Search Stories

A silver-based catalyst material with a porous honeycomb-like structure, developed by the MIT team, can selectively transform carbon dioxide (CO2) to carbon monoxide (CO).

Turning greenhouse gas into gasoline

New catalyst provides design principles for producing fuels from carbon dioxide emissions.

November 15, 2016

Ali Jadbabaie is the JR East Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the associate director of the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), and the director of one of its parts, the Sociotechnical Systems Research Center. “Our focus is on addressing large societal problems, whether they be power systems and energy systems, or social networks, or...

Tackling society’s big problems with systems theory

Ali Jadbabaie seeks to optimize large-scale systems, from social networks to teams of people or devices.

November 14, 2016

A new study by researchers at MIT and elsewhere has found that, rather than adopting a standard for automotive gas-mileage ratings, the EU could achieve the same results at far lower cost to the economy by simply extending their existing emissions-trading system to encompass transportation rather than just electricity generation and energy intensive industry.

What’s the best way for Europe to curb greenhouse emissions from cars?

Emissions trading would be more effective than mileage standards, new study shows.

November 8, 2016

A newly developed wing architecture could greatly simplify the manufacturing process and reduce fuel consumption by improving the wing’s aerodynamics. It is based on a system of tiny, lightweight subunits that could be assembled by a team of small specialized robots, and could ultimately be used to build the entire airframe.

A new twist on airplane wing design

“Morphing” wing could enable more efficient plane manufacturing and flight.

November 3, 2016

This desalination plant in Israel, called Sorek, is currently the world's largest, producing 625,000 cubic meters of fresh water per day. Boris Liberman, chief technology officer of IDE Technologies, the company that built this and several other huge desalination plants in Israel and California, was among the speakers at MIT's Low Carbon Desalination Workshop, which explored the potential for redu...

How to achieve “green” desalination

Workshop explores ways to reduce or eliminate the carbon footprint of seawater desalination plants.

October 19, 2016

This aerial view shows a similar solar farm in North Carolina, using the same type of solar panels, illustrating what the new project will look like when it is completed by the end of this year.

MIT to neutralize 17 percent of carbon emissions through purchase of solar energy

Partnership of three local organizations could set a sustainability example for others to follow.

October 19, 2016

In a time-lapse sequence, infrared imaging shows the temperature changes within a droplet of water as it moves across a treated silicon surface in response to temperature differences on that surface.

Temperature difference propels droplets

Method for moving fluids on a surface may find uses in condensers, microfluidics, and de-icing.

October 14, 2016

To demonstrate the supercapacitor's ability to store power, the researchers modified an off-the-shelf hand-crank flashlight (the red parts at each side) by cutting it in half and installing a small supercapacitor in the center, in a conventional button battery case, seen at top. When the crank is turned to provide power to the flashlight, the light continues to glow long after the cranking stops, ...

New kind of supercapacitor made without carbon

Energy storage device could deliver more power than current versions of this technology.

October 10, 2016

These images, taken from a transmission electron microscope, show a perovskite material oscillating as it is exposed to water vapor and a beam of electrons.

Water vapor sets some oxides aflutter

Newly discovered phenomenon could affect materials in batteries and water-splitting devices.

October 3, 2016

“The way we measure street lighting is still very primitive,” says Sumeet Kumar PhD ’14. Kumar and his team came up with the idea of replacing manual inspections with a set of cameras and sensors mounted on top of a vehicle, in much the same way that Google uses vehicle-mounted camera systems to generate its street views.

Drive-by monitoring for urban streetlights

System developed at MIT could automate inspection for efficiency and maintenance issues.

September 16, 2016

At right, scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show the two types of lithium deposits, the bulky, mossy type (at top), which grows from its base, and the needle-like dendritic type (bottom), which grows from the tips. At left, SEM images show the effect of a blocking layer of ceramic material that limits the growth of the mossy deposits.

In batteries, a metal reveals its dual personality

Branchlike deposits grow on lithium electrode surfaces in two ways, one much more damaging.

September 1, 2016

A team of researchers, including graduate student Maher Damak (left) and associate professor of mechanical engineering Kripa K. Varanasi, have found a way to drastically cut down on the amount of pesticide liquid that bounces off plants.

Reducing runoff pollution by making spray droplets less bouncy

MIT researchers find a way to make pesticides stick to leaves instead of bouncing off.

August 30, 2016

New method developed for producing some metals

Using electricity rather than heat can reduce both energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

August 24, 2016

Lab experiments carried out by an MIT and Oxford University team provide detailed information about how a liquid moves through spaces in a porous material, revealing the key role of a characteristic called wettability.

Study reveals new physics of how fluids flow in porous media

Key flow mechanisms, crucial to carbon sequestration and fuel-cell operation, have been visualized.

August 22, 2016

Researchers have developed a new way of imaging the middle ear using infrared light, which they say could provide much more accurate diagnosis of ear infections.

A new eye on the middle ear

Shortwave infrared instrument from MIT could see deeper, help improve diagnosis of ear infections.