Jennifer Chu

Jan 13, 2025 | news.mit.edu | Jennifer Chu

One supermassive black hole has kept astronomers glued to their scopes for the last several years. First came a surprise disappearance, and now, a precarious spinning act. The black hole in question is 1ES 1927+654, which is about as massive as a million suns and sits in a galaxy that is 270 million light-years away. In 2018, astronomers at MIT and elsewhere observed that the black hole’s corona — a cloud of whirling, white-hot plasma — suddenly disappeared, before reassembling months later.

Jan 7, 2025 | techxplore.com | Jennifer Chu

Used in everything from soda cans and foil wrap to circuit boards and rocket boosters, aluminum is the second-most-produced metal in the world after steel. By the end of this decade, demand is projected to drive up aluminum production by 40% worldwide. This steep rise will magnify aluminum's environmental impacts, including any pollutants that are released with its manufacturing waste.

Jan 7, 2025 | news.mit.edu | Jennifer Chu

Used in everything from soda cans and foil wrap to circuit boards and rocket boosters, aluminum is the second-most-produced metal in the world after steel. By the end of this decade, demand is projected to drive up aluminum production by 40 percent worldwide. This steep rise will magnify aluminum’s environmental impacts, including any pollutants that are released with its manufacturing waste.

Jan 3, 2025 | news.mit.edu | Jennifer Chu

One of the hardest-working organisms in the ocean is the tiny, emerald-tinged Prochlorococcus marinus. These single-celled “picoplankton,” which are smaller than a human red blood cell, can be found in staggering numbers throughout the ocean’s surface waters, making Prochlorococcus the most abundant photosynthesizing organism on the planet.

Dec 18, 2024 | news.mit.edu | Jennifer Chu

The electronics industry is approaching a limit to the number of transistors that can be packed onto the surface of a computer chip. So, chip manufacturers are looking to build up rather than out. Instead of squeezing ever-smaller transistors onto a single surface, the industry is aiming to stack multiple surfaces of transistors and semiconducting elements — akin to turning a ranch house into a high-rise.