Scientists use sound waves to remove microplastics from waterways
The surprisingly basic technology was developed by a team of researchers who believe it could offer a novel solution to the ever-increasing environmental and health threat posed by these tiny particles. Microplastic pollution is a huge problem. The tiny particles, which are undetectable to the human eye and less than 5...
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Pathogenic fungi could get stronger as the climate grows warmer
While mushrooms may now be helping combat depression, not all fungi are friends. Evolved types, such as pathogenic fungi, pose a threat to human health and studies warn that climate change could increase their potency. We’ve been warned time and time again about the human health risks posed by a...
NASA readies its JWST successor: Nancy Grace Roman Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope has allowed us to peer further into the cosmos than ever before in its first 15 months, but NASA is already planning for its successor to take the reins before 2027. Let’s look at the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Telescope. Our knowledge of the great...
Could Sunzaun solar panels be the future of green energy?
A company in California has created a vertical solar panel that allows agriculture and green energy to co-exist. Solar panels are one of the most promising sources for green energy, with over 1 million different sites in the UK alone. With the disastrous effects of climate change already impacting people...
Why is space pollution a threat to the future?
Space exploration has served humanity well, offering a means of weather prediction and an ability to study the distant cosmos. However, our passion for science has created significant amounts of space junk. Space junk refers to any debris that is left in space by humans. It is usually comprised of...
Scientists examine Antarctica’s thawing ‘Doomsday Glacier’
Scientists have gotten a first look at what’s thawing away Antarctica's giant Thwaites ice shelf - dubbed the ‘Doomsday Glacier’ due to its huge sea rise potential. There’s positives and negatives to be taken. Sea levels are said to have risen between 21 and 24 centimetres since 1880, and high-tide flooding...
Could gene-editing be used to treat mental illness?
Just as the technology is promising new therapies for everything from heart disease to cancer, some researchers believe that tinkering with the epigenome could help reverse the damage done by trauma. In recent years, scientists have made strides towards treating diseases through gene-editing technology, their most promising breakthrough being the discovery of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). The essence of CRISPR is simple: it’s a way of...
Could this mushroom one day replace plastic?
Researchers are studying the molecular structure of fomes fomentarius, a fungus with the remarkable ability to yield a wide range of materials with different properties. If you’re familiar with my writing, by now I’m sure you’re well aware of my deep-rooted obsession with all things mycelium. This is pretty understandable, given the amount of recent findings proving that there’s very little these fantastic fungi can’t do. From communicating...
Could clouds of moon dust temper global warming?
Scientists at the University of Utah believe firing millions of tons of moon dust into the atmosphere could help to prevent global warming. The best answer is often the simplest... is a mantra being emphatically shunned by climate scientists at the University of Utah. The group of researchers at the institution have been running computer simulations to test what is undoubtedly the most unorthodox climate mitigation scheme yet: launching millions of...
Scientists believe live bacteria could be eating ocean plastic
It’s hard to believe any living thing could survive on a diet consisting of plastic, but new research has revealed that certain bacteria have found a way to ingest ocean pollution – making it disappear altogether. If you’ve been visiting Thred for a while, you’re likely well-versed in how serious our global plastic pollution problem is. We have written a ton about how the 12 million tons of plastic dumped into...
