A healthy wind
Health benefits of using wind energy instead of fossil fuels could quadruple if the most polluting power plants are selected for dialing down, new study finds.
Earth can regulate its own temperature over millennia, new study finds
Scientists have confirmed that a “stabilizing feedback” on 100,000-year timescales keeps global temperatures in check.
Ocean microbes get their diet through a surprising mix of sources, study finds
Up to one-third of the carbon consumed by Prochlorococcus may come from sources other than photosynthesis.
Geophysicist Leigh Royden looks at Earth from the top down
The MIT professor combines geophysics and geology to understand what’s happening beneath the crust.
Study: Astronomers risk misinterpreting planetary signals in JWST data
Refining current opacity models will be key to unearthing details of exoplanet properties — and signs of life — in data from the powerful new telescope.
Kerry Emanuel: A climate scientist and meteorologist in the eye of the storm
With over 200 published papers, multiple books, and countless media appearances, Emanuel’s 41 years at MIT have been marked by influential research into hurricane formation and climate change outreach.
Study finds natural sources of air pollution exceed air quality guidelines in many regions
MIT research highlights the opportunity to rethink global air quality guidelines.
Cracking the case of Arctic sea ice breakup
A distributed sensor network may help researchers identify the physical processes contributing to diminishing sea ice in the planet’s fastest-warming region.
Magma beneath tectonic collision zones is wetter than previously thought
New findings may help explain how Earth’s crust forms, the location of ore deposits, and why some volcanoes are more explosive than others.
MIT Climate “Plug-In” highlights first year of progress on MIT’s climate plan
Members of three working groups outline latest efforts implementing the ambitious plan, launched last year.
Ocean vital signs
MIT scientists hope to deploy a fleet of drones to get a better sense of how much carbon the ocean is absorbing, and how much more it can take.
Improving predictions of sea level rise for the next century
Brent Minchew leads two proposals to better understand glacial physics and predict sea-level rise as part of MIT's Climate Grand Challenges competition.
Tonga volcano eruption caused significant space plasma disturbances on a global scale
MIT Haystack Observatory identifies long-duration atmospheric waves launched by the recent Tonga eruption.
Setting carbon management in stone
When it comes to carbon storage, some MIT scientists think the best solution is to find the fastest way to turn carbon into rock.
Microbes and minerals may have set off Earth’s oxygenation
Scientists propose a new mechanism by which oxygen may have first built up in the atmosphere