Pollution News and Research

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Bioplastics From Black Soldier Flies: A Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Solution

Imagine using insects as a source of chemicals to make plastics that can biodegrade later -; with the help of that very same type of bug.

16 Aug 2023

Pacific Coast Gray Whales are Smaller Than Their Northern Counterparts

Gray whales that spend their summers feeding off the coast of Oregon are shorter than their counterparts who travel north to the Arctic for food, new research from Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute shows.

10 Aug 2023

Fossil Record Can Be Used to Assess Health of Marine Ecosystems

Biologists attempting to conserve and restore denuded environments are limited by their scant knowledge of what those environments looked like before the arrival of humans.

12 Jul 2023

Plastic Pollution Threatens Endangered Seabirds in Portuguese Seas

New study reveals the areas most at risk of plastic exposure by the already endangered seabirds.

5 Jul 2023

Artificial Light Has Drastic Impact on Male Glow-Worms' Ability to Find Mates

The bright lights of big cities are wonders of the modern world; intended to help us work, stay safe and enjoy the world around us long after the sun has set.

14 Jun 2023

AIMPLAS Coordinates a New EU Project to Valorize Slaughterhouse Waste and Paper and Pulp Sludge for Agricultural and Personal Care Applications

AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Centre, coordinates a new European project to valorize slaughterhouse waste (bellygrass or rumen content) and paper and pulp sludge, to produce cost-efficient polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) for agricultural and personal care applications, by the coprocessing with other organic wastes (OW) such as sludge from the dairy industry and glycerol from the biodiesel industry, as well as recovering nutrients to produce bio-based fertilizers (BBFs).

13 Jun 2023

Leave Bats Alone to Prevent the Next Pandemic of Zoonotic Origin

A new paper in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health makes the case that pandemic prevention requires a global taboo whereby humanity agrees to leave bats alone-;to let them have the habitats they need, undisturbed.

7 Jun 2023

CRISPR/Cas9 Unlocks the Key Gene in the Development of Coral Skeleton Formation

Recent research conducted by Phillip Cleves of Carnegie employs sophisticated CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technologies to identify a gene essential to stony corals’ capacity to construct complex reef designs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published this.

6 Jun 2023

eDNA Captured Along With Particulate Matter Reflects Local Biodiversity

The increasing loss of biodiversity and the rising incidence of species extinction is a severe threat to global ecosystems. However, measuring those losses on a global scale has been impossible, owing in large part to a lack of the necessary infrastructure.

6 Jun 2023

Mixotrophic Microbes Create Carbon Tipping Points Under Warming

A climate feedback loop that can expedite climate change has been determined by scientists studying a group of extensive but often neglected microbes. However, it is not all bad news: this one shows an early warning signal.

2 Jun 2023

Evaluating the Impacts of Environmental Change on Mixotrophic Dynamics and Carbon Flux

New research finds that a warming climate could flip globally abundant microbial communities from carbon sinks to carbon emitters, potentially triggering climate change tipping points. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society journal Functional Ecology.

2 Jun 2023

Widely Used Compostable Plastic Remains Unchanged in Marine Waters

A widely used compostable plastic persists unchanged in marine environments for at least 14 months, according to a new study in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Sarah-Jeanne Royer and colleagues from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

25 May 2023

Novel Epigenetic Mechanism Reveals Organisms’ Response to Nanoparticulate Exposure

Scientists at the University of Helsinki have revealed a molecular epigenetic mechanism, prevalent in several species throughout the tree of life, which modulates long-term cellular responses to particulate matter like air pollution.

22 May 2023

Seasonal Behavior of SARS-CoV-2 is Genetically Encoded, Study Suggests

As the northern hemisphere heads into summer, we may be in for a COVID-19 reprieve. Not because the pandemic is over; the Omicron subvariant 'Arcturus' is still creeping upward and causing new symptoms.

15 May 2023

Artificial Light at Night Could Significantly Impact Mosquito Behavior

A new study's finding that urban light pollution may disrupt the winter dormancy period for mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus could be considered both good news and bad news.

11 Apr 2023

Bacterial Probiotic for Treating and Preventing Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease Discovered

Researchers with the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History have discovered the first effective bacterial probiotic for treating and preventing stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), a mysterious ailment that has devastated Florida's coral reefs since 2014 and is rapidly spreading throughout the Caribbean.

6 Apr 2023