An interdisciplinary team of experts in green chemistry, engineering and physics at Flinders University in Australia has developed a safer and more sustainable approach to extract and recover gold from ore and electronic waste. Explained in the leading journal Nature Sustainability, the gold-extraction technique promises to reduce levels of toxic waste from mining and shows Read more about This breakthrough turns old tech into pure gold — No mercury, no cyanide, just light and salt[…]

They buzz, they bite, and they cause some of the deadliest diseases known to humanity. Mosquitoes are perhaps the planet’s most universally reviled animals. If we could zap them off the face of the Earth, should we? Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. The Read more about We finally may be able to rid the world of mosquitoes. But should we? (hell yes! And ticks please!)[…]

The unpredictability of random numbers is fundamental to both digital security1,2 and applications that fairly distribute resources3,4. However, existing random number generators have limitations—the generation processes cannot be fully traced, audited and certified to be unpredictable. The algorithmic steps used in pseudorandom number generators5 are auditable, but they cannot guarantee that their outputs were a Read more about Traceable random numbers from a non-local quantum advantage[…]

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/scientists-japan-develop-plastic-that-dissolves-seawater-within-hours-2025-06-04/ Researchers in Japan have developed a plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours, offering up a potential solution for a modern-day scourge polluting oceans and harming wildlife. While scientists have long experimented with biodegradable plastics, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the University of Tokyo say their new material breaks Read more about Scientists in Japan develop plastic that dissolves in seawater within hours | Reuters[…]

Researchers have identified a type of chemical compound that, when applied to insecticide-treated bed nets, appears to kill the malaria-causing parasite in mosquitoes. Published in the journal Nature, the multi-site collaborative study represents a breakthrough for a disease that continues to claim more than half a million lives worldwide every year. […] ELQ drugs refer Read more about Drug-treated mosquite nets eliminate parasites (such as marlaria) in mosquitoes[…]

An anonymous reader shared this report from The Hill: A new study indicates the debilitating “brain fog” suffered by millions of long COVID patients is linked to changes in the brain, including inflammation and an impaired ability to rewire itself following COVID-19 infection. United Press International reported this week that the small-scale study, conducted by Read more about Researchers Finally Link Long Covid ‘Brain Fog’ to Inflammation[…]

One of the ultimate goals of medieval alchemy has been realized, but only for a fraction of a second. Scientists with the European Organization for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, were able to convert lead into gold using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. Unlike the examples of transmutation Read more about Scientists find lead really can be turned into gold (with help from the Large Hadron Collider)[…]

A report by the Pesticides Action Network (PAN Europe) and other NGOs that uncovered high concentrations of a forever chemical in wines from across the EU – including organic – is sparking debate about the causes of contamination and restrictions on the substance.  The report found some wines had trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) levels 100 times Read more about Study finding persistent chemical in European wines raises doubts and concerns[…]

Toothpaste can be widely contaminated with lead and other dangerous heavy metals, new research shows. Most of 51 brands of toothpaste tested for lead contained the dangerous heavy metal, including those for children or those marketed as green. The testing, conducted by Lead Safe Mama, also found concerning levels of highly toxic arsenic, mercury and Read more about Toothpaste widely contaminated with lead and other metals, US research finds[…]

Rice University researchers have developed an innovative solution to a pressing environmental challenge: removing and destroying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly called “forever chemicals.” A study led byJames Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry and professor of materials science and nanoengineering, and graduate student Phelecia Scotland unveils a method that not Read more about Scientists pioneer method to tackle PFAS ‘forever chemicals’[…]