MSL News
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Waste audit shows Pune slums generate little garbage
The generation of waste in the slums is one-fourth the amount of waste generated in lower-middle class and higher income households, according to a study conducted by students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in collaboration with the city based SWaCH – Solid Waste Collection and Handling – a…
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Clean energy could lead to scarce materials
As the world moves toward greater use of low-carbon and zero-carbon energy sources, a possible bottleneck looms, according to a new MIT study: the supply of certain metals needed for key clean-energy technologies. Wind turbines, one of the fastest-growing sources of emissions-free electricity, rely on magnets that use the rare…
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MIT study sees growing aluminium challenge
A recent analysis by the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) in the USA warns that the recycling of aluminium could become a stumbling block for the industry if no steps are taken to reduce impurities that build up as it is repeatedly recycled. Aluminium engine blocks, in particular, are frequently…
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In a hole? Demand for some rare-earth elements could rapidly outstrip supply
MANY plans for reducing the world’s emissions of carbon dioxide—at least, those plans formulated by environmentalists who are not of the hair-shirt, back-to-the-caves persuasion—involve peppering the landscape with wind turbines and replacing petrol-guzzling vehicles with electric ones charged up using energy gathered from renewable resources. The hope is that the…
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Preventing contamination in recycling
Aluminum has long been the poster child of recycling. About half of all aluminum used in the United States is now recycled, and this recycling has clear and dramatic benefits: Pound for pound, it takes anywhere from nine to 18 times as much energy to produce aluminum from raw ore…
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Microchips’ optical future
Computer chips are one area where the United States still enjoys a significant manufacturing lead over the rest of the world. In 2011, five of the top 10 chipmakers by revenue were U.S. companies, and Intel, the largest of them by a wide margin, has seven manufacturing facilities in the…