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Some of the planet s rarest metals - used in the manufacture of smartphones and other electrical equipment - are increasingly being found in everyday consumer plastics, according to new research.
Scientists from the University of Plymouth and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign tested a range of new and used products including children s toys, office equipment and cosmetic containers.
Through a number of detailed assessments, they examined levels of rare earth elements (REEs) but also quantities of bromine and antimony, used as flame retardants in electrical equipment and a sign of the presence of recycled electronic plastic.
The results showed one or more REEs were found in 24 of the 31 products tested, including items where unregulated recycling is prohibited such as single-use food packaging.
It is possible to destroy the virus within minutes by gaseous ozone, which can be produced synthetically indoors.
The advantage of gaseous ozone over liquid disinfectants (such as alcohol and bleach) is its ability to treat entire rooms, including all objects found in it and hard-to-reach locations.
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Credit: Pusan National University
Rapid global urbanization has dramatically changed the face of our planet, polluting our atmosphere with greenhouse gases and causing global warming. It is the need of the hour to control our activities and find more sustainable alternatives to preserve what remains of our planet for the generations to come.
Carbon dioxide (CO
2) and carbon monoxide (CO) make up a large proportion of industrial flue gases. Recent research has shown that certain microorganisms are capable of metabolizing these gases into useful by-products. Thus, attempts are now being directed to using microbes to recycle these gases and convert them into useful chemicals in a process known as carbon capture and utilization (CCU). This is a step beyond the current widespread practice of carbon capture and storage (CCS). However, such CCU requires high energy input making the scaling up of this process difficult and expensive. How can this process then be optimized fo
Credit: FEFU press office
Preparing regular concrete scientists replaced ordinary water with water concentrate of bacteria Bacillus cohnii, which survived in the pores of cement stone. The cured concrete was tested for compression until it cracked, then researchers observed how the bacteria fixed the gaps restoring the strength of the concrete. The engineers of the Polytechnic Institute of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), together with colleagues from Russia, India, and Saudi Arabia, reported the results in
Sustainability journal.
During the experiment, bacteria activated when gained access to oxygen and moisture, which occurred after the concrete cracked under the pressure of the setup. The awakened bacteria completely repaired fissures with a width of 0.2 to 0.6 mm within 28 days. That is due to microorganisms released a calcium carbonate (CaCO3), a product of their life that crystallized under the influence of moisture. After 28 days of self-healing experimental concr
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IMAGE: A map showing the location of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) and the sampling site against the radiation dose at 1 m above the ground as of November,. view more
Credit: Satoshi Utsunomiya et al.
The 10 year anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident occurs in March. Work just published in the Journal Science of the Total Environment documents new, large (> 300 micrometers), highly radioactive particles that were released from one of the damaged Fukushima reactors.
Particles containing radioactive cesium (134+137Cs) were released from the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) during the 2011 nuclear disaster. Small (micrometer-sized) particles (known as CsMPs) were widely distributed, reaching as far as Tokyo. CsMPs have been the subject of many studies in recent years. However, it recently became apparent that larger (>300 micrometers) Cs-containing particles, with much higher levels of