Using seaweed to harvest valuable metals
Researchers demonstrated that blooms of the free-floating seaweed Sargassum can sustainably extract rare earth elements from water.
Category: Engineering
Brewing sustainable power from used coffee grounds
Researchers developed a fully biodegradable energy-harvesting device that uses spent coffee grounds to transform motion into electricity.
Lithium mining impacts local waters
Researchers found elevated metal concentrations in surface waters and groundwater downstream of lithium-containing hard rock processing…
Upcycling polystyrene with sunlight and sulfur
Researchers in China developed a rapid, solar-driven process that transforms waste polystyrene and excess sulfur into chemicals used in…
Turning carbon dioxide into fuel with nanostructures
Scientists designed an electrocatalyst infused with bismuth metal that helps convert CO2 to formate, providing a scalable new way to recycle…
New packaging can warn you when meat has spoiled
Scientists designed color-changing carbon dot biosensors that can detect spoiled meat in sealed packages in real-time.
Unzipping bamboo to make better plastics
Scientists developed a recyclable plastic from bamboo that is stronger and more biodegradable than conventional petroleum-based products.
Fungi could reshape the next generation of smart materials
Scientists dispersed living fungal fibers into mixtures that can act as self-stabilizing emulsifiers, tunable films, and fast-responding…
Reinventing fabric coatings from textile waste
Scientists developed a sustainable way to upcycle discarded polyester and spandex fabrics into durable, toxin-free coatings using…
A circular economy for sustainable resources
Scientists proposed a new economic strategy to distribute global rare earth element reserves more sustainably.