Water

New research by MIT scientists may help engineers design more resilient offshore platforms.

Technique quickly identifies extreme event statistics

Machine-learning model provides risk assessment for complex nonlinear systems, including boats and offshore platforms.

October 15, 2018

Based on a rigorous, integrated analysis of population and economic growth, technological change, Paris Agreement pledges and other factors, the 2018 Food, Water, Energy and Climate Outlook projects likely global and regional environmental changes over the course of this century and identifies steps needed to align near-term Paris pledges with the long-term 2 degrees Celsius and 1.5 C goals.

Charting the Earth’s future for the 21st century

MIT report highlights challenges and opportunities for conserving natural resources and stabilizing the climate.

October 11, 2018

The Fiat Flux team earned the $10,000 first-place prize for its prototype of a self-cleaning water filtration system. Team members pose with Michael Tarkanian (right), a senior lecturer in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) who runs MADMEC. Team members pictured are: (from left to right) Gabriel Loke, Alvin Tan and Zheng Jie Tan.

MADMEC finals spotlight promising materials science prototypes

Prizes went to solutions for improving water filtration systems, metal fatigue resistance, and boron production.

October 11, 2018

Reflecting the broader range of challenges embodied by the terms “food systems” and “water systems,” the Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab announced that it is changing its name to the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab.

From security to systems: J-WAFS name change reflects its breadth and impact

Emphasizing the scope and interdisciplinary mission on which it was founded, J-WAFS has a new name: the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab.

September 28, 2018

MIT researchers have found that patterns of ripples created in sand, and preserved for thousands to millions of years, can reveal clues to ancient environments.

Beach sand ripples can be fingerprints for ancient weather conditions

Experiments show shifting ripple patterns can signal times of environmental flux.

September 27, 2018

This wearable water quality test kit (early prototype pictured at left) provides a simple, accessible way to test the presence of E. coli in drinking water. A J-WAFS Solutions grant will enable an MIT research team to develop a regionally-appropriate commercialization strategy to ensure that these test kits can be accessible to rural and urban communities in Nepal as well as the other areas in Sou...

J-WAFS awards grants for commercialization of food and water technologies

Solutions grants will aid commercialization of novel MIT technologies to test water safety and improve agricultural productivity.

September 11, 2018

MIT Media Lab researchers have designed a system that allows underwater and airborne sensors to directly share data. An underwater transmitter directs a sonar signal to the water’s surface, causing tiny vibrations that correspond to the 1s and 0s transmitted. Above the surface, a highly sensitive receiver reads these minute disturbances and decodes the sonar signal.

Wireless communication breaks through water-air barrier

In a novel system developed by MIT researchers, underwater sonar signals cause vibrations that can be decoded by an airborne receiver.

August 22, 2018

High school students (l-r) Mikayla Sharrieff, India Skinner, and Bria Snell, whose water purification system won them second place in a NASA technology competition, got a tour of the Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel as part of their visit to MIT. The visit was sponsored by AeroAfro, an organization of MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics students.

NASA student competitors honored for persistence

MIT student group welcomes an all-black, all-female team who had been targeted by racist and misogynistic members of an infamous online forum.

August 14, 2018

Krithika Ramchander (left), a PhD candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Andrea Karin Beck, a PhD candidate in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, have each received fellowships from MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel World Water and Food Security Lab (J-WAFS) for 2018-2019. Their research explores solutions to global and local water supply challenges using engineering and q...

Krithika Ramchander and Andrea Beck awarded J-WAFS fellowships for water solutions

Graduate students receive J-WAFS fellowships to support research focused on improving water access for rural as well as urban communities.

August 9, 2018

“This spot is just going to be the hottest spot for deadly heat waves in the future, especially under climate change,” says Professor Elfatih Eltahir.

China could face deadly heat waves due to climate change

One of the world’s most densely populated regions may push the boundaries of habitability by the end of this century, study finds.

July 31, 2018

A proof-of-concept MIT prototype of a sun-powered device extracts drinking water from the desert air in Tempe, Arizona.

Featured video: Pulling drinking water out of thin air

Powered only by solar energy, a new device developed at MIT could provide relief to regions where water is scare.

July 23, 2018

Pictured, a rendering of a river system in Oregon.

Study finds climate determines shapes of river basins

Results may help identify ancient climates on Earth or other planets.

July 17, 2018

A rendering of Los Angeles depicts green space and wetlands as envisioned by the MIT team.

A solution for urban storm flooding

Engineered green spaces can capture and purify stormwater while delivering ecosystem and recreational benefits, MIT researchers report.

July 12, 2018

Based on measurements taken at more than 100,000 wells around the country, the MIT researchers identified these locations, indicated by green dots, that have a combination of a severe shortage of freshwater, and a large reserve of brackish groundwater that could potentially be desalinated and used.

Study finds potential in brackish groundwater desalination

Water-starved areas could find new sources by desalinating water that’s much less salty than seawater.

July 4, 2018

“People usually think MIT is exclusively focused on STEM research," says PhD student Elena Sobrino. "I saw this program, HASTS, as a way to be in conversation with physical or biological scientists, as a social scientist myself.”

Discovering hidden stories in the Flint water crisis

Graduate student Elena Sobrino looks beyond the headlines to study interactions between the city’s people and institutions.

June 24, 2018

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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