In an article for Wired, Andrew McAfee, cofounder of MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, argues that the increased energy use and pollution associated with new technology is actually offset by the physical concept of dematerialization. “[W]e don’t need to worry that the iPhone and its digital kin are going to gobble up the planet, or even put a big dent in it,” writes McAfee. “In fact, they’re doing the opposite.”
Smithsonian reporter Rachael Lallensack spotlights how MIT alumnus Anirudh Sharma developed a commercial ink from air pollution. Sharma explains that he hopes the ink, which is now on display at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, inspires others “to start looking at new forms of waste that are lying outside, unutilized.”
A new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that factories in China have been emitting a compound banned under the Montreal Protocol that destroys the Earth’s ozone layer, reports Yen Nee Lee for CNBC. The researchers found that “China accounted for 40% to 60% of the global increase in trichlorofluoromethane, or CFC-11, emissions between 2014 and 2017.”
Technology Review reporter James Temple spotlights a new study co-authored by MIT researchers that finds factories in China are using a banned compound. The finding underscores the need for monitoring adherence to pollution accords, explains Prof. Ronald Prinn. “At the end of the day, any treaty that doesn’t have an independent verification mechanism isn’t going to be successful,” he explains.
Axios reporter Andrew Freeman writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers finds that factories in northern China have been using the banned CFC-11 compound, which eats away at the Earth’s ozone layer. Prof. Ronald Prinn explains that CFC-11 stays in the atmosphere for 52 years and even “with no emissions, it still lingers on and on and on.”
HealthDay reporter Steven Reinberg writes that a new study by Prof. Siqi Zheng finds that air pollution can make people unhappy. Zheng found that, “On days with high levels of pollution, people are more likely to engage in impulsive and risky behavior that they may later regret, possibly because of short-term depression and anxiety,” writes Reinberg.
Inverse reporter Emma Betuel reports on a new study by MIT researchers showing that air quality impacts the happiness of people living in cities in China. “When the air is polluted people stay home, they don’t go out, and they order food delivery while staying home playing computer games and shopping online,” explains Prof. Siqi Zheng.
By analyzing posts on social media in China, Prof. Siqi Zheng has found that air pollution can cause increased levels of depression and unhappiness, reports Adele Peters for Fast Company. “We want to show that there’s a wider range of the social cost of air pollution,” explains Zheng.
Gizmodo reporter Maddie Stone writes that a new study by MIT researchers provides evidence that chloroform emissions rose 3.5 percent per year from 2010 to 2015 in East Asia. “If emissions continue to grow at 2010-2015 rates,” Stone writes, “the researchers estimate recovery of the ozone hole could be delayed by up to 8 years.”
Writing for the American History Magazine, Sarah Richardson highlights the trailblazing path of Ellen Swallow Richards. Richardson notes that Swallow Richards was a “one-woman parade of firsts: first female student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first female fellow of the American Association of Mining and Metallurgy, first female professor at MIT.”
A study by MIT researchers demonstrates how air pollution can significantly reduce profits from solar panel installations, reports Avery Thompson for Popular Mechanics. The researchers found that in Delhi, “electricity generation is reduced by more than 10 percent,” Thompson explains, “which translates to a cost of more than $20 million.”
MIT researchers have developed a new waterproof coating method that is safer for both the environment and humans, reports Brooks Hays for UPI. Lab tests showed the coating, “works to waterproof a variety of fabrics and materials against a variety of liquids,” Hays explains.
In an article for Salon, Associate Prof. Noelle Eckley Selin and postdoc Sae Yun Kwon discuss their latest research, which examined emissions in China. They write that although mercury pollution is often associated with fish consumption, “China’s future emissions trajectory can have a measurable influence on the country’s rice methylmercury” levels, as well.
CNN’s Sophie Tatum reports that six scientists from the U.S., including a senior research scientist with MIT’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, will join France’s new climate change initiative. The effort, notes Tatum, is meant to offer the international scientific community a chance to, “increase its efforts in battling climate change.”
Using several comparative models, a new study led by MIT researchers reveals that China’s pledge to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 could cut down on as many as 160,000 premature deaths. “Politically, the research confirms why Chinese officials have their own internal reasons to cut CO2 even though the U.S. is abandoning Paris and disengaging internationally on climate,” writes Ben Geman for Axios.