporter Susie Steimie writes about Prof. Richard Binzel’s work as a member of the NASA New Horizons team and his thoughts on the importance of the mission. “We hope by reaching this unreachable frontier that it inspires everyone especially the young kids. We think this is the Apollo moment of our generation,” says Binzel.
Prof. Richard Binzel speaks with WBUR's Doug Tribou about NASA’s New Horizons mission and what it was like to see the first images of Pluto captured by the spacecraft. “It just so exceeded any expectation of what Pluto might look like in terms of its complexity and diversity,” says Binzel.