News and Blog Landing | MIT Sustainability

A new strategy for strengthening polymer materials could lead to more durable plastics and cut down on plastic waste, MIT and Duke University researchers report.

MIT News Office

August 5, 2025

AI helps chemists develop tougher plastics

Researchers created polymers that are more resistant to tearing by incorporating stress-responsive molecules identified by a machine-learning model.

A great hornbill (Buceros bicornis) eats a fig in Royal Manas National Park, Bhutan. Hornbills are key long-distance seed dispersers in Asian tropical forests, but forest degradation, hunting, and wildlife trade threaten the ecological roles they play.

MIT News Office

July 28, 2025

Why animals are a critical part of forest carbon absorption

An MIT study shows decreases in seed-dispersing animals can lead to a major reduction in forest carbon absorption.

A study by MIT researchers shows how a common fertilizer ingredient could enable new ways to increase plants’ resilience to UV stress and enhance seedling growth.

MIT News Office

July 7, 2025

Study shows how a common fertilizer ingredient benefits plants

The findings could enable new ways to increase plants’ resilience to UV stress and enhance seedling growth.

Scientists are striving to discover new semiconductor materials that could boost the efficiency of solar cells and other electronics. The pace of innovation is bottlenecked by the speed at which researchers can manually measure important material properties, but a fully autonomous robotic system developed by MIT researchers could speed things up.

MIT News Office

July 4, 2025

Robotic probe quickly measures key properties of new materials

Developed to analyze new semiconductors, the system could streamline the development of more powerful solar panels.

At the 2025 MIT Energy Initiative Spring Symposium, Evelyn Wang (at lectern), the MIT vice president for energy and climate, joined MITEI Director William H. Green to discuss how collaborations across campus can help solve the data center challenge.

MIT News Office

July 2, 2025

Confronting the AI/energy conundrum

The MIT Energy Initiative’s annual research symposium explores artificial intelligence as both a problem and a solution for the clean energy transition.

VAMO (Vegetal, Animal, Mineral, Other), is an ultra-lightweight, biodegradable, and transportable canopy designed to circle around a brick column in the Corderie of the Venice Arsenale — a historic space originally used to manufacture ropes for the city’s naval fleet.

MIT News Office

July 1, 2025

VAMO proposes an alternative to architectural permanence

A project at the Venice Biennale showcases biodegradable materials and structural systems using tension and compression.

Instead of building a refinery, Nth Cycle’s team has built a modular refining system — dubbed “The Oyster” — which uses electricity, chemical precipitation, and filtration to create the same metal refining chemicals as traditional methods.

MIT News Office

June 27, 2025

Nth Cycle is bringing critical metals refining to the U.S.

Co-founded by Professor Desirée Plata, the company is already producing nickel and cobalt from battery scrap in Ohio.

“There’s no better place than MIT to come up with the transformational solutions that can help shape our world,” says Evelyn Wang, who is also the Ford Professor of Engineering at the Institute.

MIT News Office

June 26, 2025

Evelyn Wang: A new energy source at MIT

MIT’s first vice president for energy and climate is working to accelerate research and development toward transformational solutions.

Bryan Reimer, founder and co-director of the AVT Consortium, gives the opening remarks.

MIT News Office

June 16, 2025

Celebrating an academic-industry collaboration to advance vehicle technology

MIT Advanced Vehicle Technology Consortium marks a decade of developing data that improve understanding of how drivers use and respond to increasingly sophisticated automotive features.