We know that Australia’s waters contain lots of tiny pieces of plastic, and that these pieces can harm many marine species. But in new research published today we show that these microplastics are also…
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Plastic
Displaying 301 - 320 of 334 articles
Plastics comprise around 10% of solid waste in Australia. And while we can recycle certain types, there is a group of particularly stable plastics called thermosets, common in electronic devices, which…
American researchers have created a plastic that can repair itself. Until recently, only living organisms could regenerate…
The European Parliament has voted in a draft law aimed at halving the use of plastic bags across the continent by 2017, and further reducing them by at least 80% by 2019. This positive move is aimed at…
I was in the middle of giving a talk on the marine debris problem at a notable Californian marine research institute, when I drank the last of my water bottle, threw it onto the hall floor from the podium…
Frustratingly, the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has turned up many floating objects, but none of them are from the plane. That’s largely because the latest search area is likely to…
A Malaysian initiative to reduce plastic bags has not had a significant effect in reducing plastic waste going into landfills…
A waste product from paper-making could be a safer, greener alternative to using the harmful chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in…
Following the wettest winter for 250 years, it would seem fair to assume that drought-induced food shortages are unlikely to be a problem for Britain. But in the near future we may find that water is a…
New research by the University of Tasmania has examined the toxic affects of seabirds ingesting marine plastic pollution…
The recent storms have transformed many of the nation’s coasts – blasting away the sand from beaches, eroding cliffs, and damaging properties. More surprising is the sudden and often dramatic appearance…
Each square kilometre of Australian sea surface water is contaminated by around 4,000 pieces of tiny plastics, according to our study published today in journal PLOS ONE and data repository Figshare. These…
Carbon and carbon dioxide are found all around us. All living things contain carbon - it’s one of the essential building blocks of life and is fundamental to many chemical processes. Carbon dioxide (CO2…
Potentially dangerous plastics and microplastic particles are contaminating subalpine lakes at a rate similar to levels found…
Imagine a future where packaging is made entirely from waste material and biodegrades to harmless by-products. Or where your home’s cavity wall insulation foam is made from captured CO2 emissions. Or where…
Green and Leatherback turtles are swallowing plastic at twice the rate they were 25 years ago. The research conducted by…
Green turtles are swallowing twice as much plastic as they were 25 years ago, according to a study from the University of…
The amount of plastic debris accumulating in the open ocean has doubled in 40 years. This has been is a topic of increasing public concern and scientific interest since it was first reported in the 1970s…
Scientists have discovered a new underwater world of microbes: a “plastisphere”, thriving and colonising on plastics skimming…
Today the UN celebrates Oceans Day and we have a proposition for you: leave your plastic life behind. The introduction of plastics in the 1950’s was celebrated as a huge advance, with TIME Magazine enthusiastically…
Top contributors
-
Senior Principal Research Scientist, Environment, CSIRO
-
Professor of Sustainable Development, Keele University
-
Lecturer, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University
-
Research Chair, Indigenous Approaches to Environmental Management, Keele University
-
Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO
-
Lecturer in Ornithology, Charles Sturt University
-
Postdoctoral researcher, Stanford University
-
Professor, School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University
-
Professor of Coastal Oceanography, The University of Western Australia
-
Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
-
Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmospheres, CSIRO
-
Research associate, Loughborough University
-
Professor of Global Environmental Politics, University of California, Berkeley
-
Oceanographer, The University of Western Australia
-
Professor in Oceanography and Public Engagement, Utrecht University
