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    MIT alumna addresses the world’s mounting plastic waste problem

    It’s been nearly 10 years since Priyanka Bakaya MBA ’11 founded Renewlogy to develop a system that converts plastic waste into fuel. Today, that system is being used to profitably turn even nonrecyclable plastic into high-value fuels like diesel, as well as the precursors to new plastics. Since its inception, Bakaya has guided Renewlogy through multiple […] More

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    Funding for sustainable concrete cemented for five more years

    The MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub), an interdisciplinary team of researchers dedicated to concrete and infrastructure science, engineering, and economics, has renewed its relationship with its industry partners for another five years. Founded in 2009, CSHub has spent a decade over two five-year phases collaborating with the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and the Ready Mixed […] More

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    Deploying drones to prepare for climate change

    While doing field research for her graduate thesis in her hometown of Cairo, Norhan Magdy Bayomi observed firsthand the impact of climate change on her local community. The residents of the low-income neighborhood she was studying were living in small, poorly insulated apartments that were ill-equipped for dealing with the region’s rising temperatures. Sharing cramped […] More

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    Experts urge “full speed ahead” on climate action

    In the first of six symposia planned at MIT this academic year on the subject of climate change, panels of specialists on the science of global climate described the state of knowledge on the subject today. They also discussed the areas where more research is needed to pin down exactly how severely and quickly climate […] More

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    President Reif speaks at MIT Climate Symposium

    President L. Rafael Reif delivered the below introductory remarks at today’s “Progress in Climate Science” symposium. Good afternoon!  I am delighted to be here with all of you. At MIT, persuading people to leave their labs and their classrooms to attend a daytime event is notoriously difficult. Attracting a crowd to fill Kresge Auditorium can […] More

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    MIT Solve selects 2019 cohort of tech entrepreneurs

    On Sept. 22, 61 entrepreneurs traveled from 22 countries around the world to attend Solve Challenge Finals in New York and pitch their solutions to Solve’s 2019 Global Challenges: Circular Economy, Community-Driven Innovation, Early Childhood Development, and Healthy Cities.  These innovators pitched everything from a compact waste-evaporating toilet to an online marketplace for businesses to […] More

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    Tracing the origins of air pollutants in India

    At any moment in Delhi, India, a resident might start their car, releasing exhaust that floats into the atmosphere. In northwest India, a farmer might set fire to his field after the wheat harvest to clear it quickly, releasing smoke that’ll be carried by the wind. A small family might burn wood to light their […] More

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    Greener and fairer: Balancing pollution, energy prices, and household income

    Governments that impose taxes on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions can benefit from a cleaner, more climate-friendly environment and a revenue stream that can be tapped to lower other taxes and create jobs. But environmental taxes may also exact an excessive financial burden on low-income households, which spend a much greater fraction of […] More