Passive self-closing flood barrier uses floodwater to raise it into position
From Superinnovators 01/12/23 Dutch company Hyflo manufactures a patented Self Closing Flood Barrier system that uses floodwater and buoyancy to raise it in to position – once the water has gone the barrier descends back into the ground. One of the earliest deployments was in 1999 at a pharmaceutical factory in Netherlands, with Hyflo established […]
Hydroelectric power plants in Brazil threaten turtles that depend on rapids
From Estado de São Paulo 18/09/23 A research project supported by FAPESP shows that the construction of new hydroelectric power plants in Brazil’s South region could have an impact on more than 30% of the habitat of Phrynops williamsi, the Williams’ side-necked turtle. The species occurs only in areas of Atlantic Rainforest and Pampa (the […]
Flood risk: Analysis reveals destruction of global floodplains
From University of Texas at Arlington 12/09/23 A University of Texas at Arlington hydrologist’s study in the Nature journal Scientific Data provides the first-ever global estimate of human destruction of natural floodplains. The study can help guide future development in a way that can restore and conserve vital floodplain habitats that are critical to wildlife, […]
Revolutionising lithium production on a string
From Princeton University, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment 11/09/23 A vital component of the batteries at the heart of electric vehicles and grid energy storage, lithium is key to a clean energy future. But producing the silvery-white metal comes with significant environmental costs. Among them is the vast amount of land and time […]
New find: Glitter makeup toxic to aquatic organisms
From Estado de São Paulo 23/08/23 A study conducted by researchers affiliated with the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil concluded that particles of glitter can hinder the growth of organisms at the base of aquatic ecosystems, such as cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), which play a key role in the biogeochemical cycles of water and […]
Oceans release microplastics into the atmosphere
From University of Oldenburg 21/08/23 Microplastic particles are present in the marine atmosphere even in remote parts of the world. These tiny particles come from land sources but are also re-emitted into the atmosphere from the sea, a study by a team of German and Norwegian researchers led by Dr Barbara Scholz-Böttcher of the University […]
Innovators turn dead flies into degradable bioplastics
From American Chemical Society 15/08/23 Imagine using insects as a source of chemicals to make plastics that can biodegrade later — with the help of that very same type of bug. That concept is closer to reality than you might expect. Today, researchers will describe their progress to date, including isolation and purification of insect-derived […]
Microalgae find: Breaks down toxic mercury pollution in waterways
From DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory 10/08/23 In the search for ways to fight methylmercury in global waterways, scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory discovered that some forms of phytoplankton are good at degrading the potent neurotoxin. Phytoplankton, or microalgae, are known as accumulators of methylmercury. The plankton introduce methylmercury into the food chain, where it […]
Jellyfish-like robots could one day clean up the world’s oceans
From Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems 27/07/23 Roboticists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart have developed a jellyfish-inspired underwater robot with which they hope one day to collect waste from the bottom of the ocean. The almost noise-free prototype can trap objects underneath its body without physical contact, thereby enabling […]
Innovators achieve historic milestone in energy capacity of supercapacitors
From UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO 19/07/23 In a new landmark chemistry study, researchers describe how they have achieved the highest level of energy storage — also known as capacitance — in a supercapacitor ever recorded. The study, led by Luis Echegoyen, Ph.D., professor emeritus at The University of Texas at El Paso, and […]