How to turn fallen leaves into valuable soil conditioner this fall
2025-11-12
You’re probably aware that fallen leaves make good mulch, but they can also aid the garden and the flower beds if you make leaf mold.Continue Reading
A 540-million-year-old fossil is rewriting evolution
2025-11-12
Over 500 million years ago, the Cambrian Period sparked an explosion of skeletal creativity. Salterella, a peculiar fossil, defied conventions by combining two different mineral-building methods. After decades of confusion, scientists have linked it to the cnidarian family. The find deepens our understanding of how animals first learned to buildContinue Reading
At UN climate talks, a joyful gathering of activists seeking to be heard
2025-11-12
As United Nation climate talks get underway in Belem, a different kind of conference is kicking off: the People’s Summit, a gathering of activists, organizers, environmentalists and Indigenous groups from around the world. On a flotilla of boats or in canoes,…Continue Reading
Indigenous Protesters Clash With Guards at U.N. Climate Summit
2025-11-12
Dozens of Indigenous protesters burst into the COP30 summit in Brazil on Tuesday, demanding preservation of their lands. Other Indigenous leaders who took part in the summit said the protesters did not represent the broader movement.Continue Reading
ConocoPhillips Wants to Explore for Oil in an Arctic Wilderness
2025-11-12
The oil company is proposing exploratory drilling and seismic testing beyond the borders of its Willow project, in areas home to caribou and other wildlife that provide sustenance for Alaska Natives. By Nicholas Kusnetz When she was younger, Rosemary Ahtuangaruak used to camp for weeks at a time with familyContinue Reading
Stand your ground: How one community in Brazil is coping with rising tides
2025-11-12
For more than 40 years Ivanil lived in a house raised on stilts just 20 metres from the water’s edge, in the same community where she was born, on Marajó Island where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean in northern Brazil. Continue Reading
Keeping cool on a hotter planet: COP30 pushes for sustainable cooling and AI innovation
2025-11-12
As the planet heats up, so does the race for smarter, cleaner technology. At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, delegates are weighing a paradox at the heart of climate innovation: how to harness powerful tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced cooling systems without deepening the very crisis they aim toContinue Reading
Secretary of Energy Chris Wright ’85 visits MIT
2025-11-12
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright ’85 visited MIT on Monday, meeting Institute leaders, discussing energy innovation at a campus forum, viewing poster presentations from researchers supported through the MIT-GE Vernova Energy and Climate Alliance, and watching energy research demos in the lab where he used to work as aContinue Reading
MIT OpenCourseWare is “a living testament to the nobility of open, unbounded learning”
2025-11-12
Mostafa Fawzy became interested in physics in high school. It was the “elegance and paradox” of quantum theory that got his attention and led to his studies at the undergraduate and graduate level. But even with a solid foundation of coursework and supportive mentors, Fawzy wanted more. MIT Open Learning’sContinue Reading
It’s harder to get home insurance. That’s changing communities across the U.S.
2025-11-12
Home insurance is getting less affordable, and less available, as insurers raise prices and pull back from areas with extreme weather. That’s forcing families across the country to make tough choices. (Image credit: Ryan Kellman)Continue Reading
Unpredictable Spurts of Dry and Wet Weather Cause Confusion and New Challenges for Midwestern Farmers
2025-11-12
This season’s drought shows that the effects of climate change are real, but it’s not as black and white as wet or dry. By Katie Cerulle On Oct. 5, 40 fire departments in Ford County, Illinois, responded to a field fire quickly picking up speed. Starting in a bean field,Continue Reading
Earth is slowly peeling its continents from below, fueling ocean volcanoes
2025-11-12
Researchers discovered that continents don’t just split at the surface—they also peel from below, feeding volcanic activity in the oceans. Simulations reveal that slow mantle waves strip continental roots and push them deep into the oceanic mantle. Data from the Indian Ocean confirms this hidden recycling process, which can lastContinue Reading
New prediction model could improve the reliability of fusion power plants
2025-11-12
Tokamaks are machines that are meant to hold and harness the power of the sun. These fusion machines use powerful magnets to contain a plasma hotter than the sun’s core and push the plasma’s atoms to fuse and release energy. If tokamaks can operate safely and efficiently, the machines couldContinue Reading