Chemistry

MIT scientists have discovered a complex form of carbon, crucial for life on Earth, outside our solar system for the first time, demonstrating how “the compounds needed for life could come from space,” reports Alex Wilkins for New Scientist. “Now, we’re seeing both ends of this life cycle,” explains Prof. Brett McGuire. He explains that we can see the chemical archaeological record in our solar system in asteroids and on Earth, “and now we’re looking back in time at a place where another solar system will form, and seeing these same molecules there forming. We’re seeing the start of the archaeological record.”

Writing for Fast Company, Senior Lecturer Guadalupe Hayes-Mota SB '08, MS '16, MBA '16, explores new approaches to improve the drug development process and more effectively connect scientific discoveries and treatment. “Transforming scientific discoveries into better treatments is a complex challenge, but it is also an opportunity to rethink our approach to healthcare innovation,” writes Hayes-Mota. “Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, leveraging AI, focusing on patient-centered innovation, and rethinking R&D, we can create a future where scientific breakthroughs translate into meaningful, accessible treatments for all.”

A new study by MIT researchers suggests that “Mars’ missing atmosphere may be locked up in the planet’s clay-rich surface,” reports Tom Howarth for Newsweek. “According to the researchers, ancient water trickling through Mars' rocks could have triggered a series of chemical reactions, converting CO2 into methane and trapping the carbon in clay minerals for billions of years,” explains Howarth.

Los Angeles Times reporter Rosanna Xia spotlights Prof. Susan Solomon’s new book, “Solvable: How We Healed the Earth, and How We Can Do It Again,” as a hopeful remedy to climate anxiety. “An atmospheric chemist at MIT whose research was key to healing the giant gaping hole in our ozone layer, Solomon gives us much-needed inspiration — and some tangible ways forward,” explains Xia. 

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have found a “unique atomic-level interaction that shields collagen from the damaging effects of water molecules,” reports Mrigakshi Dixit for Interesting Engineering. “Proteins deteriorate when the peptide bonds that link the component amino acids are attacked by water molecules, which results in the cleavage of the peptide bonds,” explains Prof. Ronald Raines. “We discovered a chemical interaction in collagen that protects its peptide bonds from attack and cleavage.” 

In the Wall Street Journal, Cady Coleman '83, a former NASA astronaut and U.S. Air Force colonel, recalls how a talk by astronaut Sally Ride at MIT  inspired her to shoot for the stars. “In her quiet way, Sally Ride shattered assumptions I didn’t know I had,” Coleman writes. “It is extraordinary what a difference it can make to see someone like you doing things you might never have considered doing.”

MIT scientists have solved a decades old mystery by demonstrating impact vaporization is the primary cause of the moon’s thin atmosphere, reports Eric Lagatta for USA Today.  The findings, “have implications far beyond determining the moon's atmospheric origins,” writes Lagatta. “In fact, it's not unthinkable that similar processes could potentially be taking place at other celestial bodies in the solar system.”

By analyzing isotopes of potassium and rubidium in the lunar soil, Prof. Nicole Nie and her team have demonstrated that micrometeorite impacts are the main cause of the moon’s thin atmosphere, reports Isabel Swafford for National Geographic. “Understanding the space environments of different planetary bodies is essential for planning future missions and exploring the broader context of space weathering,” says Nie.

Newsweek reporter Jess Thomson spotlights, Prof. Nicole Nie’s research uncovering the origins of the moon’s thin atmosphere. “The researchers described how lunar samples from the Apollo missions revealed that meteorites of varying sizes have constantly hit the moon's surface, vaporizing atoms in the soil and kicking them up into the atmosphere,” writes Thomson. “The constant hitting of the moon replenishes any gases lost to space.” 

By analyzing lunar soil samples, MIT scientists have found that the moon’s thin atmosphere was created by meteorite impacts over billions of years, reports Will Dunham for Reuters. “Many important questions about the lunar atmosphere remain unanswered,” explains Prof. Nicole Nie. “We are now able to address some of these questions due to advancements in technology.” 

MIT scientists analyzed lunar soil samples and discovered that meteorite impacts likely created the moon’s thin atmosphere, reports Nicola Davis for The Guardian. “Our findings provide a clearer picture of how the moon’s surface and atmosphere interact over long timescales, [and] enhance our understanding of space weathering processes,” explains Prof. Nicole Nie. 

In an interview with The New York Times, Prof. Susan Solomon speaks about her latest book “Solvable: How We Healed the Earth, and How We Can Do it Again,” which offers learnings from past environmental fights to affect future change. “People need to have some hope. We imagine that we never solve anything…but it’s really important to go back and look at how much we succeeded in the past and what are the common threads of those successes,” Solomon says.

Prof. Desirée Plata and her research team have designed “a kind of clay that mimics the behavior of underwater microorganisms to break down methane into water and carbon dioxide,” reports Ivy Scott for The Boston Globe. “The estimates are that you could save a half a degree of warming by 2100 if you cut human-made methane emissions in half, so that’s a pretty big deal,” says Plata. “It’s the only greenhouse gas that can do that. It’s just a question of whether or not we’ll start to see people doing that ... [regionally] and in Massachusetts.”

Prof. Moungi Bawendi, a recipient of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, speaks with Nobel Prize Conversations host Adam Smith about the joys of visualizing quantum mechanics, the inspiration for his Nobel-prize winning work and his love of music. “Being in a place like MIT and being exposed to engineering and other scientific fields and medicine across the river and Harvard Medical School and a lot of startups around here, you really are exposed to so many things that are so interesting and I love that,” says Bawendi. “Those things give me ideas of how to go back to the lab and take different directions.” 

Writing for The Boston Globe, Cady Coleman ’83 reflects on her career as an astronaut and Air Force colonel. “I am an astronaut,” writes Coleman. “Even after 24 years at NASA, two space shuttle missions, and six months living aboard the International Space Station, it thrills me to say those words, and yet there is a part of me that’s still surprised by them.”