All posts tagged: Sludge

WSU scientists convert sewage sludge into 99% pure natural gas sharply boosting energy recovery

WSU scientists convert sewage sludge into 99% pure natural gas sharply boosting energy recovery

Published by Jenni Sidey

Sewage sludge is usually the part nobody wants to think about. It is costly to handle, hard to get rid of, and after treatment, much of it still ends up in landfills. A Washington State University team says it has found a way to squeeze far more value from that waste. In a pilot study, researchers turned treated sewage sludge into renewable natural gas that was 99% methane, while sharply improving how much of the sludge’s carbon ended up in usable fuel instead of leftover waste. The work, published in the Chemical Engineering Journal, points to a different way of thinking about wastewater plants, not just as public utilities that clean water, but as places that might also recover energy from a stubborn waste stream. That matters because wastewater treatment facilities consume between 3% and 4% of total U.S. electricity demand, and they release about 21 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year. “There is a workhorse,” researcher Birgitte Ahring said of the microbial strain used in the system. “It doesn’t need organic additives …

Mushy bourbon sludge recycled into battery electrodes

Mushy bourbon sludge recycled into battery electrodes

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. It’s generally not a great idea to mix bourbon with high-voltage electricity. That said, chemists at the University of Kentucky discovered a potentially powerful use for one of whiskey’s most annoying—and plentiful—byproducts. According to the team , the liquor’s waste grains can be recycled into supercapacitors that rival commercially available options. Behind every bottle of bourbon are vats of waste materials. Most of that unwanted trash is stillage—a goopy, mushy mixture of grains and corn. And in Kentucky—where 95 percent of the world’s bourbon is produced— there is a lot of stillage. “From the final volume of bourbon produced, you get 6 to 10 times that amount of stillage as waste,” University of Kentucky chemist Josiel Barrios Cossio explained in a statement. “So it’s a big deal.”  Although stillage is often sold to farmers for livestock feed and soil enrichment, it’s a tricky material to handle. Transporting it is difficult given how watery it is, but it’s also exorbitantly …

Please Resist the Urge to Drink the Melted Sludge From 3I/ATLAS

Please Resist the Urge to Drink the Melted Sludge From 3I/ATLAS

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS has come and — mostly — gone. Scientists have been fascinated by the intriguing lump of ice and dust as it careened into the inner solar system last year, making its closest pass of the Sun in the fall and careening by the Earth on its way out. In the upcoming weeks, it’s expected to have a close encounter with Jupiter before it leaves our star system for good. Meanwhile, researchers are continuing to pore over the wealth of data gathered by ground- and space-based telescopes about the rare visitor, which was only the third interstellar object to be spotted passing through our solar system. As detailed in a new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, an international team of researchers including NASA scientists examined observations of the object made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) between August and October, the months leading up to its closest pass of the Sun, or …

Toxic Sludge Raining Down on Iran After Bombing of Oil Facilities

Toxic Sludge Raining Down on Iran After Bombing of Oil Facilities

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech The conditions in Tehran are becoming downright biblical. On top of devastating air strikes, blistering dust storms, and a hellish six-year drought, the country is now being splattered by toxic sludge raining from the skies. Over the weekend, reports of an acidic “black rain” falling over the Iranian capital city of Tehran began flooding the internet. According to Time, the noxious deluge came as a result of Israel bombing nearby oil storage facilities, which unleashed hellish plumes of fire and black smoke into the skies. As the exhaust filled the air for miles, Iranians reported difficulty breathing, headaches, skin damage, as well as eye and throat irritation, Time reported. “Something like a black monster has swallowed the sky over Tehran,” a Tehran resident named Leila told the magazine. “It’s as if all the cars and the street pavement have been coated in black paint.” As the acrid sludge filled the skies, raindrops began falling over the surrounding region, …

US Government Seeking Volunteers to Store Nuclear Sludge

US Government Seeking Volunteers to Store Nuclear Sludge

Published by José Betancourt

Getty Images / Alex Kraus / Bloomberg Since the first nuclear power plant went online in the US in December of 1957, administrators have been scrambling for a solution to the inevitable and decidedly nasty waste that comes out at the end of the process. Almost seven decades have gone by, but an elegant solution has remained elusive — due to the inconvenient fact that the waste is horrendously toxic, a potential target for terrorists, and needs to be stored securely for thousands of years. New reporting by Reuters reveals the Trump administration’s latest attempt to solve the nuclear waste dilemma. A fresh directive by the Department of Energy is asking individual US states to volunteer to host a new “permanent geological repository” for spent fuel rods. States wouldn’t be taking on the burden without any reward. The upside would be potential economic growth in the form of vast investments and “thousands of jobs,” in an era when layoffs and austerity are taking a heavy toll. For interested states, the nuclear waste storage would come …

7 Best Clear Protein Powders to Skip the Milky Sludge in 2026

7 Best Clear Protein Powders to Skip the Milky Sludge in 2026

Published by Jenni Sidey

The Easiest to Drink Clear Protein Powder: Animal Clear The branding from Animal Clear definitely leans gym-rat, but don’t let that scare you off. This clear whey protein was one of the easiest to drink, with a flavor profile that was lighter and less aggressively sweet than most of the others I tried. It also left the least amount of aftertaste or chalky mouth feel, which made it way more appealing to sip after a workout. But keep in mind that it does use sucralose, an artificial sweetener, if that type of thing matters to you. Watermelon limeade was by far my favorite—light and refreshing—while blueberry acai was a bit too full-boded and muddled by comparison. One thing I appreciated: unlike most clear proteins that foam up like a bubble bath, this one includes an anti-foaming agent, so it’s ready to drink as soon as you shake it. It also has five grams of BCAAs added, which boosts the recovery effects by aiding with muscle repair. The Best Affordable Clear Protein Powder: Seeq Seeq Clear …