Environment

One of the problems with microplastics lies in the fact that the plastic particles can be so small, we don't even know they're present in water in the first place. A new type of engineered bacteria could help, by causing the particles to glow green.

An inexpensive catalyst that selectively breaks down the most common single-use plastics in recycling processes negates the need for tedious and expensive sorting. This could give recycling the nudge it need to keep pace with plastic production.

Minerals like titanium dioxide are effective sunscreen ingredients, but they can harm coral reefs if used in their non-nanoparticle form. An experimental new sunscreen forgoes the minerals altogether, replacing them with "just-as-effective" pollen.

Seaweed washing onto sandy shores does more than rot. A new study found that it fuels oxygen-tolerant microorganisms that pump methane into the air, overturning a long-held scientific assumption about coastal ecosystems and their climate role.

Dozens of water-harvesting pods are set to be deployed along the sea floor off the coast of California as the United States ramps up its first subsea desalination project. The effort is expected to produce 60 million gallons (227 million liters) of fresh water per day.

The North Atlantic has a new title as the global hotspot for hurricane clusters, with the likelihood of multi-storm events forming here increasing tenfold in 46 years. It's the first clear picture of how Earth's warming has shifted cluster patterns.

Researchers in Germany found fossilized dinosaur teeth can reveal what the air was like in prehistoric times. Humans might have found it hard to breathe if we were around back then, because CO2 levels were four times as high as the preindustrial era.

Ever wonder what happens to those old Teflon-coated frying pans? Not a lot. Most get chucked into landfills. However, a new recycling technique developed by Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) promises 100% effectiveness.

A lightning bolt stretching 515 miles from eastern Texas to near Kansas City has set a frightening new record as the longest single flash ever recorded. There are only two places on the entire planet where this kind of "megaflash" is likely to occur.

Research out of France has revealed that we're probably harming our lungs without knowing it. Every day, we're inhaling tiny bits of plastic smaller than a speck of dust without even leaving the house – that's 100x more than previously estimated.

While we're used to seeing cigarette butts littering public roads, such butts may soon be making their way into those roads, strengthening them in the process. It's all part of a recycling effort, which should also reduce the need for road repairs.

Methane is awful for the atmosphere. It's a major byproduct of many industrial processes, and we now know it also comes from a surprising and seemingly innocuous source – ships passing through shallow waters.

Scientists have discovered 230 new giant viruses (girus) found to be the unseen engineers of marine ecology, impacting global carbon cycling and energy flow across the world’s oceans.

For centuries, glaciers have sat like frosty crowns atop slumbering volcanoes, keeping Earth’s fury tucked safely beneath layers of ice. But now, as climate change accelerates and glaciers retreat, the lid may be lifting, and the heat rising.

There have been some wildly ambitious schemes to knock the power out of hurricanes over the years. Now, scientists believe they have come up with a way to successfully subdue these destructive storms, long before they have a chance to reach land.