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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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.
Source
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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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%!”
Watch the video here:
Source
Numerous people enjoy the sound of the pouring rain, many find it romantic and soothing, and others find its smell pleasant for the nerves.
Walking in the rain can be a healing experience, as it calms the mind, and releases the suppressed thoughts and emotions.
The scent of the rain has a special name, Petrichor, so named by two Australian scientists in the 1960s.
The fragrance is a combination of chemicals released by soil-dwelling bacteria, oils released from plants during dry spells and ozone created when lightning splits oxygen and nitrogen molecules that then turn into nitric oxide.
The rainy days are ideal if you are a bit stressed, feel blue, or just need some time to relax and enjoy the present moment.
However, despite lowering your stress levels, walking in the rain offers the following 7 benefits as well:
Therefore, do not be afraid to go out the next time it rains, and it will give you a new lease of life!
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The scent of the rain has a special name, Petrichor, so named by two Australian scientists in the 1960s.
The fragrance is a combination of chemicals released by soil-dwelling bacteria, oils released from plants during dry spells and ozone created when lightning splits oxygen and nitrogen molecules that then turn into nitric oxide.
The rainy days are ideal if you are a bit stressed, feel blue, or just need some time to relax and enjoy the present moment.
However, despite lowering your stress levels, walking in the rain offers the following 7 benefits as well:
- The smell of the rain refreshes the mind
- The high humidity keeps the skin and hair moisturized, and being alkaline in nature, rain is great for the skin and scalp
- Japanese researchers found that physical activities done in a cold, rainy weather burn more calories and fats than when done on a good day
- While raining, droplets absorb dust and microbes, so the air is purified and cleaner
- Walking in the rain makes one feel rebellious, so feel free to do it when you feel like you need to break a rule
- A walk in the rain helps people see problems from another perspective
- As fewer people go out in the rain, these walks give us a better sense of space, so our thoughts and emotions can roam free, and run wild.
Therefore, do not be afraid to go out the next time it rains, and it will give you a new lease of life!
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