TESS discovers its first Earth-sized planet

Orbiting a nearby star, the new planet is the smallest identified so far by the TESS mission.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office • mit
April 16, 2019 ~6 min

Earliest life may have arisen in ponds, not oceans

Study finds shallow bodies of water were probably more suitable for Earth’s first life forms.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office • mit
April 12, 2019 ~5 min


MIT celebrates 50th anniversary of historic moon landing

Symposium featuring former astronauts and other Apollo mission luminaries examines the program’s legacy.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office • mit
March 15, 2019 ~13 min

Tectonics in the tropics trigger Earth’s ice ages, study finds

Major tectonic collisions near the equator have caused three ice ages in the last 540 million years.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office • mit
March 14, 2019 ~8 min

Engineers program marine robots to take calculated risks

Algorithm could help autonomous underwater vehicles explore risky but scientifically-rewarding environments.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office • mit
Jan. 30, 2019 ~8 min

MIT’s REXIS and Bennu’s watery surface

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx sample-return spacecraft, carrying MIT instrument, arrived at asteroid in December; now begins the science to select a sampling location.

Lauren Hinkel | EAPS • mit
Jan. 29, 2019 ~9 min

TESS discovers its third new planet, with longest orbit yet

Measurements indicate a dense, gaseous, “sub-Neptune” world, three times the size of Earth.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office • mit
Jan. 7, 2019 ~8 min

Tiny satellites could be “guide stars” for huge next-generation telescopes

Researchers design CubeSats with lasers to provide steady reference light for telescopes investigating distant planets.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office • mit
Jan. 4, 2019 ~9 min


3 Questions: MIT goes interstellar with Voyager 2

MIT Kavli's John Richardson describes MIT's role in the historic passing of the Voyager 2 craft past the heliopause and into the interstellar medium.

MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research • mit
Dec. 10, 2018 ~4 min

E.T., we’re home

Existing laser technology could be fashioned into Earth’s “porch light” to attract alien astronomers, study finds.

Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office • mit
Nov. 4, 2018 ~7 min

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