Ordinary pencil lead holds extraordinary properties when shaved down to layers as thin as an atom. A single, atom-thin sheet of graphite, known as graphene, is just a tiny fraction of the width of a human hair. Under a microscope, ...
Nanophysics
Oct 18, 2023
1
109
A diverse set of species, from snails to algae to amoebas, make programmable DNA-cutting enzymes called Fanzors—and a new study from scientists at MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research has identified thousands of ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Oct 13, 2023
0
6178
The genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus encodes 29 proteins, one of which is an ion channel called E. This channel, which transports protons and calcium ions, induces infected cells to launch an inflammatory response that damages ...
Biochemistry
Oct 13, 2023
0
56
If all goes well, on Thursday morning a NASA mission with extensive connections to MIT will be headed to a metal world.
Space Exploration
Oct 11, 2023
0
8
Researchers who have been working for years to understand electron arrangement and magnetism in certain semimetals have been frustrated by the fact that the materials only display magnetic properties if they are cooled to ...
General Physics
Oct 10, 2023
0
466
If you could sink through the Earth's crust, you might hear, with a carefully tuned ear, a cacophany of booms and crackles along the way. The fissures, pores, and defects running through rocks are like strings that resonate ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 9, 2023
0
272
The popular children's game of telephone is based on a simple premise: The starting player whispers a message into the ear of the next player. That second player then passes along the message to the third person and so on ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 28, 2023
0
118
Back in the spring of 2022, professor of linguistics David Pesetsky was talking to an undergraduate class about relative clauses, which add information to sentences. For instance: "The senator, with whom we were speaking, ...
Social Sciences
Sep 27, 2023
1
0
Decarbonization of national economies will be key to achieving global net-zero emissions by 2050, a major stepping stone to the Paris Agreement's long-term goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (and ...
Environment
Sep 27, 2023
1
1
On Sunday morning, a capsule the size of a mini-fridge dropped from the skies over western Utah, carrying a first-of-its-kind package: about 250 grams of dirt and dust plucked from the surface of an asteroid. As a candy-striped ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 25, 2023
0
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