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 […]
Cleaning water with ‘smart rust’ and magnets
From American Chemical Society 20/08/23 Pouring flecks of rust into water usually makes it dirtier. But researchers have developed special iron oxide nanoparticles they call “smart rust” that actually makes it cleaner. Smart rust can attract many substances, including oil, nano- and microplastics, as well as the herbicide glyphosate, depending on the particles’ coating. And […]
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 […]
Microplastics found in human heart tissues, both before and after surgery
From American Chemical Society 10/08/23 Everywhere scientists look for microplastics, they’ve found them — food, water, air and some parts of the human body. But examinations of our innermost organs that aren’t directly exposed to the environment are still limited. Now, in a pilot study of people who underwent heart surgery, researchers in ACS’ Environmental […]
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 […]
Billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving baby food containers: kills 75% of lab kidney cells
From UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN 21/07/23 The fastest way to heat food and drink might also rank as the fastest route to ingesting massive quantities of minuscule plastic particles, says new research from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Experiments have shown that microwaving plastic baby food containers available on the shelves of U.S. stores can release huge […]
Deep-sea mining environmental impact bigger than expected
From CELL PRESS 17/07/2023 In 2020, Japan performed the first successful test extracting cobalt crusts from the top of deep-sea mountains to mine cobalt—a mineral used in electric vehicle batteries. Not only do directly mined areas become less habitable for ocean animals, but mining also creates a plume of sediment that can spread through the […]
1,000 truckloads of trash prevented from entering Caribbean Sea
From The Ocean Cleanup, published and updated on Superinnovators 13/07/2023 Guatemala City, JUNE 14, 2023 — The Ocean Cleanup, the international non-profit project with the mission of ridding the oceans of plastic, has confirmed that its new Interceptor Barricade is now operational and capturing plastic in the Rio Las Vacas, Guatemala. As of June 13, an estimated 856, […]