Environment

“Spring” cleanup: Carbon nanosprings break down marine microplastic pollution

By Lisa McDonald / August 20, 2019

Microplastic pollution is a threat to marine ecosystems. A research collaboration between several Australian and Chinese universities created carbon nanosprings that can break down microplastics into compounds that dissolve harmlessly in water.

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Hero or villain? Opposing arguments for the environmental impact of smartphones

By April Gocha / August 16, 2019

The smartphone industry is often considered to have an increasingly negative impact on the environment. But an opposing argument that smartphones are the heroes, rather than villains, of this story exists as well. How could that be?

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Video: Camels provide beauty, milk—and alternative fuel for cement production

By Lisa McDonald / August 14, 2019

In Ras al-Khaimah, the northernmost emirate of the United Arab Emirates, the government’s waste management agency is running a program to divert waste from landfills. Part of that program includes using camel excrement as fuel in cement production.

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PV and produce combine—benefits of agrivoltaics

By Lisa McDonald / August 9, 2019

Many farmers believe agriculture and solar farms present an either-or situation. Research on agrivoltaics, or the practice of co-locating PV infrastructure and agriculture, suggests instead the two could be mutually beneficial.

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Will 5G hinder weather forecasts?

By Lisa McDonald / August 2, 2019

As mobile carriers push ahead with plans to release 5G networks, NOAA, NASA, and other parts of the scientific community warn that frequencies currently planned for use in 5G could interfere with weather forecasting.

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Video: From waste to winners—Olympic medals made from recycled electronics

By Lisa McDonald / July 31, 2019

The next summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo in 2020. As part of its Games Sustainability Plan, Japan recycled almost 80,000 tons of electronic devices to collect enough metal to create 5,000 Olympic medals.

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Combined GFMAT/Bio meeting sees successful turnout in Toronto

By Lisa McDonald / July 26, 2019

More than 360 people from 31 countries traveled to Toronto to attend GFMAT-2 and Bio-4 on July 21–26. This year marks the first time the two conferences were held jointly.

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More glass-ceramic photocatalysts and lead-free pyroelectric materials

By Jonathon Foreman / July 16, 2019

Last month, studies by researcher Rahul Vaish on glass-ceramic photocatalysts were featured in CTT. Today, two more studies by Vaish published in ACerS journals are highlighted—one on antibacterial TiO2-based glass-ceramics, and one on lead-free pyroelectric materials.

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Koala home offers eco-friendly way to make graphene

By Lisa McDonald / July 9, 2019

Researchers from RMIT University in Australia and the National Institute of Technology Warangal in India found Eucalyptus globulus bark extract can act as a green reducing agent in the chemical synthesis of graphene.

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Improving water splitting efficiency of tantalum nitride photocatalysts

By Lisa McDonald / June 25, 2019

To improve overall water splitting capability of tantalum nitride photocatalysts, researchers in Japan investigated which tantalum precursors and nitridation times increase efficiency.

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