Worldwide, heat waves are becoming less unusual. It’s no longer possible to ignore sweltering summer temperatures or to dismiss them as one-off anomalies. What’s happening? According to The New York Times, the Australian Open tennis tournament, scheduled for the second half of January amid peak summer weather in the Southern Hemisphere, has been forced to […]
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recycled concrete makes up carbon-storing pedestrian bridge In Rosmalen, Netherlands, Paebbl and Heijmans unveil the dubbed world’s first pedestrian bridge made of recycled, CO₂-neutral concrete that can capture and store carbon dioxide over time. The structure is seven meters long and uses 75 percent circular raw materials. For the project, recycled concrete replaced normal sand […]
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But now, everything has been put on hold. The news came as Trump used his Wednesday speech at the World Economic Forum to triple down on his threat to seize Greenland (even though he mistook the territory for Iceland several times). Last week, Trump threatened to levy tariffs on eight European allies that oppose the […]
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But now, everything has been put on hold. The news came as Trump used his Wednesday speech at the World Economic Forum to triple down on his threat to seize Greenland (even though he mistook the territory for Iceland several times). Last week, Trump threatened to levy tariffs on eight European allies that oppose the […]
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Carbon capture technology in mazda’s eco concept sports car Mazda has unveiled the eco concept sports car Vision X-Coupe that can capture and recycle carbon emissions the more it drives around. Equipped with the Mobile Carbon Capture technology developed by the manufacturer, the vehicle filters out the carbon dioxide directly from the exhaust system. Normally, […]
Read MoreMany people are optimistic about ammonia’s potential as an energy source and carrier of hydrogen, and though large-scale adoption would require major changes to the way it is currently manufactured, ammonia does have a number of advantages. For one thing, ammonia is energy-dense and carbon-free. It is also already produced at scale and shipped around […]
Read Moreeco-friendly construction blocks made from plastic waste Meet Eco-C Cube, an eco-friendly construction block built from recycled plastic waste, such as old fishing nets, buoys, agricultural vinyl, mulching film, and other mixed, discarded plastic. The manufacturer Westec Global relies on what it describes as New-Cycling process. Instead of cleaning, sorting, and breaking plastics down into […]
Read MoreArtificial intelligence has captured headlines recently for its rapidly growing energy demands, and particularly the surging electricity usage of data centers that enable the training and deployment of the latest generative AI models. But it’s not all bad news — some AI tools have the potential to reduce some forms of energy consumption and enable cleaner grids. […]
Read MoreMassachusetts is uniquely positioned to become a leader in climate tech, said Emily Reichert MBA ’12, the CEO of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) and former CEO of Greentown Labs, to members of the MIT community at a seminar in November. Reichert outlined the interconnectedness of economic development and clean energy innovation in MassCEC’s […]
Read MoreA long stretch of humid heat followed by intense thunderstorms is a weather pattern historically seen mostly in and around the tropics. But climate change is making humid heat waves and extreme storms more common in traditionally temperate midlatitude regions such as the midwestern U.S., which has seen episodes of unusually high heat and humidity in […]
Read MoreTraditional fireworks contribute to air and noise pollution Biodegradable fireworks, light shows, and drones can offer an alternative and cleaner change to the future of traditional pyrotechnics. For hundreds of years, fireworks have meant loud bangs and bright colors in the sky as a way to mark celebrations, like New Year’s Eve, national holidays, weddings, […]
Read More“At MIT, innovation ranges from awe-inspiring technology to down-to-Earth creativity,” noted Chronicle, during a campus visit this year for an episode of the program. In 2025, MIT researchers made headlines across print publications, podcasts, and video platforms for key scientific advances, from breakthroughs in quantum and artificial intelligence to new efforts aimed at improving pediatric health […]
Read MoreAviation’s climate impact is partly due to contrails — condensation that a plane streaks across the sky when it flies through icy and humid layers of the atmosphere. Contrails trap heat that radiates from the planet’s surface, and while the magnitude of this impact is uncertain, several studies suggest contrails may be responsible for about […]
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The latest United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) concluded in November without a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels and without significant progress in strengthening national pledges to reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions. In aggregate, today’s climate policies remain far too unambitious to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, setting the […]
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Mohsen Laei’s Vision for Regenerative Marine Architecture Designer Mohsen Laei introduces a scalable, fully sustainable floating platform that combines large-scale algae cultivation with renewable energy, freshwater production, and marine ecosystem restoration. This project proposes the design and construction of a multifunctional structure that serves as an innovative model for marine architecture. By integrating renewable energy production, […]
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The world’s most common construction material has a secret. Cement, the “glue” that holds concrete together, gradually “breathes in” and stores millions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air over the lifetimes of buildings and infrastructure. A new study from the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub quantifies this process, carbon uptake, at a national […]
