Justin Housman

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Justin Housman

The next big breakthrough when it comes to cleaning up disastrous oil spills in the ocean just might come from the ocean itself. Or, rather, an inhabitant of the ocean. Researchers from China's Harbin Institute of Technology have just published a study in Nature Communications outlining how they came up with a fascinating and novel approach to cleaning oil spills in-situ — at the site of the oil spill itself — using technology that's new, but also millions of years old. It's a living sponge.

1 month ago | thecooldown.com | Justin Housman

If you have little kids or babies, you know they will eventually try to put anything they can reach into their mouth at some point if it isn't bolted down. It can be a little terrifying to walk into their room and see so many little choke-ables scattered around the floor. But a mom on TikTok has figured out a pretty clever way to determine which toys are small enough to be a choking hazard quickly and easily. It's simple, and anyone can do it.

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Justin Housman

Researchers at Anemel, a European research organization, have just made a clean energy breakthrough. According to a new study published in the Energy & Environmental Science journal, Anemel's research team has discovered a stable method for splitting water molecules efficiently and with materials that are cheap and easy to come by. The process is crucial for the production of hydrogen, and the sooner we can replace fossil fuels with hydrogen as an energy source, the better.

1 month ago | thecooldown.com | Justin Housman

Toilet paper rolls are pretty versatile little tubes. Sure, they hold toilet paper. But they can also be musical instruments, part of a kid's sculpture, or even a pot you can plant a seed in — a biodegradable pot that's much easier to use than a plastic pot (and won't sit in a landfill for thousands of years). When you plant seeds, you often use tiny individual pots as seed starters. Typically, these are plastic. They're reusable, of course, but still plastic.

1 month ago | nationalparkstraveler.org | Justin Housman

A federal judge dismissed the complaint aimed at the National Park Service's policy of refusing cash from visitors at some parks. However, the ruling left the rest of the lawsuit intact, giving the plaintiffs a chance to submit an amended grievance. The lawsuit came about after the Park Service realized that processing cash was more expensive than the actual money collected. In 2023, the NPS introduced cashless policies at several parks and monuments.