(Natural News) Mussels often end up getting contaminated by the vast amount of microplastics that pollute the oceans. A new study showed that the animals successfully expel most of the tiny plastic fibers from their bodies. Microplastics are present in every part of the world’s oceans, even remote areas that are thousands of miles away from the nearest human presence. […]

(Natural News) A Mexican startup is turning the tons of agricultural waste produced by avocado farms into useful products. Named Biofase, the company uses a technique that converts the discarded pits of the fruit into bioplastic, which in turn is used to make biodegradable plastic products. Biofase set up shop in the Mexican state of Michoacan, the center of the […]

(Natural News) The rushed pace of modern life means more and more of us are grabbing our coffee in a to-go cup and taking it with us on our morning commute to work. With the government threatening to impose taxes on disposable cups, and many coffee chains offering substantial discounts to consumers who bring their […]

(Natural News) Illinois-based researchers tested out the effect of natural antioxidants – vitamin C and epigallocatechin gallate – on hexavalent chromium. They reported that the two antioxidants appear to inhibit the toxic effects of the increasingly widespread water contaminant. Hexavalent chromium is a heavy metal that has many industrial applications. It is a crucial part of chemicals employed in carbon and […]

(Natural News) An intra-European research team is hard at work designing the newest iteration of “electronic noses.” The final version of their gas sensor will be sensitive enough to detect minute traces of industrial air pollutants in the environment. INITIO is an international research project of the European Union’s Horizon2020 FET-OPEN. Supported by the European Commission with […]

(Natural News) Many countries around the globe are making an effort to reduce their plastic waste to save wildlife – and humans – from its detrimental effects. In fact, Thailand and Vietnam are just some countries that are taking a page (or a leaf for this one) from Mother Nature’s playbook to combat plastic waste. […]

(Natural News) What if there were a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to test your drinking water at home or at work to determine just how much toxic fluoride it contains? Well, thanks to the dedicated work of researchers from Switzerland, now there is. A new study published in the Journal of the American Chemical […]

(Natural News) Chinese researchers recently uncovered a very efficient arrangement of two common semiconductor materials that would greatly increase their efficiency as photocatalysts. They reported that a two-dimensional heterostructure made up of nanometer-thin layers of black phosphorus and bismuth tungstate could split water in the presence of sufficient light. Furthermore, the same semiconductor structure could […]

(Natural News) Polyolefin makes a considerable chunk of the millions of tons of plastic that end up each year in the oceans as plastic trash. Fortunately, Indiana-based researchers have developed a new chemical technique that could turn the plastic pollutant into clean fuels and other valuable products. The conversion technique came from the laboratories of Purdue University. A joint work of professors, graduate students, […]

(Natural News) About three decades have passed since scientists made the devastating discovery that a massive hole had developed in the Earth’s ozone layer – the shield that protects us from the sun by absorbing most of its ultraviolet radiation – right over Antarctica. Recognizing the immensely dangerous potential of the situation, most of the […]