MIT astronomers observed the elusive starlight surrounding some of the earliest quasars in the universe. The findings may shed light on how the earliest supermassive black holes became so massive despite having a relatively short amount of cosmic time in which to grow.
MIT physicists developed a technique to arrange atoms in much closer proximity than previously possible, down to 50 nanometers. The group plans to use the method to manipulate atoms into configurations that could generate the first purely magnetic quantum gate a key building block for a new type of quantum computer.
MIT senior Olivia Rosenstein's cross-country participation provides momentum to her studies as an experimental physicist working with 2D materials, optics, and computational cosmology.
One of the biggest revelations from the MIT physicist Netta Engelhardt’s work is that information that falls into a black hole isn’t necessarily lost forever. She is now tackling other questions about gravity, hoping to fill the last, largest gaps in physicists’ understanding of the universe at the most fundamental scales.
A previously quiet black hole at the center of a distant galaxy has suddenly erupted, giving off plumes of gas every 8.5 days. These “hiccups” suggest black hole accretion disks may be more varied than previously thought, possibly containing other black holes, and even entire stars.