The ‘snowball’ fight over global deep freeze periods
A Yale-led research team has picked a side in the “Snowball Earth” debate over the possible cause of planet-wide deep freeze events that occurred in the distant past. According to a new study, these so-called “Snowball” Earth periods, in which
Protein accumulation on fat droplets implicated in late-onset Alzheimer’s disease
UNC School of Medicine researcher Sarah Cohen, PhD, and Ian Windham, a former PhD student from the Cohen lab, have made a new discovery about apolipoprotein E (APOE) — the biggest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Older people
New AI tool discovers realistic ‘metamaterials’ with unusual properties
The properties of normal materials, such as stiffness and flexibility, are determined by the molecular composition of the material, but the properties of metamaterials are determined by the geometry of the structure from which they are built. Researchers design these
Surprising behavior in one of the least studied mammals in the world
Some animals live in such remote and inaccessible regions of the globe that it is nearly impossible to study them in their natural habitats. Beaked whales, of which 24 species have been found so far, are among them: They live
New adhesive tape picks up and sticks down 2D materials as easily as child’s play
Materials just atoms in thickness, known as two-dimensional (2D) materials, are set to revolutionize future technology, including in the electronics industry. However, commercialization of devices that contain 2D materials has faced challenges due to the difficulty in transferring these extremely
Molecular manganese complex as superphotooxidant
Highly reducing or oxidizing photocatalysts are a fundamental challenge in photochemistry. Only a few transition metal complexes with Earth-abundant metal ions have so far advanced to excited state oxidants, including chromium, iron, and cobalt. All these photocatalysts require high energy
Researchers show classical computers can keep up with, and surpass, their quantum counterparts
Quantum computing has been hailed as a technology that can outperform classical computing in both speed and memory usage, potentially opening the way to making predictions of physical phenomena not previously possible. Many see quantum computing’s advent as marking a
Letter to the MIT community: Announcing the Climate Project at MIT
The following letter was sent to the MIT community today by President Sally Kornbluth. Dear members of the MIT community, At my inauguration, echoing a sentiment I heard everywhere on my campus listening tour, I called on the people of
3 Questions: The Climate Project at MIT
MIT is preparing a major campus-wide effort to develop technological, behavioral, and policy solutions to some of the toughest problems now impeding an effective global climate response. The Climate Project at MIT, as the new enterprise is known, includes new
Reflecting on COP28 — and humanity’s progress toward meeting global climate goals
With 85,000 delegates, the 2023 United Nations climate change conference, known as COP28, was the largest U.N. climate conference in history. It was held at the end of the hottest year in recorded history. And after 12 days of negotiations,