Substance can absorb up to 20 times its own weight in oil and be recycled again and again for future use.

Researchers in the United States announced they had created a paper-like membrane made of nano-scale materials that could clean up oil pollution and other chemical spills.
According to AFP, the substance can absorb up to 20 times its own weight in oil and be recycled again and again for future use, while the oil itself can also be recovered and used, they reported in the specialist journal Nature Nanotechnology.
The novel material comprises wires made of potassium manganese oxide at the scale of 20 nanometers, or 20 billionths of a meter, in diameter.
Together, the wires form a Òspaghetti-like matÓ whose strands have tiny pores that are good at absorbing liquids.
The membrane is covered with a hydrophobic, or water-repelling, coating. As a result, water cannot penetrate the membrane--but oil can.
ÒWhat we have found is that we can make ÔpaperÕ from an interwoven mesh of nanowires that is able to selectively absorb hydrophobic liquids from water,Ó said lead researcher Francesco Stellacci, an associate professor of materials science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The membrane appears to be completely impervious to water, he said.
ÒOur material can be left in water a month or two, and when you take it out, itÕs still dry. But at the same time, if that water contains some hydrophobic contaminants, they will get absorbed.Ó
This also opens the way for using the membrane as a water filter, the team said.
Oil that is snared by the membrane can be removed by heating above the boiling point of oil. The oil evaporates and can be condensed back into a liquid.
In a press release, MIT said the membrane can be fabricated more cheaply than other nano materials. In the same way that cellulose is used for making conventional paper, a suspension is dried on a non-sticking plate.
In a commentary, published in the same journal, University of Michigan chemical engineer Joerg Lahann questioned whether the membrane would be used commercially, given the cost--and possible toxicity--of manganese oxide.

Japanese researchers say they have developed a smog sensor the size of a finger nail that could be carried around and used to measure pollution in the air that people breathe each day.
According to AFP, it is significantly smaller than the sensors as big as bulky boxes that are currently used to measure smog and continuously take measurements.
ÒIn the future you could measure the pollution at the end of the day when you come home,Ó one researcher involved in the study at NTT Energy and Environment Systems Laboratories told AFP.
The user could carry around the small sensor with his or her personal belongings to expose it to the air for an hour, a day, a week or longer to allow pollutants to accumulate in the chip.
The user could then snap a picture of the sensor with a cell phone camera for detailed analysis using software installed in the mobile telephone or by sending the data to a research centre for feedback.
ÒIt would be good if you can analyze data with the camera built in a cell phone that you already have,Ó the researcher said.
There are 100 million cell phones in Japan, meaning almost everybody in a nation of 127 million people has one.
The photochemical sensor is a square glass chip measuring eight by eight millimeters (0.32 inches) and one millimeter thick.
White smog occurs when nitrogen dioxide in car fumes and other chemicals react in sunlight and produce harmful photochemical oxidants.
The chip has countless tiny pores which hold chemical compounds. When they react with oxidants in the air, the spectrum of the glass changes depending on the oxidantsÕ density.
Currently the change cannot be seen by the human eye although researchers are working to try to make it more visible.
The researcher said Òvisualizing the environmentÓ is important as people need to be aware of their surroundings before taking steps to tackle pollution.
The sensor results could also be sent to a research center to form a pollution map or pollution forecast for a designated area.
As the chip cannot be refreshed, the user has to replace it to start again. The laboratory hopes to put the sensor in practical use at some point.

Tobacco smokers who eat three servings of fruits and vegetables per day and drink green or black tea may be protecting themselves from lung cancer, according to a first-of-its-kind study by UCLA cancer researchers.
UCLA researchers found that smokers who ingested high levels of natural chemicals called flavonoids in their diet had a lower risk of developing lung cancer, an important finding since more than 90 percent of lung cancers are caused by tobacco smoking, Eurekalert said.
ÒWhat we found was extremely interesting, that several types of flavonoids are associated with a reduced risk of lung cancer among smokers,Ó said Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang, a researcher at UCLAÕs Jonsson Cancer Center and a professor of public health and epidemiology. ÒThe findings were especially interesting because tobacco smoking is the major risk factor for lung cancer.Ó
Flavonoids are water-soluble plant pigments that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, both of which can counteract damage to tissues.
So should smokers run out and stock up on the teas, apples, beans and strawberries? Quitting smoking is the best course of action, Zhang said, but eating more fruits and vegetables and drinking more black and green teas wonÕt hurt.

Debris-gobbling immune cells can be enticed into the brain to eat away the amyloid plaques associated with AlzheimerÕs disease, according to a study in mice.
The study suggests a promising new approach in the fight against AlzheimerÕs--and several drug candidates are already on pharmaceutical company shelves, waiting to be tried out, NewScientist said.
Richard Flavell at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and his colleagues created a double transgenic mouse, dubbed Tg2576-CD11c-DNR. One gene predisposed it to develop amyloid plaques in its brain that mimic AlzheimerÕs disease, while another blocked the activity of TGF-beta, a cytokine.
The researchers had expected the double-transgenic mice to do even more poorly than their single-transgenic AlzheimerÕs cagemates. But as the animals got to old age--about 18 months--the Tg2576-CD11c-DNR mice performed significantly better at traversing through various mazes. When the researchers examined their brains, they found up to 90 percent less amyloid. For reasons that are not entirely clear, selectively blocking TGF-beta allowed macrophages, immune cells that ingest unwanted materials, to get across the blood brain barrier and into the brain.