Enzymes from bacteria and fungi break down plastic
Every year, the world produces 380 million tons of plastic. A lot of it ends up in nature and stays there for a long time. It can take 450 years to break down a plastic bottle......»»
Why plastic bottles in the EU now have their caps attached
You may have bought a drink recently and noticed something odd: the once removable cap is now tethered to the bottle by a small strip of plastic......»»
Poor countries recycle far more imported plastic than previously thought—but it"s not enough
Countries like Malaysia import many metric tons of plastic waste from Europe each year, paying a few pennies per kilo. This might seem strange, but according to Kai Li, it makes sense......»»
Are plants and fungi trading carbon for nutrients? Not likely, say researchers
Every year, plants move 3.58 gigatons of carbon to mycorrhizal fungi, their underground partners—enough, in fact, that if it were ice, it would cover 112 million NHL hockey rinks. However, a dominant scientific theory explaining that huge transfer.....»»
Hurry! Best Buy is selling this HP Chromebook for just $159
Need a laptop that won’t break the bank? For a limited time, you can take home the HP 14 Chromebook for just $160 when you purchase at Best Buy......»»
Deals: Apple Pencil Pro all-time low, new Apple Watch SE 2 configs from $189, iPad Air, MagSafe gear, more
Today’s 9to5Toys Lunch Break is headlined by a new all-time low price on Apple Pencil Pro that is now sitting at $99 shipped. While this might be an excellent condition open-box listing, it does include the full 1-year Apple warranty and now joins.....»»
Deals: 16GB 15-inch MacBook Air $1,349, new 25W Apple MagSafe charger, Apple Watch Series 10 Cell new lows, more
Your Monday edition of the 9to5Toys Lunch Break is now ready to go with deals on Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Ultra 2, M3 MacBook Air, and much more. First up, we have the most affordable 15-inch M3 MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM down at $1,349 f.....»»
Pitting good versus bad fungi on sweet corn: A delicate dance
The same defenses that help some varieties of sweet corn resist fungal diseases can also stymie the potency of a beneficial fungus used to kill hungry caterpillar pests, studies by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists suggest. The researche.....»»
Hunting down giant viruses that attack tiny algae
They were said to come from outer space, and there were even claims that they were actually bacteria and that they undermined the very definition of viruses. Giant viruses, nicknamed "giruses," contain enormous quantities of genetic material—up to.....»»
Exxon Mobil says advanced recycling is the answer to plastic waste: But is it really?
When California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed suit against Exxon Mobil and accused the oil giant of misleading the public about the effectiveness of plastic recycling, many of the allegations surrounded the company's marketing of a process called.....»»
Breathing may introduce microplastics to the brain—new study
Small plastic particles are everywhere: in the soil where our food is grown, in the water we drink and in the air we breathe. They got there from the plastic we throw away, which ends up in landfill sites, rivers and seas. There the plastic waste slo.....»»
Google gives Gemini a boost in Sheets and a cool trick in NotebookLM
Using text prompts, Google Sheets can now create structured tables instead of plain text layouts, while NotebookLM will break down YouTube videos......»»
Exploring the role of hydrogen sulfide in the expression of iron uptake genes in E. coli
Antibiotic resistance and oxidative stress response are important biological mechanisms that help bacteria thrive, especially pathogenic bacteria like Escherichia coli. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a chemical messenger molecule, regulates several intracel.....»»
Presence of bacteria in soil makes flowers more attractive to pollinators, study shows
Bacteria that live in soil and help roots fix nitrogen can boost certain plants' capacity to reproduce, according to an article published in the American Journal of Botany describing a study of this mechanism in Chamaecrista latistipula, a legume bel.....»»
Key negotiator Norway sees "positive signals" ahead of plastic talks
In the single week that world leaders convened for high-level UN talks in New York, nearly 100,000 water bottles' worth of microplastics swirled through the city's air, posing known and still unknown risks to human health......»»
Strategies for maximizing recombinant protein production in tobacco plants
Plant molecular farming (PMF) is a modern, sophisticated technology that utilizes plants' biosynthetic machinery to synthesize a plethora of recombinant proteins, including industrial and therapeutic enzymes. It has several advantages over traditiona.....»»
Do you feel eco-guilt or eco-shame? Emotions reveal how much we care about the environment
Air travel, meat in the shopping cart, waste sorting, plastic toys—consumers are faced with a barrage of everyday decisions and priorities when navigating environmental concerns. But what drives these choices?.....»»
Citizen scientists help discover microplastics along the entire German coastline
The global production of plastics and the resulting plastic waste has increased to such an extent that plastics have become ubiquitous in our environment. Plastics of various sizes are also found along the German North Sea and Baltic coasts......»»
Bacterial "flipping" allows genes to assume different forms
Imagine being one cartwheel away from changing your appearance. One flip, and your brunette locks are platinum blond. That's not too far from what happens in some prokaryotes, or single-cell organisms, such as bacteria, that undergo something called.....»»
Ultra-high speed camera for molecules: Attosecond spectroscopy captures electron transfer dynamics
In nature, photosynthesis powers plants and bacteria; within solar panels, photovoltaics transform light into electric energy. These processes are driven by electronic motion and imply charge transfer at the molecular level. The redistribution of ele.....»»
Better together: Gut microbiome communities found to have enhanced resilience to drugs
Many human medications can directly inhibit the growth and alter the function of the bacteria that constitute our gut microbiome. EMBL Heidelberg researchers have now discovered that this effect is reduced when bacteria form communities......»»