Plant sensors could act as an early warning system for farmers
Sensors that detect plant signaling molecules can reveal when crops are experiencing too much light or heat, or attack from insects or microbes.
Understanding the impacts of mining on local environments and communities
Extractive industries threaten water, glaciers, and livelihoods, but new research offers hope.
Study finds lands used for grazing can worsen or help climate change
Too much livestock on a given amount of land can lead to carbon losses, but appropriate numbers can actually help sequester the carbon.
Letting the Earth answer back: Designing better planetary conversations
Chen Chu explores the global relevance of local floodplain resilience strategies, and brings to the Morningside Academy his unique perspective in political ecology and urban design.
Reducing pesticide use while increasing effectiveness
In field tests, MIT spinoff AgZen demonstrated that its feedback-optimized spraying system could halve the pesticide needs of farms and improve crop yields.
MIT researchers remotely map crops, field by field
The team used machine learning to analyze satellite and roadside images of areas where small farms predominate and agricultural data are sparse.
Illustrating India’s complex environmental crises
A CAST Visiting Artist project traces the history of cause and effect that have led India to its current crossroads.
K. Lisa Yang Global Engineering and Research Center will prioritize innovations for resource-constrained communities
Collaborative hub founded by philanthropist Lisa Yang will catalyze academic innovation and result in real-world, global impact.
Building a better indoor herb garden
Randall Briggs ’09, SM ’18 created the GardenByte indoor herb garden to grow crops three times faster than they would outdoors.
Accelerated climate action needed to sharply reduce current risks to life and life-support systems
2023 Global Change Outlook from the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change quantifies benefits of policies that cap global warming at 1.5 C.
Unlocking the secrets of natural materials
Professor Benedetto Marelli develops silk-based technologies with uses “from lab to fork,” including helping crops grow and preserving perishable foods.
Microbes could help reduce the need for chemical fertilizers
New coating protects nitrogen-fixing bacteria from heat and humidity, which could allow them to be deployed for large-scale agricultural use.
Smart irrigation technology covers “more crop per drop”
Placing solutions in the cloud but learning with boots on the ground, GEAR Lab researchers build low-cost, solar-powered irrigation tools to make precision agriculture more accessible.
Ancient Amazonians intentionally created fertile “dark earth”
The rich soil holds thousands of tons of carbon, sequestered over centuries by indigenous practices, a new study suggests.
How to tackle the global deforestation crisis
Vital forest is cleared every day, with major climate effects. Satellites have revolutionized measurement of the problem, but what can we do about it?