HuffPost – If the much-hyped system is a success, the tricky question is how to deal with all the plastic waste it will bring back.
Category: featured
These Cultural Treasures Are Made of Plastic. Now They’re Falling Apart.
New York Times – Museum conservators are racing to figure out how to preserve modern artworks and historical objects that are disintegrating.
Designing the Death of a Plastic
New York Times – Decades ago, synthetic polymers became popular because they were cheap and durable. Now, scientists are creating material that self-destructs or breaks down for reuse on command.
New Species of Sponges Found on the Pacific Seafloor
New York Times – The tiny creatures live on rock nodules containing metals like iron, cobalt and copper that are targeted for deep-sea mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.
How heat from the Sun can keep us all cool
Nature – As demand for air conditioning climbs, some see a solution in the very thing that makes us sweat: the Sun.
Grinding chemicals together in an effort to be greener
New York Times – Milling, or grinding chemicals together without a solvent, could outperform established methods and yet be safe and simple enough for an inexperienced eighth grader to do.
These fires are huge, hidden and harmful. What can we do?
Ensia – Smoldering peat gives off massive quantities of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, but the search for solutions is on.
Mixed-up metals make for stronger, tougher, stretchier alloys
Nature – Materials scientists are creating next-generation mixtures with remarkable properties.
Unusual molecules shine light on new applications
New York Times – A chemist’s journey to develop a new class of light-emitting molecules opens up a world of applications.
Geothermal’s Carbon Dioxide Boost
Discover – Carbon dioxide, the bane of climate change, can serve a positive role to boost geothermal energy output.