Oil

It's possible that someday in the future, sunlight-powered robots may be able to swim across marine oil spills, soaking up the oil as they go. A tiny prototype has already been created, and it was inspired by both the steam engine and an insect.

A new study has found a key fatty acid found in palm oil can promote cancer metastasis in mice. The research, which does not claim dietary palm oil has cancer-causing properties in humans, could lead to new therapies that block cancer spread in the future.

Last year, we heard how scientists had created eco-friendly soft gel particles from hard grains of pollen. Now, they've used those particles to create sponges that could soak up oil spills, then biodegrade once used up.

It can be difficult to separate water from oil, which makes water pollution tricky to clean up. Now, researchers at North Carolina State University have found that a bacterial biofilm membrane can effectively let water through while keeping oil out.

Engineers at Penn State University have developed a new type of flexible cement they say can be used to contain methane leaks, by being fed into the the very fine gaps around deteriorating gas wells that traditional cements are unable to fill.

Aviation history was made off the coast of Norway recently as a Camcopter S-100 drone rotorcraft delivered a 3D-printed part to an oil rig after a 100 km beyond-line-of-sight flight over the North Sea.

A highly porous and recyclable mat developed at Saudi Arabia’S King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) could mean good things for the environment, with its creators reporting it can adsorb oil with great efficiency.

Although we've seen many materials designed for removing oil spills from water, many of them are single-use, ultimately ending up in landfills. Now, however, scientists have created an oil-absorbing sponge that can be used over and over again.

Boston Dynamics put its nimble four-legged robot called Spot up for sale in September last year, and its unique abilities are catching the attention of oil companies looking toward a future of automation.

Although we've seen several materials that are designed to remove oil from water, many of these become saturated, and have to be discarded. A new reusable membrane gets around this problem, however, by repelling oil instead of just soaking it up.

Although many materials have been created to soak up oil spills, most of them are designed to simply capture the bulk of the floating slick. A new sponge, however, specializes in grabbing the suspended oil droplets that would otherwise be missed.

In the not-too-distant future, folks dealing with oil spills may have a robotic helper to call on.