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Putting a price on carbon, in the form of a fee or tax on the producers of fossil fuels, can be an effective way to curb emissions of greenhouse gases.

Carbon taxes could make significant dent in climate change, study finds

Several different carbon-pricing approaches would help reduce emissions, and some would be fair as well, researchers report.

April 6, 2018

Researchers have found that a solid oxide protective coating for metals can, when applied in sufficiently thin layers, deform as if it were a liquid, filling any cracks and gaps as they form.

Self-healing metal oxides could protect against corrosion

Researchers find an ultrathin layer of aluminum oxide, though solid, can flow like a liquid instead of cracking.

April 3, 2018

Diagram illustrates the crystal lattice of a proposed battery electrolyte material called Li3PO4. The researchers found that measuring how vibrations of sound move through the lattice could reveal how well ions – electrically charged atoms or molecules – could travel through the solid material, and therefore how they would work in a real battery. In this diagram, the purple pyramid-like shapes...

A new way to find better battery materials

Design principles could point to better electrolytes for next-generation lithium batteries.

March 25, 2018

Researchers at MIT have developed a new device that is able to extract moisture from very dry air.

In field tests, device harvests water from desert air

MIT-developed system could provide drinking water even in extremely arid locations.

March 22, 2018

Visualization of the proposed SPARC tokamak experiment. Using high-field magnets built with newly available high-temperature superconductors, this experiment would be the first controlled fusion plasma to produce net energy output.

MIT and newly formed company launch novel approach to fusion power

Goal is for research to produce a working pilot plant within 15 years.

March 9, 2018

Now in its 13th year, the MIT Energy Conference is run by the MIT Energy Club, a student-run organization that is the largest such club in the world, with about 5,000 members.

MIT Energy Conference speakers say transformation can happen fast

New technologies, systems, and business models are rapidly changing the energy landscape, experts attest.

March 6, 2018

A new study found that cities with an orderly pattern, like the street grid seen in most of this map, have a much greater urban heat island effect than those with a more disorderly pattern, such as areas in the upper right.

Urban heat island effects depend on a city’s layout

The way streets and buildings are arranged makes a big difference in how heat builds up, study shows.

February 22, 2018

Seeking materials that match the brain

Polina Anikeeva explores ways to make neural probes that are compatible with delicate biological tissues.

February 18, 2018

The team’s test device, which has been deployed on the roof of an MIT building for several months, was used to prove the principle behind their new energy-harvesting concept. The test device is the black box at right, behind a weather-monitoring system (white) and a set of test equipment to monitor the device’s performance (larger black case at left).

System draws power from daily temperature swings

Technology developed at MIT can harness temperature fluctuations of many kinds to produce electricity.

February 15, 2018

Maps depict the close correlation of crop production, rainfall and temperature in the U.S. Midwest in the last half of the 20th century. In this map, the number of bushels of corn produced are shown in shades of green.

Intensive agriculture influences U.S. regional summer climate, study finds

An increase in corn and soybean production in the Midwest may have led to cooler, wetter summers there.

February 13, 2018

President L. Rafael Reif addresses the MLK luncheon attendees.

MLK luncheon: “What matters is what you’re doing”

Former NFL player Wade Davis gives keynote talk at annual event, reflects on his life as a gay black athlete.

February 9, 2018

Electron microscope images of marine bacteria infected with the non-tailed viruses studied in this research. The bacterial cell walls are seen as long double lines, and the viruses are the small round objects with dark centers.

New type of virus found in the ocean

The unusual characteristics of these abundant, bacteria-killing viruses could lead to evolutionary insights.

January 24, 2018

Students in the initial class examine electronics components as they begin their year-long course of studies.

New program from MIT offers refugees a career boost

ReACT will award credentials in computer and data science through online and in-person instruction.

January 23, 2018

A type of battery first invented nearly five decades ago could catapult to the forefront of energy storage technologies, thanks to a new finding by researchers at MIT.

A new approach to rechargeable batteries

New metal-mesh membrane could solve longstanding problems and lead to inexpensive power storage.

January 22, 2018

A drawing illustrates the unusual topological landscape around a pair of features known as exceptional points (red dots), showing the emergence of a Fermi arc (pink line at center), and exotic polarization contours that form a Mobius-strip-like texture (top and bottom strips).

New exotic phenomena seen in photonic crystals

Researchers observe, for the first time, topological effects unique to an “open” system.

January 11, 2018

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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