Environment

Researchers at Nanjing University published a new study in Environmental and Biogeochemical Processes describing a method for treating perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in water. By introducing a small amount of formic acid into a UV-activated persulfate system, the researchers increased defluorination from 27% to 89% in 24 hours. The best results required acidic conditions (pH 2.5),…

Just weeks after the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires became the costliest in U.S. history, with insured losses exceeding $37 billion and total economic damage estimates ranging from $95 billion to $164 billion, new research from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) offers insights into one of the most dangerous and least understood wildfire phenomena: multi-ignition…

Scientists pumped approximately 16,200 gallons of sodium hydroxide into the Gulf of Maine. It was the final phase of a study on a climate intervention that could simultaneously mitigate global warming and ocean acidification.  Earth’s oceans absorb about one-third of human carbon emissions. However, as this carbon dioxide dissolves into the ocean, it reacts with…

DuPont Water Solutions’ FilmTec Fortilife XC160 membrane, a 2025 R&D 100 Award winner in the Mechanical/Materials category, tackles a challenge traditional reverse osmosis can’t: concentrating wastewater streams up to 16% salt. At that salinity, osmotic pressure overwhelms conventional membranes, but the XC160’s underlying technology, developed over a decade and refined while awaiting scale-up, handles it.…

Making industrial and military magnets from rare earth metals is a dirty job, often relegated to countries with limited environmental oversight. Now, Gadolyn Inc., headquartered in Austin, Texas, has developed a way to do it cleanly, paving the way to bringing production back to the U.S. The traditional molten salt electrolysis method, used around the…

In the Amazon rainforest, scientists are pumping carbon dioxide into the canopy to simulate atmospheric conditions that may arise due to climate change to study how the biome adapts to heightened levels of carbon dioxide.  Predicting the future  The project is called AmazonFACE, short for Free-Air CO2 Enrichment. It is located near Manaus, the largest…

EpiEarth predicts the number of disease cases, disease risk and the impact of mitigations on potential epidemics. The software can predict on a day, season or decadal timescale, giving officials the necessary time to plan. The modular design enables the substitution of different models, diseases or vector species, making EpiEarth generalizable across vector-borne diseases that…

This week in R&D: the first quantum computer in space is now orbiting the Earth; a potential new treatment for Alzheimer’s, thanks to cancer drugs; a startup is breaking ground on their first fusion power plant, they say they are on track to deliver fusion energy by 2030; Google DeepMind announced their AI Earth mapping…

The detrimental effects of petroleum-derived plastics are well known. As pollution levels rise and concerns about microplastics and forever chemicals intensify, the need for a sustainable solution becomes increasingly evident.  In response to this need, researchers are developing biodegradable plastics. However, bioplastics are not as strong as traditional plastics and only degrade in a high-temperature…

Scientists from the University of Texas at El Paso demonstrated a new technique to improve the yield of biofuel from microalgae. Their study in ACS Applied Bio Materials centers on the microalga Chlorella vulgaris, which is commonly found in freshwater and can be used to produce biofuels.  The researchers demonstrated that doses of zinc oxide…

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame developed an AI tool, called EcoSphere, to help make cities greener. They published their findings in npj Urban Sustainability.  The researchers aim to help urban policymakers make informed decisions about sustainable building practices. “Our goal is to develop tools that assess the carbon emission reduction and mitigation potentials…

Researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have developed a method to convert plastic waste into hydrogen, which can be used for clean energy. They published their findings in Engineering.  Using a photocatalyst to oxidize plastic  The researchers engineered a porous tungsten oxide (WO3) photoanode that interacts with polystyrene (PS) plastic. PS…

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh genetically reprogrammed E. coli to convert plastic into paracetamol, which is also known as acetaminophen (Tylenol). They published their findings in Nature Chemistry. The process could cut down on plastic waste while reducing emissions from traditional methods of creating paracetamol. Using bacteria to recycle plastic Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is…

Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), UC Irvine and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) have used microbes to turn human urine into hydroxyapatite. The team published their work in Nature Communications.  The scientists genetically modified yeast to take the phosphorus and calcium from urine and create hydroxyapatite, a mineral naturally produced…

Researchers at the University of Michigan developed a method to capture carbon dioxide and convert it into metal oxalates, which are used in cement production. They published their findings in Advanced Energy Materials.  Methodology: Lead catalyst Previous research has shown that lead can be used as a catalyst to convert carbon dioxide into metal oxalates.…

Most people bring a blanket to the beach to soak up the sun — this “blanket” soaks up pollution instead. Researchers at Ohio State University have created a solar-activated “nanomat” that floats on water like a beach mat, but instead of providing comfort, it goes to work cleaning up harmful contaminants. The lightweight, reusable material…

A team of researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new artificial intelligence-based model for retrieving atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations from satellite data. The Spectrum Transformer (SpT) model is designed to address long-standing challenges in real-time global CO₂ monitoring. Published in the Journal of Remote Sensing,…

With tech shake-ups, automotive layoffs, and healthcare funding cuts all recent themes, the R&D World Index dipped nearly 4% last week. Specifically, the R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending March 14, 2025, closed at 3,951.90 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was down -3.76% (or -154.52 basis points). Five RDWI…

A new player has entered the fragrance industry, aiming to use artificial intelligence in scent creation. Osmo, a company founded by former Google AI researcher Alex Wiltschko, has launched “Generation,” a project that applies machine learning to various aspects of fragrance development, from ingredient design to market analysis. While the potential of AI in this…

For decades, the strength and durability of composite adhesives such as epoxy resins have made them essential in everything from construction to aerospace. However, this exceptional strength presents a frustrating downside: these materials become stubbornly permanent once bonded. Recently, researchers have unveiled a new class of composite materials that are equally robust but feature a…

As the global race for clean energy solutions intensifies, two prominent U.S. universities are uniting to promote a technology often overlooked in the electric vehicle revolution: hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines (ICEs). The University of Michigan and the University of California, Riverside, have announced the establishment of the Hydrogen Engine Alliance of North America (H2EA-NA), a…

As NASA prepares to launch SPHEREx, another groundbreaking mission led by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is set to hitch a ride. The Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere, or PUNCH, mission consists of four small, suitcase-sized spacecraft designed and built by SwRI. While SPHEREx embarks on a quest to map the universe and…

Ethylene oxide quietly underpins modern life, from the plastics in our homes to the disinfectants we rely on. But its production comes at a cost: millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions and a reliance on toxic chlorine. Researchers have found a way to make this essential chemical cleaner and safer. A research team led…

The R&D World Index saw gains this week, driven partly by a surge in Intel’s value amid significant developments across various sectors. Honda and Nissan have ended their merger talks, citing concerns over autonomy and decision-making, while GlaxoSmithKline consolidates its vaccine R&D in Cambridge, MA. Novartis is set to reacquire rights to a blood clot…

We think of cars and factories as major contributors to carbon emissions, but buildings make up a large chunk of those emissions. A collaborative research initiative led by Peking University and the University of Southern Denmark has developed an advanced framework integrating deep learning with remote sensing to identify building materials. The technology has the…