Mark Vogelsberger wins 2020 Buchalter Cosmology Prize for simulating a “fuzzy” universe
Associate professor of physics shares the honor with colleague Phillip Mocz for their novel dark matter research.
Jan. 14, 2021 • ~3 min
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3 Questions: Hsin-Yu Chen on treading lightly when dating the universe
MIT postdoc finds the angle at which we view neutron star collisions could significantly impact age measurements.
Nov. 13, 2020 • ~6 min
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Designing new mirror materials for better gravitational-wave detection
Nicholas Demos, a first-generation college graduate and MathWorks Fellow in MIT’s Kavli Institute, is improving our ability to listen to the cosmos.
Oct. 28, 2020 • ~7 min
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The wobbling shadow of the M87* black hole
Analysis of Event Horizon Telescope observations from 2009 to 2017 reveals turbulent evolution of the M87* black hole image.
Sept. 23, 2020 • ~5 min
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Astronomers discover an Earth-sized “pi planet” with a 3.14-day orbit
The rocky world, with its baking-hot surface, is likely not habitable.
Sept. 21, 2020 • ~7 min
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Astronomers may have found a signature of life on Venus
Evidence indicates phosphine, a gas associated with living organisms, is present in the habitable region of Venus’ atmosphere.
Sept. 14, 2020 • ~10 min
physics astrophysics astronomy research school-of-science kavli-institute planetary-science space-astronomy-and-planetary-science eaps
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.
Sept. 2, 2020 • ~8 min
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A “bang” in LIGO and Virgo detectors signals most massive gravitational-wave source yet
A binary black hole merger likely produced gravitational waves equal to the energy of eight suns.
Sept. 2, 2020 • ~10 min
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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.
Aug. 4, 2020 • ~8 min
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An origin story for a family of oddball meteorites
Study suggests the rare objects likely came from an early planetesimal with a magnetic core.
July 24, 2020 • ~8 min
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