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Print article Share The latest surge in fossil-fuel prices means it is now up to nine times cheaper in the UK to drive an electric vehicle (EV) than a petrol or diesel car, shows Carbon Brief analysis. Since February, when the US first attacked Iran, the average price of diesel has increased by 38% to […]
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Interactive: What China’s dozens of ‘five-year plans’ say about climate and energy
Almost three-quarters of the 72 five-year plans published by China this year include policies or targets related to climate change and energy, according to Carbon Brief analysis. Five-year plans are an important part of China’s policymaking process, signalling key priorities and setting targets for the coming years. The post Interactive: What China’s dozens of ‘five-year […]
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RAG vs. Fine-Tuning for Domain Adaptation: When to Use Which
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In this article, you will learn the mechanical difference between retrieval-augmented generation and fine-tuning, when each technique is the right tool, and how to decide…
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Agent or Workflow? A Practical Test for Knowing When You Actually Need an AI Agent
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In this article, you will learn the key differences between AI workflows and agents, and how to decide which approach is right for your use…
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Estimating suicide risk from text
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When people reach out during a mental health crisis, a top priority for counselors is identifying those with a high risk of suicide. The distressed person’s language holds critical clues, and a new tool developed by scientists at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research is designed to pick up on and rapidly evaluate those signals. […]
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BNG credits to fund 240-acre nature restoration at Herstmonceux
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Herstmonceux Castle (image credit: Michael Coppins, CC BY-SA 4.0 license). A 240-acre area of farmland at the Herstmonceux Castle Estate in East Sussex is to be restored as wood pasture, grassland and scrub under a long-term project financed through the sale of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units. Nature restoration company Nattergal will manage the project […]
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Fibre network enlisted to detect Southern Water leaks
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Leakage from ageing water mains remains a major focus for water companies as they face tighter reduction targets and growing pressure on supplies. Southern Water is to trial technology that turns Openreach’s fibre-optic telecoms network into a distributed sensor for detecting leaks in nearby water mains. The water company is working with UK technology firm […]
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Project explores virtual power plant approach for Antigua and Barbuda
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Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda and Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation sign the Memorandum of Understanding. UK renewable energy firm Octopus Energy and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda are to explore how solar power, battery storage, electric vehicles and flexible electricity demand could be coordinated to reduce the island […]
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MIT welcomes David Siegel SM ’86, PhD ’91 as its next Innovation Fellow
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David Siegel SM ’86, PhD ’91, a computer scientist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, will serve as the next MIT Innovation Fellow during the 2026-27 academic year. Working with the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, Siegel will explore how artificial intelligence can accelerate scientific discovery at the Institute and beyond. “From the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing […]
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The promise and peril of using visual AI to study cities
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A few months ago, researchers from the MIT Senseable City Lab published a study about pollution in New York City featuring some new methods. For instance: With machine learning, they identified the types of vehicles appearing in 331 traffic cameras in the city, and estimated the emissions coming from each automobile. Given enough cameras, these […]
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Substation-based drones to trial automated power-line inspections
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Four remotely operated drones are to be stationed at electricity substations in the Lake District as part of a 12-month trial of automated fault detection and power-line condition monitoring. SP Electricity North West (SP ENW) is working with Skyports Drone Services and eSmart Systems on Project VOLT (Visual Overhead Line Tracking), which will use “drone-in-a-box” […]
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Concrete recycling system recovers aggregates and fines at Greenwich plant
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A recycling system installed at Heidelberg Materials’ Greenwich concrete plant is recovering aggregates and cementitious fines* from returned concrete for use in new materials, as well as recycling water used to wash concrete trucks. Heidelberg Materials UK says the installation has enabled the London site, at Victoria Deep Water on the River Thames, to achieve […]
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Marine habitats to be incorporated into Southampton waterfront repairs
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Mayflower Park on Southampton’s waterfront. Repairs to an ageing waterfront revetment in Southampton will combine new coastal protection infrastructure with artificial rock pools designed to provide habitat for marine life.1 Southampton City Council has given final approval for work on the Mayflower Park revetment, which protects the city-centre park from erosion and damage associated with […]
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Researchers recover reusable fluorine from PFAS and fluoropolymer waste
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Professor Norio Shibata. A team of scientists led by the Nagoya Institute of Technology in Japan has developed a rapid new way to recycle PFAS, recovering valuable fluorine from so-called ‘forever chemicals’ for use in medicines, electronics and refrigeration technologies. The approach, which has won the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Organic Chemistry Horizon Prize 2026, […]
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Analysis: Nepal’s $20m ‘loss-and-damage’ claim only covers 0.7% of flood costs
Print article Share Article Contents Expand menu Close Nepal’s needs Requests vs pledges ‘Rapid response’ The Nepali government has requested $20m from the UN fund for “loss and damage”, following the devastating floods that hit the country in late August. This amounts to just 0.7% of the $2.7bn it has estimated in “physical damage” to […]
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Explainer: How sea level rise poses an ‘existential threat’ to humans, heritage and nature
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Poitras Center to fuel early careers of 50 young scientists dedicated to psychiatric disorders research
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Patricia and James Poitras ’63, longtime MIT supporters, have launched a fellowship program for graduate students and postdocs studying major mental illness, expanding their MIT philanthropy to directly support early-career scientists. The commitment establishes 50 two-year fellowships through the Poitras Center for Psychiatric Disorders Research at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research. Five fellowships will be awarded every […]
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Contrail avoidance could delay aviation warming by a decade, says study
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Aircraft contrails spread and mingle with high-altitude cloud. The report says a relatively small proportion of flights accounts for most contrail-related warming. Targeted changes to aircraft flight paths to prevent warming contrails could effectively delay aviation-related global warming by around a decade, according to a new scientific review commissioned by campaign group Transport & Environment […]
Carbon Neutral Regulation in AI Training