‘Mushroom Mining’ Could Be Cheap Way to Recover Rare Earth Minerals from Industrial Waste

Brandy Vailes via Unsplash Decades of underinvestment in mining and refining across Europe and North America has landed the manufacturing sector in a problem, which a group of scientists believe can be helped by mushrooms rather than excavators. One must have been living under a rock not to have recently read the terms “critical minerals” … Read more

Toronto River Once So Polluted it Caught on Fire Now Is Flush with Fish

A walleye caught in the Don River – Photo courtesy of TRCA Now, Canada’s National Observer brings us a story of the Don River going from a state of pollution to rival the Thames of London, to a biodiverse ecosystem home to over 20 species of fish. As with so many rivers that bisect cities … Read more

Lead Pollution Has Dropped 100-Fold in the U.S. Over the Last Century

Pollution from smokestacks at the US Mining and Smelting Co. plant in Midvale, Utah in 1906 – via SWNS Lead pollution today compared to 100 years ago has dramatically declined—by 100-fold over the last century—according to new research. Lead is a dangerous neurotoxin that accumulates in human tissues and is linked to developmental deficits in … Read more

Inspired by Asthma Attack, New Delhi Teens Recycle 2 Million Pounds of Waste Across 14 Indian Cities

Brothers in India recycled a million kg of trash in 14 cities – OneStepGreener’s YouTube channel Youth comes with gifts: one of them is the inability to recognize when you should be intimidated. When two teenagers in New Delhi wanted to do something to improve the city’s waste collection, age and experience would have told … Read more

New Eco-Friendly Tech Eliminates ‘Forever Chemicals’ With Record-Breaking Speed–And it’s Reusable

PFAs self-destruct in this layered double hydroxide material made from copper and aluminum – credit: Rice University University researchers in Texas and Korea have collaborated to developed an eco-friendly water purifier that captures—and destroys—toxic “forever chemicals” (PFAS) more than 1,000 times better than current methods. Their study marks a major milestone in addressing one of … Read more