When the chemical industry met modern architecture
PhD student Jessica Varner traces the way synthetic building materials have transformed our environment.
$25 million gift launches ambitious new effort tackling poverty and climate change
The King Climate Action Initiative at J-PAL will develop large-scale climate-response programs for some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Does ride-sharing substitute for or complement public transit?
In the Chinese city of Chengdu, one-third of ride-sharing might replace public transit trips.
Engineering superpowered organisms for a more sustainable world
MIT students explore algal water purifiers, programmable soil bacteria, and other biological engineering approaches to food and water security.
Chemists make tough plastics recyclable
New method for producing thermoset plastics allows them to be broken down more easily after use.
Covid-19 shutdown led to increased solar power output
As the air cleared after lockdowns, solar installations in Delhi produced 8 percent more power, study shows.
Building a more sustainable MIT — from home
MIT’s Office of Sustainability puts lessons of resiliency into practice.
A new approach to carbon capture
Researchers design an effective treatment for both exhaust and ambient air.
Innovations in environmental training for the mining industry
MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative and multinational mining company Vale bring sustainability education to young engineering professionals in Brazil.
D-Lab moves online, without compromising on impact
With the campus shut down by Covid-19, the spring D-Lab class Water, Climate Change, and Health had to adapt.
Researchers find benefits of solar photovoltaics outweigh costs
Over a seven-year period, decline in PV costs outpaced decline in value; by 2017, market, health, and climate benefits outweighed the cost of PV systems.
![“If in the 1980s you asked people what would the [mobility] system look like 20 years in the future, they would say it would probably be the same,” Associate Professor Jinhua Zhao says. “Now, really nobody knows what it will it look like.”](/sites/default/files/styles/term_page__news_article/public/images/202006/MIT-Zhao-Jinhua-01.jpg?itok=8rqvpHYw)
What moves people?
Associate Professor Jinhua Zhao, who will direct the new MIT Mobility Initiative, brings behavioral science to urban transportation.
Startup with MIT roots develops lightweight solar panels
“The inventions and technical advancements of Swift Solar have the opportunity to revolutionize the format of solar photovoltaic technology.”
From delayed deceleration to Zooming
Jacqueline Thomas PhD ’20 recounts her final academic year at MIT, from once-in-a-lifetime field work to a virtual thesis defense.