Pollution, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 30, 2017

Air Pollution May Make Solar Panels Less Efficient

From inefficient grids, shortfalls in policy, and even the occasional eclipse, solar-energy collection faces no shortage of hurdles. Scientists have discovered another stumbling block: air pollution. In certain parts of the globe, the accumulation of particulate matter on solar panels can curtail energy output by more than 25 percent, according...

Dec 15, 2017

8 Ways That Air Pollution Can Harm Your Health

Breathe deep (Image credit: Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto/Getty)An estimated 3.3 million deaths worldwide are caused by outdoor air pollution, according to a study published in September 2015 in the journal Nature. Of those deaths, about 75 percent are from heart attacks or strokes, while about 25 percent are from lung-related ailments, Live...

Apr 17, 2018

Lab 'Accident' Becomes Mutant Enzyme That Devours Plastic

Scientists accidentally created an enzyme that has an appetite for … plastic, the pervasive kind that's used to make bottles for water and soda, and which can normally take hundreds of years to degrade. It all began when researchers took a closer look at the crystal structure of a recently...

Aug 2, 2018

Your Shampoo, Hair Spray and Skin Lotion May Be Polluting the Air

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Millions of Americans apply personal care products every morning before heading to work or school. But these products don't stick to our bodies permanently. Over the course of the...

Aug 20, 2018

Here's What Happens When You Flush Contact Lenses Down the Toilet (and Why You Shouldn't)

Scientists are hoping your answer isn't flush them down the toilet or toss them into the sink. That's because a new study finds that discarding contacts lenses in these ways may ultimately end up contributing to microplastic pollution in waterways. Microplastics measure under 0.2 inches (5 millimeters) in length —...

Sep 3, 2018

Could This Slimy Corn 'Fix' One of Earth's Biggest Pollution Problems?

It probably doesn't look like any corn you've seen. At 16 feet (5 meters), it stands about twice as tall as conventional corn. And sticking out of the stalks, high above the ground, are aerial roots, red finger-like protrusions coated in slime. But despite this alien-like goo, this species of...

Sep 21, 2018

Soot from Air Pollution Found in Placentas of City-Dwelling Women

The harmful effects of air pollution affect far more than a person's respiratory system; previous research has found that it can also hurt babies in the womb. Now, a new, small study offers insights into precisely how air pollution can harm fetuses. In the study, researchers found microscopic soot particles...

Sep 26, 2018

Inky Black, Polluted Rivers Seep into Ocean After Hurricane Florence in NASA Image

Over 8 trillion gallons of rain fell on North Carolina during Hurricane Florence, according to an unofficial estimate reported by the National Weather Service in Raleigh. As the floodwaters rose, they churned up pollution and debris, which then was fed into the swollen rivers of North Carolina, a new NASA...

Dec 5, 2018

Scary Map Shows Where Animal Poop Is Turning into Deadly Ammonia Pollution

It would seem that humans have underestimated the amount of poop their livestock are creating. Scientists know this because they can see it from space. To be fair, it's not the actual animal poop they can see, but the ammonia being released by said poop. Ammonia (NH3) is a colorless...

Jan 8, 2019

Giant 'Fatberg' of Grease and Baby Wipes Jams British Sewer

A 210-foot-long (64 meters) monster made from grease and used baby-wipes has clogged up a sewer in Sidmouth in southwestern England. British officials said in a statement they expect that removing the gooey blob, which will happen in exceptionally challenging work conditions, could take up to eight weeks. Fatbergs like...

May 22, 2019

Sorry Napoleon, A Big Garbage Patch Is Floating Near Your Mediterranean Islands

The Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Elba are famous for being the birthplace and exile prison, respectively, of Napoleon Bonaparte. But now the isles might be known for something else: being the neighbors of a chronically forming garbage island floating in the Mediterranean Sea. The sea's currents periodically carry the...

Dec 3, 2019

Frothy and Toxic Bubbles Cover One of India’s Most Famous Beaches

A beach in India is coated in knee-deep foam that experts warn is toxic. But that danger hasn't stopped tourists from frolicking in the surf-churned white froth, according to the news organization AFP. The stretch of coast, Marina Beach in Chennai, is the largest urban beach in India and sees...

Mar 20, 2020

Lego bricks could survive 1,300 years in the ocean

The ocean around the U.K. is strewn with Lego bricks. Some of them were flushed there; one U.K. insurance company estimates that children flushed some 2.5 million Lego pieces down the loo between 2006 and 2016. Other bricks arrived there in 1997, when a wave slammed a cargo ship and...

Apr 11, 2020

Ozone hole three times the size of Greenland opens over the North Pole

Scientists have detected what may be the largest hole in the ozone layer ever recorded over the North Pole. The ozone hole covers an area roughly three times the size of Greenland, scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) said in a statement, and could expose people living at far...

Sep 18, 2020

What is glyphosate?

Glyphosate is a chemical compound that works as an effective herbicide, or weed killer. It's the most commonly used herbicide chemical in the world, according to a 2016 study in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe. Glyphosate may be sprayed anywhere there are unwanted plants — from commercial farms to private...