Teenager wins Google Science award for genius invention that could cheaply remove most microplastics from the ocean


Because microplastics are so small — some as tiny as grains of sand — scientists have had a hard time figuring out to remove them from the soil and the sea.

Now, an Irish teenager has come up with a promising solution for this seemingly impossible task — a magnetic liquid that attracts microplastics to itself.

18-year-old Fionn Ferreira was kayaking one day when he spotted a rock covered in oil from a recent spill. Clinging to the oil were a bunch of tiny pieces of plastic.

“It got me thinking,” Ferreira told Business Insider. “In chemistry, like attracts like.”

Plastic and oil are nonpolar, making them likely to stick together in nature

Ferreira wondered if the effect could be recreated using ferrofluid, a magnetic, oil-based liquid invented by NASA in 1963 to keep rocket fuel moving in zero gravity.

Today ferrofluid is used to control vibrations in speakers and to seal off electronics to keep debris out.

Ferreira makes a more environmentally friendly version of the liquid than the kind used in rocket fuel, using recycled vegetable oil and magnetite powder, a mineral found naturally on Earth’s surface.

When he first drops the liquid into a container of water contaminated with microplastics, it disperses and turns the water black.

Then he dips a magnet in the water, which pulls out all the ferrofluid, plastic and all, leaving clear water behind.

The method removed 88% of the micrplastics in his test samples.

The most difficult type of microplastic to remove was polypropylene, used to make all sorts of plastic packaging. Still, the ferrofluid removes 80% of polypropylene.

The easiest microplastics to remove were microfibers from plastic clothing such polyester, spandex and Lycra.

Washers and dryers are currently not equipped to filter these microfibers, which are a major source of ocean plastic pollution, so this is great news for that application.

Additionally, Ferreira‘s invention can be used at wastewater treatment plants as a sort of catch-all for microplastic pollution before it enters rivers, lakes and oceans.




Ferreira has won the Google Science award, $50,000 and educational funding for his invention.

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For 25 years a Japanese diver has been friends with a particular fish – and this is for real and not a fairytale. Hiroyuki Arakawa has been charged to oversee one of the religion’s shrines of Shinto called tori hich which is located under the surface of Japan’s Tateyama Bay.

Over the decades, he got to know the marine creature living around the shrine, and essentially, became friendly with an Asian sheepshead wrasse named Yoriko. The relationship between them was captured in a viral video where we see Arakawa’s way of greeting the fish with a kiss.

Recently the scientific study has shown that fish can recognize a human face which is a big deal. “Two images of human faces were presented to fish by scientists and the fish were trained to choose one by spitting their jet at the picture,” Dr. Cait Newport from the University of Oxford told CNN.

“The researcher choose to make things little difficult. They made the picture black and white and the head shapes were evened out. You would be of the thought that would throw the fish for a loop. But no. they were able to pick the face they were familiar with and with more accuracy: 86%!”

This is Japanese diver Hiroyuki Arakawa and his buddy of 25 years, a local fish named Yoriko
Every time they meet, the man greets the fishie with a kiss
Their first encounter was when Arakawa got entrusted to look after an underwater Shinto shrine
Over the decades, their friendship only grew stronger, and this is something all of us can learn
Watch the video here:


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Numerous people enjoy the sound of the pouring rain, many find it romantic and soothing, and others find its smell pleasant for the nerves. 

A woman in the UK is ensuring that man's best friends are living out their final days as happy and loved as possible.

The Grey Muzzle Canine Hospice Project
Nicola Harrison was volunteering at a kennel when she started taking some of the dogs home, most of which were strays, to save them from being put down.

Now she runs the Grey Muzzle Canine Hospice Project from her home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where she provides end of life care for abandoned and terminally-ill dogs who have less than six months to live.

She makes them each a bucket list, throws them a birthday party, takes them out for steak dinners and more.

"We take them down to the local pub – it's really dog-friendly, and they'll get a steak dinner too. Many have not led a very nice life too, used for breeding or guard dogs, so when they've become unwell, they're not useful anymore and left," Nicola told Metro.

Nicola says that she spends up to $500 on each dog to give them the best there is in life for the short amount of time they have left.

"The longest I had one is one year, the shortest was two weeks. It's so rewarding when you can make those times special. I don't know when their birthdays are, so we throw all of them a birthday party."

She takes them through the McDonald's drive-thru for ice cream.

The Grey Muzzle Canine Hospice Project
"They just want to feel loved and safe. I really believe they should get a nice ending."


Nicola, a retired nurse, initially paid all the dog's expenses out of pocket. Now she receives donations from hundreds of online supporters.

"Each dog costs about £500, which covers the transport to my house, their bucket lists and vet bills. Although it's worth it, about a year ago I started taking donations, I just can't really afford to keep doing it out of pocket."


Though she loves caring for dogs during their final days, Nicola says it's also "utterly heartbreaking" at the same time.

"We all get very attached to them, it's very emotionally intense and we do mourn and grieve for them. We do need to have breaks between them."

The Grey Muzzle Canine Hospice Project is on Facebook. You can donate here.

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