News and Blog Landing | MIT Sustainability

MIT researchers used samples of basalt, excavated from a quarry in Iceland (shown here), to study their carbon-storing capacity.

MIT News Office

March 6, 2026

X-raying rocks reveals their carbon-storing capacity

New research by MIT geophysicists could assist efforts to remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it underground.

Miho Mazereeuw is the author of the new book, “Design Before Disaster: Japan’s Culture of Preparedness,” published by the University of Virginia Press.

MIT News Office

March 2, 2026

Coping with catastrophe

Japan incorporates more disaster planning into its buildings and public spaces than any other nation. Miho Mazereeuw’s new book explains how they do it.

The startup Foray Bioscience, founded by an MIT alumna, is engineering plants from single cells to create new materials and protect endangered species.

MIT News Office

February 27, 2026

Designing a more resilient future for plants, from the cell up

Foray Bioscience, founded by Ashley Beckwith SM ’18, PhD ’22, is engineering single plant cells to create new materials and meet growing demand.

Research reveals a strong disparity in the amount of heat-mitigating tree cover within nine cities across the globe, with wealthy neighborhoods benefitting from shade the most. Amsterdam, pictured here, has a distinct pattern of less shade in lower-income areas.

MIT News Office

February 24, 2026

More trees where they matter, please

An international study reveals disparities in urban shade levels, exacerbating the “heat island” effect in big cities.

Researchers detected statistically significant changes in global atmospheric temperatures in response to three major natural events: the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 (inset on left), the Australian wildfires in 2019-2020 (center), and the eruption of the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga in the South Pacific in 2022 (bottom right).

MIT News Office

February 23, 2026

Study reveals climatic fingerprints of wildfires and volcanic eruptions

In research that could help elucidate humans’ role in global warming, scientists showed how three major natural events impacted global atmospheric temperatures.

MIT researchers have developed a parking-aware navigation system that helps drivers identify lots offering the optimal balance between proximity to their destination and the likelihood of available spaces.

MIT News Office

February 19, 2026

Parking-aware navigation system could prevent frustration and emissions

By minimizing the need to drive around looking for a parking spot, this technique can save drivers up to 35 minutes — and give them a realistic estimate of total travel time.

Kiyoko “Kik” Hayano, a second-year mechanical engineering student at MIT, worked with Keo Fish Farms through MIT D-Lab to help find solutions to local water-quality challenges. “It opened my eyes to how engineering can support sustainable food systems and rural communities,” she says.

MIT News Office

February 17, 2026

Exploring the promise of regenerative aquaculture at an Arkansas fish farm

Through research with MIT D-Lab, MIT engineering student Kiyoko “Kik” Hayano worked with Keo Fish Farms to build a model for regenerative water systems.

“Many reactions that were previously run sequentially though a conventional steelmaking process are now occurring simultaneously, within a single furnace,” Laureen Meroueh explains.

MIT News Office

February 13, 2026

A streamlined way to make steel could reduce America’s reliance on imports

Hertha Metals, founded by Laureen Meroueh SM ’18, PhD ’20, uses an electric arc furnace, powered by natural gas and electricity, to melt and reduce low-grade iron ore in a single step.

MIT News Office

February 13, 2026

A new way to make steel could reduce America’s reliance on imports

Hertha Metals, founded by Laureen Meroueh SM ’18, PhD ’20, uses natural gas and electricity to produce steel and high-purity iron for magnets.