3 Questions: Putting nuclear waste into perspective
Professor Haruko Wainwright believes the risks posed by radioactive wastes cannot be properly assessed without also considering the hazards of chemical wastes.
MIT spinout turns plastic waste into resilient building materials
Atlas Building Composites is commercializing MIT research to turn plastic waste into parts for buildings and other infrastructure.
Paving the way for greener ammonia production
New MIT research could lead to better materials for a fossil-fuel-free process for making the chemical that's essential to fertilizer and other products.
Startup brings ancient Roman concrete technology to modern construction
Dmat is commercializing findings from the lab of Associate Professor Admir Masic to make concrete longer-lasting and more sustainable.
Scientists find ozone depletion began decades before discovery of ozone hole
Using modern tools, they also determined that carbon tetrachloride, used as a dry-cleaning and degreasing agent as early as the 1930s, was at the root of early ozone loss.
Some democracies are struggling to ensure safe drinking water
Countries with developing economies provide at least some public water, but safety may lag because it’s less visible, researchers say.
From technical solution to systems change: Tackling the problem of plastic waste
Akorfa Dagadu, an MIT senior in chemical engineering, learns the importance of community-engaged research and innovation through the PKG Center for Social Impact.
Managing traffic in space
Associate Professor Richard Linares is helping satellites safely navigate in increasingly congested orbits.
A regulatory loophole could delay ozone recovery by years
Scientists say an exception in the Montreal Protocol for the use of ozone-depleting feedstocks could set the ozone recovery back seven years.
Youth may increase vulnerability to a carcinogen found in contaminated water and some drugs
A new study suggests that the chemical NDMA is much more likely to cause cancerous mutations after exposure early in life.
Urban planning students engage with communities through the Freedom Summer Fellowship
“You can’t teach planning today without grappling with how policy actually unfolds within communities,” says Professor Phillip Thompson.
MIT researchers measure traffic emissions, to the block, in real-time
A new study pieces together existing data sources in order to develop a detailed, dynamic picture of auto emissions.
A complicated future for a methane-cleansing molecule
A new model shows how levels of the “atmosphere’s detergent” may rise and fall in response to climate change.
Ocean bacteria team up to break down biodegradable plastic
MIT researchers uncovered the roles of bacterial species from the environment as they consume biodegradable plastic.
X-raying rocks reveals their carbon-storing capacity
New research by MIT geophysicists could assist efforts to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it underground.