Category Environment/Geology

Carbon nanofibers coated with PEDOT in a scanning electron microscope image. Credit: Juan Guzman and Meryem Pehlivaner/Provided

Cornell materials scientists and bioelectrochemical engineers may have created an innovative, cost-competitive electrode material for cleaning pollutants in wastewater. The researchers created electro-spun carbon nanofiber electrodes and coated them with a conductive polymer, called PEDOT, to compete with carbon cloth electrodes available on the market. When the PEDOT coating is applied, an electrically active layer of bacteria – Geobacter sulfurreducens – naturally grows to create electricity and transfer electrons to the novel electrode...

1. Microbeads are found in cosmetics and personal care products such as toothpaste, sunscreen, hair gel and shower gel.
2. Microscope picture of cellulose microbeads

On World Ocean Day, researchers announced they developed biodegradable cellulose microbeads from a sustainable source that could potentially replace harmful plastic ones that contribute to ocean pollution. Microbeads are little spheres of plastic less than 0.5 mm in size that are added to personal care and cleaning products including cosmetics, sunscreens and fillers to give them a smooth texture. However they are too small to be removed by sewage filtration systems and so end up in rivers and oceans and ingested by birds, fish and marine life.

It is estimated that a single shower can result in 100,000 plastic particles enterin...

Scanning electron microscopy image of a calcite crystal generated in the presence of the sea urchin protein rSM50 on a silicon wafer showing organized nanotexturing on exposed surfaces

Researchers are investigating a protein found inside the spicules of a sea urchin embryo to understand what makes these proteins such efficient ‘brick organizers’. Calcium carbonate, or CaCO3, comprises more than 4% of Earth’s crust. Its most common natural forms are chalk, limestone, and marble, produced by the sedimentation of the shells of small fossilized snails, shellfish, and coral over millions of years. NYU Dentistry researchers are studying how nature creates 3D CaCO3 inorganic/organic based materials to form seashells, invertebrate exoskeletons, and vertebrate bone, dentine, and enamel.

John Evans,...

Flight paths for the 7km arc and line, followed from left to right. The star indicates the location of the ground station at Smith Falls{Montague Airport. The inner portions represent where the quantum link was active. Photo produced using GPSVisualizer.com, map data c 2016 Google, imagery c 2016 Cnes/Spot Image, DigitalGlobe, Landsat, New York GIS, USDA Farm Service Agency.

Researchers in Canada have taken a significant step towards enabling secure quantum communication via moving satellites, as announced by the Canadian Government in April 2017. Their study demonstrates the first quantum key distribution transmissions from a ground transmitter to a quantum payload on a moving aircraft...