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“Our technology takes plastic out of the landfill, locks it up in concrete, and also uses less cement to make the concrete, which makes fewer carbon dioxide emissions,” says assistant professor Michael Short.

MIT students fortify concrete by adding recycled plastic

Adding bits of irradiated plastic water bottles could cut cement industry’s carbon emissions.

October 25, 2017

“I remain optimistic about the ability of international agreements to address environmental problems, primarily because that’s the only solution we have at this point,” associate professor Noelle Selin says.

Noelle Selin: Tracing toxins around the world

Atmospheric chemist takes on pollutants and the global treaties written to control them.

October 22, 2017

Artist’s illustration of two merging neutron stars. The rippling space-time grid represents gravitational waves that travel out from the collision, while the narrow beams show the bursts of gamma rays that are shot out just seconds after the gravitational waves. Swirling clouds of material ejected from the merging stars are also depicted. The clouds glow with visible and other wavelengths of lig...

LIGO and Virgo make first detection of gravitational waves produced by colliding neutron stars

Discovery marks first cosmic event observed in both gravitational waves and light.

October 16, 2017

Engineers at MIT have developed a new model to simulate dynamic soaring, and have used it to identify the optimal flight pattern that an albatross should take in order to harvest the most wind and energy. They found that as an albatross banks or turns, it should do so in shallow arcs, keeping almost to a straight, forward trajectory.

Engineers identify key to albatross’ marathon flight

Flying in shallow arcs helps birds stay aloft with less effort.

October 10, 2017

Rainer Weiss at home early this morning, after learning that he has won the 2017 Nobel Prize in physics.

MIT physicist Rainer Weiss shares Nobel Prize in physics

LIGO inventor and professor emeritus of physics recognized “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.”

October 3, 2017

A new MIT study finds cement’s microscopic properties are key to stronger, more sustainable buildings and bridges.

A concrete solution

Insight into cement’s microscopic properties may lead to stronger, more sustainable concrete.

September 29, 2017

The Compact Muon Solenoid is a general-purpose detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

First open-access data from large collider confirm subatomic particle patterns

CERN Open Data Portal results reveal predictable patterns from colliding high-energy protons.

September 29, 2017

Engineers at MIT have devised a framework for identifying key patterns that precede an extreme event.

Technique spots warning signs of extreme events

Method may help predict hotspots of instability affecting climate, aircraft performance, and ocean circulation.

September 22, 2017

“This is not saying that disaster occurs the next day,” says Professor Daniel Rothman about his new study. “It’s saying that, if left unchecked, the carbon cycle would move into a realm which would be no longer stable, and would behave in a way that would be difficult to predict. In the geologic past, this type of behavior is associated with mass extinction.”

Mathematics predicts a sixth mass extinction

By 2100, oceans may hold enough carbon to launch mass extermination of species in future millennia.

September 20, 2017

This artist’s impression shows the view from the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultracool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth. Several of the planets are at the right distances from their star for liquid water to exist on the surfaces.

Neighboring exoplanets may hold water, study finds

Observations and modeling suggest TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets may have held onto water, billions of years after their formation.

August 31, 2017

Engineers at MIT have designed an autonomous robot with “socially aware navigation,” that can keep pace with foot traffic while observing these general codes of pedestrian conduct.

New robot rolls with the rules of pedestrian conduct

Approach may enable robots to move around hospitals, malls, and other areas with heavy foot traffic.

August 29, 2017

Scientists in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) have for the first time determined the strength of the stratosphere’s circulation, based on observations of key chemicals traveling within this atmospheric layer.

Strength of global stratospheric circulation measured for first time

Estimate will help gauge hang time of greenhouse gases, water vapor, and ozone in upper atmosphere.

August 28, 2017

New findings suggest the ancient Earth harbored a mantle that was much more efficient at drawing down pieces of the planet’s crust.

Ancient Earth’s hot interior created “graveyard” of continental slabs

Higher mantle temperatures caused subducting tectonic plates to sink much further than they do today.

August 22, 2017

A phase diagram of living mammalian cytoplasm, developed by MIT researchers, describes the type of material an organelle feels as it moves through cytoplasm, given its size and speed.

How cytoplasm “feels” to a cell’s components

In study that may guide drug design, researchers find organelles encounter varying levels of resistance.

August 21, 2017

Engineers at MIT can predict how beds of tiny, soft hair, such as those that line surfaces inside the human body, will bend in response to fluid flow.

Our hairy insides

Engineers predict how flowing fluid will bend tiny hairs that line blood vessels and intestines.