Futurology

A person turning on a kitchen faucet, causing water to splash dramatically into a clear glass below.
Sustainability
Desalination could avert one of the top 10 threats facing the world
Desalination — changing seawater into safe drinking water — could avert a crisis. Here’s how to make it less costly and labor-intensive.
Johnny Wood | World Economic Forum
A lineup of compostable algae-based water bottles in various stages of degradation on a reflective surface.
Sustainability
Toward truly compostable plastic
Materials scientists are cooking up environmentally friendly plastics from natural sources like silk, plant fibers and whole algae.
Boyce Upholt | Knowable Magazine
Green fig fruit with water droplets hanging on a branch with leaves, exhibiting plant hardiness.
Climate Crisis
Your garden’s 2024 “hardiness zone” could change, thanks to warming climates
Hotter summers and warmer winters are changing the types of plants we’ll be able to successfully grow. Here’s how to adapt.
Matt Kasson
Scientist handing over a sample wrapped in foil, derived from coral reefs, to another person in a laboratory setting.
Oceans
Scientists are deep-freezing corals to repopulate the ocean
Mary Hagedorn
Man holding a honeycomb frame standing next to a stack of black plastic crates in a snowy environment.
Ecosystems
Moving trees north to save the forests
John H. Tibbetts | Knowable Magazine
Precision agriculture: a tractor equipped with advanced monitoring technology sprays crops, optimizing coverage and resource use, as seen on the display.
Agriculture
Reducing pesticide use while increasing effectiveness
David L. Chandler | MIT News
A boat with a bunch of artificial reefs on it.
Oceans
Why the US has artificial reefs made from sunken ships and voting machines
D’amy Steward and Avery Paxton
An aerial view of a marine permaculture fish farm in the ocean.
Oceans
How marine permaculture could revolutionize ocean farming
Scott Spillias
Climate Crisis
Doomerism’s “tipping point” and why existentialism isn’t the solution to the climate crisis
Flora McCrone and Rosie Ponting and Gill Einhorn
Three colored earths with different colors on them.
Climate Crisis
How much CO2 can the world emit while keeping warming below 1.5°C and 2°C?
Hannah Ritchie | Our World in Data
A man in a black suit and white shirt is smiling.
AI
Technology expert tells us why the AI “doomer” narrative is all wrong
Jonny Thomson
An artist's rendering of an electric motor with a sun in the background harnessing fusion power.
Clean Energy
Pursuing fusion power
M. Mitchell Waldrop | Knowable Magazine
A glass case with a lot of different items in it.
Engineering
Desalination system could produce freshwater that is cheaper than tap water
Jennifer Chu | MIT News Office