Plastic is a problem but it looks like bacteria might just save us from ourselves. Scientists have engineered a bacterial enzyme that can break down plastic bottles at record speed. It turns a process that would take hundreds of years into one that only takes a few hours.
Good news for all those parents out there hunkered down with their kids worried about spending too much time with their screens: A new study has shown that screen time isn’t making your kids less social and the idea that it was is basically just moral panic, not like, reality.
We all know by now that we need to stay 1-2 meters away from other people outside of our home. Social or physically distancing is an important aspect of keeping us all safe and healthy. But if you’re out for a walk or run, you need to be even further than that according to a new study.
Everyone is agreement that planting trees is a good idea but urban areas are having trouble meeting goals. Not because they’re not planting, but because the trees are removed before they can reach maturity. Finding a way to overcome this issue is key to meeting environmental targets.
Many of us are entering our third or more week of isolation in our homes. It’s no surprise that people are starting to miss their offices. At least it was somewhere else to be. Well if you’re jonesing for that sweet, sweet recycled air and busy work, check out I Miss the Office, the site that lets you close your eyes and fake it.
Rice is so, so good. You might disagree but a huge population of the planet loves it. Too bad that it also has the biggest carbon footprint of any grain. That’s right, rice, grown in paddies all over the world also coughs up a ton of methane. The problem is easy to fix though. The solution? Fish.
Slowly over time all of our batteries are dying. It’s not just in your head that your smartphone doesn’t last as long on a single charge as it used to. Electric cars have the same problem. A new AI method has been developed that give a more accurate reading of battery health making it easier to develop better ones.
You may have recently dragged out your sewing machine to make masks. This is fine and helpful, make extra for donation if you can! Give them to neighbors and other family members. Help people out! But make sure you’re using the right type of fabric for the job.
If you’re on the fence about wearing a mask it’s time to come to the side of putting one on. Scientists aren’t sure if it will help but they are sure it won’t hurt and has been helpful in slowing the spread of other, similar illnesses.
Trees are important to fighting the climate crisis but how will they do in a world with less water? Well it turns out they’re already making some changes to survive drier times. As the climate changes, trees are changing with it.
If you are sick, you should isolate yourself new study confirms. By making the choice to stay home, away from others, even if you are only showing A FEW symptoms, you’re helping to stop the spread of COVID-19 and potentially cutting down on how many ICU beds will be needed.
This sounds like the stuff of science fiction but scientists at the University of California are working on a way to create the building blocks organic molecules from bacteria, nanowires, sunlight, carbon dioxide and water like a little replicator.
Today our major greenhouse gas is CO2 but in the past, it was lead. Which isn’t a greenhouse gas but thanks to mining during the 1100s, a lot of it was in the air and man, that could not have been a good time for people breathing it. New ice cores prove that lead pollution was just as bad then as air pollution during the Industrial Revolution which goes to show, we’ve always been pretty bad at this.
The N95 respirator masks are in short supply (along with much of the other needed PPE) and doctors have had to reuse them which puts everyone in danger. Researchers at Duke University have devised a way to decontaminate these masks so that they can safely be reused.
Remember the hole in the ozone layer? It was a big deal in the 80s and 90s. Such a big deal that nations signed the Montreal Protocol and agreed to stop producing chemicals that were destroying the ozone. Well it’s been 33 or so years since that went into effect and good news, the ozone layer has made a come back.
