Ancient Amazonians intentionally created fertile “dark earth”
The rich soil holds thousands of tons of carbon, sequestered over centuries by indigenous practices, a new study suggests.
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Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS)
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Technologies for water conservation and treatment move closer to commercialization
J-WAFS awards 2023 Solutions Grants to bring two water-related innovations to the market.
Tiny magnetic beads produce an optical signal that could be used to quickly detect pathogens
The findings point to faster way to detect bacteria in food, water, and clinical samples.
Addressing food insecurity in arid regions with an open-source evaporative cooling chamber design
Less expensive than refrigerated cold rooms, this cooling chamber offers accessible cold storage for smallholder farmers.
Advancing material innovation to address the polymer waste crisis
MIT researchers work to discover biodegradable polyesters, with support from the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium, J-WAFS, and DIC Corp.
Six ways MIT is taking action on climate
A variety of recent events highlighted efforts by faculty, staff, and students to make a difference today.
J-WAFS announces 2023 seed grant recipients
Fifteen principal investigators from across MIT will conduct early work to solve issues ranging from water contamination to aquaculture monitoring and management.
Inaugural J-WAFS Grand Challenge aims to develop enhanced crop variants and move them from lab to land
Matt Shoulders will lead an interdisciplinary team to improve RuBisCO — the photosynthesis enzyme thought to be the holy grail for improving agricultural yield.
MIT PhD students honored for their work to solve critical issues in water and food
Gokul Sampath and Jie Yun have been named 2023-24 J-WAFS Fellows.
Detailed images from space offer clearer picture of drought effects on plants
J-WAFS researchers are using remote sensing observations to build high-resolution systems to monitor drought.
A breakthrough on “loss and damage,” but also disappointment, at UN climate conference
Delegates from MIT attended COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where international climate negotiations went down to the wire.
MIT PhD students shed light on important water and food research
J-WAFS Fellows discuss their inspiration for pursuing challenges in water and food systems.
Pesticide innovation takes top prize at Collegiate Inventors Competition
Vishnu Jayaprakash SM '19, PhD '22 won for the AgZen-Cloak, an invention that makes pesticides stick to crops, minimizing pollution and water waste.
Processing waste biomass to reduce airborne emissions
MIT spinoff Takachar converts agricultural waste into clean-burning fuel, and wins Earthshot Prize.
Passive cooling system could benefit off-grid locations
Relying on evaporation and radiation — but not electricity — the system could keep food fresh longer or supplement air conditioning in buildings.