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In response, a bipartisan committee came up with some recommendations: a coin featuring Frederick Douglass to represent abolition, one with a “Votes for Women” flag to honor women’s suffrage, and a coin featuring 6-year-old Ruby Bridges, who helped desegregate her school in 1960. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has ultimate say, did not follow […]
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Governments and companies constantly face decisions about how to allocate finite amounts of money to clean energy technologies that can make a difference to the world’s climate, its economies, and to society as a whole. The process is inherently uncertain, but research has been shown to help predict which technologies will be most successful. Using […]
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Capturing carbon dioxide from industrial plants is an important strategy in the efforts to reduce the impact of global climate change. It’s used in many industries, including the production of petrochemicals, cement, and fertilizers. MIT chemical engineers have now discovered a simple way to make carbon capture more efficient and affordable, by adding a common […]
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Students enrolled in MIT’s New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) program recently collaborated across academic disciplines to design and construct a solar-powered charging station. Positioned in a quiet campus courtyard, the station provides the MIT community with climate-friendly power for phones, laptops, and tablets. Its installation marked the “first time a cross-departmental team of undergraduates designed, […]
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Many organizations are taking actions to shrink their carbon footprint, such as purchasing electricity from renewable sources or reducing air travel. Both actions would cut greenhouse gas emissions, but which offers greater societal benefits? In a first step toward answering that question, MIT researchers found that even if each activity reduces the same amount of […]
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Growing energy demand means the U.S. will almost certainly have to expand its electricity grid in coming years. What’s the best way to do this? A new study by MIT researchers examines legislation introduced in Congress and identifies relative tradeoffs involving reliability, cost, and emissions, depending on the proposed approach. The researchers evaluated two policy […]
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We’ve all had the thought — wouldn’t it be nice if summer were just a little longer? Well, it might become a reality in the not-too-distant future. And, unfortunately, that’s not a good sign for our planet. According to a new study, climate change — primarily driven by human activities like burning coal for cheap […]
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The ordeal was a sign of things to come. Since Trump took power, his administration has waged a multifront war on its ever-growing list of political enemies. In July, Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OBBB, repealed much of the Inflation Reduction Act’s nearly $400 billion worth of climate- and energy-related grants, tax incentives, […]
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At a high level, ammonia seems like a dream fuel: It’s carbon-free, energy-dense, and easier to move and store than hydrogen. Ammonia is also already manufactured and transported at scale, meaning it could transform energy systems using existing infrastructure. But burning ammonia creates dangerous nitrous oxides, and splitting ammonia molecules to create hydrogen fuel typically […]
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“Her lawyers have replied that she’s not going to answer any questions,” Comer told Politico. “She’s only going to plead the Fifth. I mean, I could spend a bunch of taxpayer dollars to send staff and members down there, and if she’s going to plead the Fifth, I don’t know that that’s a good investment.” […]
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carlo ratti and Höweler + Yoon’s AquaPraça arrives in brazil AquaPraça, the 400 square-meter floating plaza by CRA – Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon is officially anchored along Guajará Bay for COP30, becoming one of the summit’s most visible architectural statements on climate adaptation. Unveiled in Belém by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs […]
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If there was one thing Cameron Halliday SM ’19, MBA ’22, PhD ’22 was exceptional at during the early days of his PhD at MIT, it was producing the same graph over and over again. Unfortunately for Halliday, the graph measured various materials’ ability to absorb CO2 at high temperatures over time — and it […]
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“We’re here to talk about really substantive changes, and we want you to be a participant in that,” said Desirée Plata, the School of Engineering Distinguished Professor of Climate and Energy in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at Energizing@MIT: the MIT Energy Initiative’s (MITEI) Annual Research Conference that was held on Sept. 9-10. […]
Read More“MIT.nano is essential to making progress in high-priority areas where I believe that MIT has a responsibility to lead,” opened MIT president Sally Kornbluth at the 2025 Nano Summit. “If we harness our collective efforts, we can make a serious positive impact.” It was these collective efforts that drove discussions at the daylong event hosted […]
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With global power demand from data centers expected to more than double by 2030, the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) in September launched an effort that brings together MIT researchers and industry experts to explore innovative solutions for powering the data-driven future. At its annual research conference, MITEI announced the Data Center Power Forum, a targeted research effort for […]
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