What microplastics might be doing to our intestines
Plastics are among the most ubiquitous manmade materials—we wear them, build with them, play with them, ship goods in them, and then we throw them into the waste stream. Ultimately, they can break down into tiny particles that get into our food sup.....»»
Hitchhiking viruses can survive on microplastics in freshwater
Scientists have proven for the first time that viruses can survive and remain infectious by binding themselves to plastics in freshwater—raising concerns about the potential impact on human health......»»
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.....»»
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.....»»
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.....»»
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.....»»
Friendly fungi announce themselves to their hosts
For many years after discovering a diverse population of sometimes dangerous microbes constantly living in our intestines, scientists described the situation as a form of living with the enemy. But when it comes to commensal populations of the fungus.....»»
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.....»»
Citizen science study detects vast amount of microplastics in Catalan bathing areas
The presence of microplastics in the oceans is widely documented/reported by oceanographic research, but data on the pollution in the nearshore regions are scarce due to access difficulties faced by scientific boats. Researchers from the Consolidated.....»»
Microplastics are everywhere, but their dangers largely remain a mystery, experts say
They are everywhere: in riverbanks, on glaciers, in deserts, in fish populations, even in the air we breathe. And these are just a few of the places where scientists have found microplastics, plastic debris roughly the size of a sesame seed that move.....»»