Spending time in nature has benefits beyond improving physical health.
Continue ReadingSelf-healing buildings and compostable bricks are astonishing architectural feats brought to you by fungi.
Continue ReadingHow does plastic end up in the ocean, and what is the negative impact on ocean ecology and marine life?
Continue ReadingAmericans throw away 80 billion pounds of food each year and the food waste makes up more than 22% of space in landfills. That’s equivalent to 219 pounds per person…
Continue ReadingEver since the invention of plastic, disposal of the billions of pieces produced each year has been a global problem. Scientists have uncovered two bacterial enzymes that eat plastic – could this be the answer we’re looking for?
Continue ReadingCellulose is the most abundant plant polymer, and its chemical manipulation has been a goal for years. Now in just two steps, a plastic starting material can be made from raw cellulose sources in decent yield that could be used to make useful plastics that are biodegradable outside of an industrial composter.
Continue ReadingA key part of the fight against climate change is to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs). So, when a massive corporation reduces their emissions by an amount equivalent to taking 900,000…
Continue Reading2019, “new year, new me,” as they say. Many people have new goals; maybe they’ll read more, go to the gym more, or try to improve relationships. Whatever your New…
Continue ReadingWhile HIV treatment has come a long way over the past few decades, there is still a discrepancy between total number of HIV patients and those with access to life-saving…
Continue ReadingIn 2012, I was working at the Cooperative Oxford Lab in Oxford, Maryland, when we were notified of and rescued a stranded sea turtle. Sadly, the turtle was so sick…
Continue ReadingFar out in eastern Russia, deep in the Siberian Plateau, lies one of the great waterways of the world. The Lena is the eleventh longest river on Earth. For thousands…
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