Tiny medical robots made of polymers derived from cellulose could one day travel through your body, delivering drugs, transporting cells, and taking biopsies. That’s the ultimate goal of Hamed Shahsavan, a chemical engineer at the University of Waterloo. Read more in CIC News.
CICNews
Creating a new kind of quasicrystal by accident
A funny thing happened when Sergio de la Barrera and his colleagues started playing around with sheets of graphene – they created a new type of “quasicrystal” with fascinating properties that could help scientists explore exotic kinds of physics. Read more in CIC News.
Making perovskite solar cells more durable
Expanding our use of solar energy is an important part of the fight against climate change by decarbonizing the economy. The silicon-based solar cells in widespread use today are pretty good – efficient, relatively cheap, and long-lasting – but making them is extremely energy-intensive. Read more in CIC News.
Chemical from shellfish could help keep avocados fresh
Food waste is a major problem in Canada. Nearly 60% is lost or wasted each year, and short-lived fruits and vegetables are a big part of that. So researchers at the University of Guelph are testing a new kind of edible coating to see if it can extend the shelf life of that most fickle […]
Cancer-causing chlorinated paraffins found in toys, despite ban
Chlorinated paraffins, a class of chemicals banned a decade ago for their cancer-causing effects, have been found in a wide range of household products in Canada, according to researchers at the University of Toronto. Read more in CIC News.
Some banned pesticides have almost disappeared from the air
Two recently banned pesticides have all but vanished from the atmosphere around the Great Lakes, but others phased out decades earlier don’t seem to be going anywhere. Marta Venier, an environmental chemist at Indiana University, and her colleagues used a unique long-term dataset collected by the US Environmental Protection Agency, which has been sampling the […]
Slippery coating could help reduce microplastic shedding from clothes
Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed a way to help reduce one of the biggest sources of the plastic pollution choking our oceans: not single-use straws or bags, but tiny fibres shed from synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon. Read more in CIC News.
PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ common in kids’ school uniforms
Products intended for children, particularly school uniforms, have been found to have high levels of PFAS chemicals, potentially exposing kids to levels of these substances that could have harmful health effects, according to a study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Read more in CICNews.
How switching to silicon could help batteries last longer
As the world begins to rely ever more on batteries to store and provide power as part of the fight against climate change, scientists are working hard to find ways to make those batteries hold more charge and last longer. Jasper Woodard, a PhD student at the University of Alberta, is one of those scientists […]
Mercury in fish may not be as bad as we thought
Mercury, especially in its organic methylmercury form, is well known to cause severe problems in the brain – famously, Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter is thought to be a victim of mercury poisoning. Because mercury in the environment – both from natural sources and from pollution – can find its way into the food we […]