Biochar: from agricultural waste byproducts to novel adsorbents for ammonia and micro/nanoplastics (MNPs) (image credit: Ruogu Tang, Siyu Qiu, Changqing Wu & Juzhong Tan) Corn cob biochar shows promise for removing ammonia and microplastics from contaminated water, offering a low cost, climate friendly tool for future treatment systems. Researchers at the University of Delaware have […]

Image credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com The US Trump administration announced on 7 January that it would withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the multilateral treaty that commits signatories to recognize climate change as an international concern, and also the formal venue for global climate talks. It is the first […]

Oil tankers leased by Chevron at the Bajo Grande refinery on Lake Maracaibo in September 2025 (Image credit: Jose Bula / Shutterstock.com). Donald Trump’s confidence that the Venezuelan oil industry can be revived by US companies understates a complex situation. The challenge extends beyond the severely dilapidated state of infrastructure to include profound institutional decay […]

KNF’s Alexander Heizler and Martin Becker Effective from January 2026, Alexander Heizler assumes the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at diaphragm pump manufacturer KNF. He has been with the company since 2009 and served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) from 2021. The group said his appointment ensures continuity and reflects KNF’s commitment to long-term […]

Gas sensors developer Alphasense has introduced what’s said to be the world’s first galvanic lead-free oxygen sensor (O2-A2-GLF) for industrial safety applications. The O2-A2-GLF sensor is engineered as a direct replacement for existing two-pin oxygen sensors used in portable and fixed gas instruments. It is designed to deliver reliable performance in demanding industrial environments, maintaining […]

The program addresses the urgent problem of storing excess electricity generated on windy or sunny days, to make it available when demand exceeds supply. A new research collaboration aims to develop GPStore, a pioneering long-duration energy storage technology that could play a vital role in supporting the UK’s transition to net zero. The project, led […]

Snow blankets the ground around Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on 3 January 2026 (image credit: Graeme J Baty / Shutterstock.com). An Arctic blast of snow, sleet and hail has driven UK temperatures to -12.5°C, the coldest recorded this winter, sharply increasing electricity demand and placing stress on the GB power system. With Storm Goretti forecast […]

The findings appear to reveal an important role for the waste material – defined as plastic fragments smaller than five millimeters in size – in a process considered crucial to regulating the Earth’s temperature. The ubiquity of microplastics is now widely appreciated, even as significant gaps endure in our understanding of how exactly they arrive […]

A wool sweater exposed to thirdhand smoke is suspended within a custom-built Teflon film chamber for controlled ozone oxidation experiments (image credit: Liu Yang). While the dangers of secondhand smoke are widely recognized, a new study offers detail on a more persistent and stealthier hazard hiding in our indoor spaces: “Thirdhand Smoke.” This residue, which […]

Planning approvals for battery, wind, and solar projects in Great Britain (GB) almost doubled in 2025, with more than 45GW of capacity approved.1 This is 96% higher than the previous year’s 23GW, and enough to power 12.9 million homes. (Words: Cornwall Insight). Fresh analysis from Cornwall Insight reveals that this boom is being driven by […]