Subterms
Nestled within sediments that accumulate in marine environments, fossil molecules sneakily record how climates and environments change over time. These fossils, vestiges of microbial membranes, preserve different chemical structures that reflect the changing world around them at the time the organisms lived. For almost two decades, scientists have used one class of these molecular fossils, […] More
About 2.4 billion years ago, at the end of the Archean Eon, a planet-wide increase in oxygen levels called the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) created the familiar atmosphere we all breathe today. Researchers focused on life’s origins widely agree that this transition event was caused by the global proliferation of photosynthetic microbes capable of splitting […] More
When Robert F. Scott’s Discovery expedition began exploring the Antarctic continent in 1901, they set out to geographically and scientifically characterize the regions touched by the Ross Sea. As the group of naval officers and scientists set foot upon the Ross Ice Shelf, they mapped their travels and completed surveys, collecting biological specimens for further study. Two […] More
Battling climate change and adapting communities to be ready for its effects on the world. Ensuring food and water security for an exploding population. Navigating ever-more congested urban landscapes. These global concerns and others have been outlined by the National Academies and other institutions as imminent threats. One discipline in particular — civil and environmental […] More
The carbon cycle, in which CO2 is incorporated into living organisms and later released back into the atmosphere through respiration, relies on the ability of bacteria and fungi to degrade complex organic materials such as polysaccharides. These materials represent large reservoirs of carbon and energy on the planet. By degrading them, microbes enable the recycling […] More
A key part of drilling and tapping new oil wells is the use of specialized cements to line the borehole and prevent collapse and leakage of the hole. To keep these cements from hardening too quickly before they penetrate to the deepest levels of the well, they are mixed with chemicals called retarders that slow […] More
An MIT white paper released today outlines a series of recommendations on how companies, particularly those in the oil and gas industry, can use scenario analysis to effectively disclose risks and opportunities they face as a result of global climate change. The report, “Climate-Related Financial Disclosure Disclosures: The Use of Scenarios,” was organized by the […] More
As a master’s student in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Technology and Policy Program at MIT, Brandon Leshchinskiy’s ultimate goal is to “build AI tools to adapt to climate change and the educational tools to stop it.” As part of his graduate thesis, in collaboration with MIT Portugal and EarthDNA, both led […] More
