Explained

"Carbon credit" written in the clouds over a lush green forest

Explained: Carbon credits

Can carbon trading systems reduce global emissions, or are they little more than greenwashing? Clear, enforceable standards may make the difference.

February 28, 2024

Two side-by-side illustrations of glycan molecules against a white background. Each molecule is depicted as a cluster of spirals and squiggly lines.

Explained: The sugar coating of life

Researchers are working to advance the field of glycoscience, illuminating the essential role of carbohydrates for human health and disease.

December 1, 2023

Blocky text says “1.5 °C,” and the number is sitting in a puddle of water. Fire emanates from the number against a red and orange background. Water droplets shoot out toward the viewer.

Explained: The 1.5 C climate benchmark

After a summer of weather extremes, where does the world stand in its goal to stem rising temps?

August 27, 2023

Abstract image of a network of gold spheres connected by gold rods, against rows of blue 1s and 0s

Explained: How to tell if artificial intelligence is working the way we want it to

“Interpretability methods” seek to shed light on how machine-learning models make predictions, but researchers say to proceed with caution.

July 22, 2022

Explained: Why RNA vaccines for Covid-19 raced to the front of the pack

Many years of research have enabled scientists to quickly synthesize RNA vaccines and deliver them inside cells.

December 11, 2020

Explained: Quantum engineering

Quantum computers could usher in a golden age of computing power, solving problems intractable on today’s machines.

December 10, 2020

After water, concrete is the most consumed material on Earth. Researchers in the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub study how to reduce its impact.

Explained: Cement vs. concrete — their differences, and opportunities for sustainability

Concrete is the world’s most consumed construction material. Yet there’s a lot the public doesn’t know about it or its environmental impact.

April 3, 2020

A series of masks 3D printed by the Media Lab's Mediated Matter group contained chemical signals embedded in the material. A layer containing living engineered bacteria was coated onto the masks, and the bacteria produced colors only in those areas that had been treated with the chemical signals.

Audio explainer: Exploring the fields of bioprinting and biohybrid materials

January 23, 2020

Covert nuclear-weapon programs, whether in Iran, North Korea, or elsewhere in the world, are a major unsolved problem, says Scott Kemp, an associate professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT. He recently explained the technical challenges involved in the hunt for clandestine nuclear sites. And he floated a possible solution.

Explained: Detecting the threat of nuclear weapons

Professor of nuclear science and engineering Scott Kemp describes the science behind the search for clandestine nuclear sites.

June 8, 2018

Most applications of deep learning use “convolutional” neural networks, in which the nodes of each layer are clustered, the clusters overlap, and each cluster feeds data to multiple nodes (orange and green) of the next layer.

Explained: Neural networks

Ballyhooed artificial-intelligence technique known as “deep learning” revives 70-year-old idea.

April 14, 2017

“There’s no question that carbon dioxide is the biggest contributor to human-caused climate change, so that’s the big focus of mitigation efforts. But there are a number of others that are also significant,” says Jessika Trancik, the Atlantic Richfield Career Development Associate Professor in Energy Studies at MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society.

Explained: Greenhouse gases

Carbon dioxide isn’t the only one that matters, and the gases vary widely in potency and duration.

January 30, 2017

In the process called initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD), Heated wires (pink cylinders) cause “initiator” molecules (red) to split, and they then interact with the monomers (purple) used for coating, causing them to collect on the cooler surface below, where they react to form a polymer chain as they build up in a uniform coating (bottom right).

Explained: chemical vapor deposition

Technique enables production of pure, uniform coatings of metals or polymers, even on contoured surfaces.

June 19, 2015

Explained: Hydrophobic and hydrophilic

Better understanding of how surfaces attract or repel water could improve everything from power plants to ketchup bottles.

July 16, 2013

Graphic of a carbon nanotube, colored in rainbow colors on a black background

Explained: Nanowires and nanotubes

Tiny filaments and cylinders are studied for possible uses in energy, electronics, optics and other fields.

April 11, 2013

Graph theory is generally thought of as originating with the "Königsberg bridge problem," which asked whether a walker could cross the seven bridges of Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), once each without crossing any of them twice. This is the graphical depiction of theproblem, where the nodes represent land masses and the edges bridges.

Explained: Graphs

A simple tool for representing relationships between data, devices or almost anything else has ubiquitous applications in computer science.

December 17, 2012

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Browse By

Topics

Departments

Centers, Labs, & Programs

Schools

Topic