When the Deepwater Horizon drilling pipe blew out seven years ago, beginning the worst oil spill in U.S. history, those in charge of the recovery discovered a new wrinkle: the millions of gallons of oil bubbling from the sea floor weren't all collecting on the surface where it could be skimmed or burned. Some of it was forming a plume and drifting through the ocean under the surface.
Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have invented a new foam, called Oleo Sponge, that addresses this problem. The material not only easily adsorbs oil from water, but is also reusable and can pull dispersed oil from the entire water column—not just the surface.
"The Oleo Sponge offers a set of possibilities that, as far as we know, are unprecedented," said co-inventor Seth Darling, a scientist with Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials and a fellow of the University of Chicago's Institute for Molecular Engineering.
Argonne invents reusable sponge that soaks up oil, could revolutionize oil spill and diesel cleanup
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @02:07AM (2 children)
Developed at Argonne, a Department of Energy Laboratory.
Good thing the new head of the DoE has said he wants to eliminate the department.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @02:12AM (1 child)
Maybe we should get the ShamWow guy to sell this thing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @02:20AM
Joy Mangano of the miracle mop.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Wednesday March 08 2017, @04:45AM (1 child)
Some of it was forming a plume and drifting through the ocean under the surface.
That is partly because a dispersant called Corexit, which helps oil mix with water, was used:
In addition to spraying the dispersant onto the surface slick, it was used in an untested, off-label manner when BP injected it at the broken well-head, roughly 5,000 feet below the surface.
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_dispersants [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Wednesday March 08 2017, @04:47AM
Correction, the quote was from this page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corexit [wikipedia.org]
Seems I should look into a corrective product.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @04:57AM (3 children)
If the Dakota Access Pipeline pops open here or there, the mess will get cleaned up lickidy split. They have these fancy sponges to do the job, so there won't be any threat to the water supply. It also means that you can stop sending me those emails about how "water protectors" need help. You know, the ones that you've been sending from multiple domains, multiple times per day, every fucking day for the past two months (with an "unsubscribe" link that goes to a 404 page). You're welcome.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday March 08 2017, @01:25PM (2 children)
The epic fail of the Dakota protests is they wouldn't compromise and they're not going to make the western world give up oil, so you almost wonder if outside agitators screwed the protestors by not compromising.
Like... if they stomped their feet and demanded the river only be crossed by quadruple thick titanium in a concrete tunnel with a million gallon spillway to catch any leaks, they might have gotten perhaps half that, and it would be the safest river crossing on the planet. But no, they stomped their feet like babies and pouted to "shut it down" so the inevitable result is "F you we're doing it our way". They could have gotten a lot out of those protests... stuff thats actually environmentally good... instead they got nothing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 08 2017, @02:22PM (1 child)
That would be your verdict no matter what option they'd chosen. If they attempted to compromise, then you'd be saying that they didn't get any part of what they were asking for because they had no spine.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Wednesday March 08 2017, @05:01PM
And that's exactly what you'd say about a *person* who said something reasonable about a specific topic that you cannot disagree with because you have no argument.
The art of deal-making is dead in this country. Kids who are now adults are used to stamping their feet and getting their way.