spirulina tagged posts

Algae as a Surprising Meat Alternative and Source of Environmentally Friendly Protein

Photo by Laker

With more of us looking for alternatives to eating animals, new research has found a surprising environmentally friendly source of protein – algae.

The University of Exeter study has been published in The Journal of Nutrition and is the first of its kind to demonstrate that the ingestion of two of the most commercially available algal species are rich in protein which supports muscle remodeling in young healthy adults. Their findings suggest that algae may be an interesting and sustainable alternative to animal-derived protein with respect to maintaining and building muscle.

Researcher Ino Van Der Heijden from the University of Exeter said: “Our work has shown algae could become part of a secure and sustainable food future...

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New Biodegradable Plastics are Compostable in your Backyard

A person working at a lab bench. The person is holding a tray of green powder and is scooping the powder into a metal mold shaped like the UW logo.
Mallory Parker, UW materials science and engineering doctoral student, adds spirulina powder to a UW logo mold. Once this mold goes in the hot-press, it will generate a UW logo-shaped piece of plastic.Mark Stone/University of Washington

We use plastics in almost every aspect of our lives. These materials are cheap to make and incredibly stable. The problem comes when we’re done using something plastic—it can persist in the environment for years. Over time, plastic will break down into smaller fragments, called microplastics, that can pose significant environmental and health concerns.

The best-case solution would be to use bio-based plastics that biodegrade instead, but many of those bioplastics are not designed to degrade in backyard composting conditions...

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