Synthetic Sponges Might Save Humanity
According to GoodNet, synthetic sponges may be the solution to a problem that has become a threat to humanity over the past few decades.
Tiny plastics called microplastics have been a growing problem over the past decade. As global plastic waste continues to increase, more and more microplastics get into the environment. They get everywhere, the air, the ocean, our food and water, and they even get into our blood. These microplastics can potentially even cause enhanced toxicity to many different organisms including human beings. Luckily, there is hope to get rid of this dangerous issue. A new study by researchers in China has found that ultralight synthetic sponges could get rid of these particles.
The research team created the marshmallow-like sponge mostly out of starch and gelatin and they are made to be synthetic and biodegradable. The sponge can collect these microplastics with a large amount of success. When testing the sponges, the researchers pushed a plastic-filled solution through one of the sponges. Researchers found that when they did this the sponges removed both microplastics and nanoplastics by trapping the plastic in the sponge’s pores.
These sponges were also tested in various real samples. These samples include tap water, seawater, and even normal takeout soup that you would eat. In good conditions, the sponges removed up to 90 percent of the plastics from these samples.
There are several benefits to these sponges that the researchers pointed out. One is that they’re incredibly light, they can sit on a flower without dragging any of its petals down. This means that they will be super cheap and easy to transport. The sponges can even be adjusted with temperature tweaks to change how porous they are to suit variously-sized microplastics.
When it comes to practical use, the sponges could be used in wastewater plants to filter out microplastics or in food production facilities. They could also be used on household items like washing machines, which are the main source of microplastics in the ocean today due to washing synthetic textiles.
North Carolina, South Carolina: This Map Shows Our Earthquake Danger
More on Loss Ratios across the US
While you might think of a handful of cities who are in danger of earthquakes, and those are on the West Coast, there is earthquake activity all around. “Although most economic loss is concentrated along the West Coast, the distribution of relative earthquake risk, as measured by the AELR, is much broader and reinforces the fact that earthquakes are a national problem,” FEMA says. “Relatively high earthquake loss ratios are throughout the western and central United States (states within the NMSZ) and in the Charleston, South Carolina, area.”
California – Interstate roadsign illustration with the map of California
The Big 55
You’ve heard of the Big Four, right? In metal music. Anyway, the Big 55 are the cities that experience the most earthquake activity. “Fifty-five metropolitan areas, led by the Los Angeles (including Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Anaheim) and San Francisco (including San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley) Bay areas, account for 85% of the total AEL,” FEMA says.
United States, geographic regions, colored political map. Five regions, according to their geographic position on the continent. Common but unofficial way of referring to regions of the United States.
Extra earthquake threat for Charleston, South Carolina
The FEMA report states, “Within the central and eastern United States, the New Madrid seismic zone (NMSZ) and the Charleston, South Carolina, area pose substantial earthquake threat.” As for safer areas, “The NMSZ covers parts of eight states: Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Mississippi. Together, they amount to approximately 15% of the total national exposure.”
Physical map of Planet Earth, focused on USA, North America. Satellite view, sun shining on the horizon. 3D illustration (Blender software), elements of this image furnished by NASA (https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/147000/147190/eo_base_2020_clean_3600x1800.png)
