Two physicists and a curious host walk into a studio…
On GBH’s new show The Curiosity Desk, MIT LIGO researchers revel in the beauties of fundamental discovery science and MIT astronomers talk planetary defense.
Department
Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Climate change may produce “fast-food” phytoplankton
With warmer ocean temperatures, the composition of marine plankton could shift from protein-rich to carb-heavy, a new study suggests.
QS World University Rankings rates MIT No. 1 in 12 subjects for 2026
The Institute also ranks second in seven subject areas.
A complicated future for a methane-cleansing molecule
A new model shows how levels of the “atmosphere’s detergent” may rise and fall in response to climate change.
3 Questions: Fortifying our planetary defenses
MIT astronomers are developing a new way to detect, monitor, and mitigate the threats posed by smaller asteroids to our critical space infrastructure.
Understanding how “marine snow” acts as a carbon sink
A new study finds hitchhiking bacteria dissolve essential ballast in ubiquitous “snow” particles, which could counteract the ocean’s ability to sequester carbon.
X-raying rocks reveals their carbon-storing capacity
New research by MIT geophysicists could assist efforts to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it underground.
Study reveals climatic fingerprints of wildfires and volcanic eruptions
In research that could help elucidate humans’ role in global warming, scientists showed how three major natural events impacted global atmospheric temperatures.
New study unveils the mechanism behind “boomerang” earthquakes
These ricocheting ruptures may be more common than previously thought.
Some early life forms may have breathed oxygen well before it filled the atmosphere
A new study suggests aerobic respiration began hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought.
Polar weather on Jupiter and Saturn hints at the planets’ interior details
New research may explain the striking differences between the two planets’ polar vortex patterns.
New research may help scientists predict when a humid heat wave will break
As these events become more common at midlatitudes, a phenomenon called an atmospheric inversion will determine how long they last.
Post-COP30, more aggressive policies needed to cap global warming at 1.5 C
Global Change Outlook report for 2025 shows how accelerated action can reduce climate risks and improve sustainability outcomes, while highlighting potential geopolitical hurdles.
School of Science welcomed new faculty in 2024
Eleven new professors join the departments of Biology; Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences; Mathematics; and Physics.
When companies “go green,” air quality impacts can vary dramatically
Cutting air travel and purchasing renewable energy can lead to different effects on overall air quality, even while achieving the same CO2 reduction, new research shows.