News tagged with toxic material

Amazon fungi found that eat polyurethane, even without oxygen

(PhysOrg.com) -- Until now polyurethane has been considered non-biodegradable, but a group of students from Yale University in the US has found fungi that will not only eat and digest it, they will do so even in the absence ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 03, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (46) | comments 27 | with audio podcast report

UT biosolar breakthrough promises cheap, easy green electricity

Barry D. Bruce, professor of biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is turning the term "power plant" on its head. The biochemist and a team of researchers have developed ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

New study shows evacuation plans need to incorporate family perspectives

A study sponsored by the National Science Foundation found that most respondents felt the evacuation of New Orleans residents to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina was a "failure" and this opinion has shaped ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created Dec 08, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

How do green algae react to carbon nanotubes?

Nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes (CNT), which are found in an ever-increasing number of products, are ending up more and more frequently in our surroundings. If and how they affect aquatic ecosystems ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 04, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Powered by seaweed: Polymer from algae may improve battery performance

(PhysOrg.com) -- By looking to Mother Nature for solutions, researchers have identified a promising new binder material for lithium-ion battery electrodes that not only could boost energy storage, but also ...

Chemistry / Polymers

created Sep 08, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Nanoparticles working in harmony

For decades, researchers have been working to develop nanoparticles that deliver cancer drugs directly to tumors, minimizing the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. However, even with the best of these nanoparticles, only ...

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Jul 15, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Novel nanoparticles communicate to target tumors more efficiently

(PhysOrg.com) -- For decades, researchers have been working to develop nanoparticles that deliver cancer drugs directly to tumors, minimizing the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. However, even with the ...

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Jun 19, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

China pays price for world's rare earths addiction

Peasant farmer Wang Tao used to grow corn, potatoes and wheat within a stone's throw of a dumping ground for rare earths waste until toxic chemicals leaked into the water supply and poisoned his land.

Space & Earth / Environment

created May 01, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 6

New material could improve safety for first responders to chemical hazards

A new kind of sensor could warn emergency workers when carbon filters in the respirators they wear to avoid inhaling toxic fumes have become dangerously saturated.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created May 01, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Battling the bedbug epidemic

"Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite" -- is becoming an impossible dream for millions of people as the world experiences a resurgence of an ancient scourge that is fostering human misery, financial burdens and the risk ...

Chemistry / Other

created Mar 09, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 2

New 'frozen smoke' may improve robotic surgery, energy storage

A spongy substance that could be mistaken for packing material has the nanotechnology world buzzing.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Mar 01, 2011 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Japan mines toxic e-waste for precious materials

Seeking to turn an environmental problem into an economic opportunity, high-tech companies in resource-poor Japan are mining mountains of toxic e-waste for precious materials.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 17, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 0

EPA to limit mercury emissions from power plants

The Environmental Protection Agency will put controls on the emissions of hazardous pollutants such as mercury from coal-fired power plants for the first time by November 2011, according to an agreement announced Friday to ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 3

HIPS fireproof coatings can really take the heat

Tough new fire-resistant coating materials called HIPS ('hybrid inorganic polymer system') are being developed by CSIRO researchers in Melbourne.

Chemistry / Polymers

created Jul 20, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Scientists advance facile synthesis of nanoparticles with multiple functions

Nanostructured materials have garnered great interest worldwide due to their unique size-dependent properties for chemical, electronic, structural, medical and consumer applications.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jul 13, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0