Microplastics are everywhere, but are they harming us?
Microplastics have been found in the ocean and the air, in our food and water. They have been found in a wide range of body tissues, including the heart, liver, kidneys and even testicles......»»
Interaction between nanoplastics and pectin, a water-soluble polysaccharide
Microplastics are known to collect in ecosystems and nanoplastics occur from the breaking down of microplastics. Nanoplastics are plastic particles of sizes less than 100 nm and when they are in water, they are dispersed in a colloidal form. Nanoplas.....»»
Apple and Google should face FTC probe over ad practices that could end up harming abortion-seekers, US lawmakers say
The Federal Trade Commission should investigate Apple and Google over what they initially told consumers about how their information would be used for advertising purposes, according to a group of US lawmakers warning that the loosely regulated data.....»»
Scientists Unveil Bionic Robo-fish To Remove Microplastics From Seas
Scientists have designed a tiny robot-fish that is programmed to remove microplastics from seas and oceans by swimming around and adsorbing them on its soft, flexible, self-healing body. From a report: Microplastics are the billions of tiny plastic p.....»»
UM study finds microplastic pollution in Flathead Lake
They're in our oceans and rivers. They're in the food we eat and the water we drink. They've even been detected inside the human body. They're called microplastics—particles of plastic so small they can't be seen by the naked eye. While researchers.....»»
Shedding light on the impact of microplastics on lentil seedling growth
Microplastic pollution is known to negatively impact seed germination and seedling growth. Although some studies have demonstrated the effects of microplastics on seed germination, the impact of microplastics on the internal biological activity of se.....»»
Self-Propelled Robo-Fish Can Grab Microplastics Out of the Ocean
A robotic fish the size of your pinky nail might soon help mitigate microplastic pollution. The post Self-Propelled Robo-Fish Can Grab Microplastics Out of the Ocean appeared first on ExtremeTech......»»
Tiny fish-shaped robot "swims" around picking up microplastics
Microplastics are found nearly everywhere on Earth and can be harmful to animals if they're ingested. But it's hard to remove such tiny particles from the environment, especially once they settle into nooks and crannies at the bottom of waterways. No.....»»
Instagram has new parental controls to help moderate use for teens
As Meta deals with lawsuits alleging its apps are harming teen users, the technology company has just announced new parental control features for Instagram......»»
Microplastics Found In Freshly Fallen Antarctic Snow For First Time
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Microplastics have been found in freshly fallen snow in Antarctica for the first time, which could accelerate snow and ice melting and pose a threat to the health of the continent's unique ecosys.....»»
Examining the microplastics in the Indian Ocean
They may be tiny, but they pose a global problem for humans and the environment: microplastic particles. These are plastic particles with a diameter between one micron and five millimeters. Their accurate analysis is an enormous challenge due to high.....»»
First microplastics found in Antarctic snow
University of Canterbury researchers have published the world's first study confirming the discovery of microplastics in fresh snow in Antarctica......»»
‘Plastitar’ Is the Unholy Spawn of Oil Spills and Microplastics
On the beautiful beaches of the Canary Islands, scientists discovered a noxious new pollutant: tar mixed with tiny bits of plastic......»»
How do bacterial communities in black soils respond to conventional and biodegradable microplastics?
Plastic film mulching has been applied globally in various agricultural settings and inevitably disintegrates into microplastics (MPs, which are less than 5 mm in size) due to a series of natural and artificial forces. However, the effects of MPs on.....»»
Catching microplastics with spider webs
Flies, mosquitoes, dust and even microplastics—spider webs capture whatever travels through the air. Researchers at the university have now for the first time tested if they can get an overview of plastic particles in the air by examining the eight.....»»
Neuroscientists expand CRISPR toolkit with new, compact Cas7-11 enzyme
Last year, researchers at MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research discovered and characterized Cas7-11, the first CRISPR enzyme capable of making precise, guided cuts to strands of RNA without harming cells in the process. Now, working with colla.....»»
California Parents Could Soon Sue For Social Media Addiction
California could soon hold social media companies responsible for harming children who have become addicted to their products, permitting parents to sue platforms like Instagram and TikTok for up to $25,000 per violation under a bill that passed the.....»»
Monitoring the journey of microplastics through the intestine of a living organism
A UAB research team has managed to track the movement of microplastics during their journey through the intestinal tract of a living organism and illustrate what happens along the way. The study, carried out on Drosophila melanogaster using electron.....»»
Microplastics threaten typical remote cryospheric regions
Microplastics usually refer to plastic fibers, films, fragments, and microbes with size less than five millimeters. They are widely distributed in water, soil, sediment, the atmosphere, and even snow and ice, which impacts Earth's climate and environ.....»»
Are microplastics pervasive in Nigerian drinking water?
In Nigeria, about 90% of water available for drinking is sourced from boreholes, or deep, narrow wells that tap into naturally occurring underground water. A recent study in Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry found that microplastics (MPs) are abun.....»»
How microplastics in the air are polluting the most remote places on Earth
Microplastics are being transported to some of the most remote places on Earth by the wind, according to new research involving the University of East Anglia. A new study published today in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment shows how wind transports.....»»