oil Archives

Oil Field Water OK for Some CA Irrigation

July 20, 2020August 2, 2021 Science Connectedagriculture, oil, water conservation

Irrigation with water from oil fields may be safe for a California water district’s crops if the water is diluted and boron-tolerant crops are grown.

Biology Botany Environment New Technologies

Water Weeds Cleaning Up Oil Spills

September 14, 2016August 2, 2021 Science Connectedoil

Two water weeds have an amazing ability to absorb oil from contaminated water. Is this a new means of cleaning up oil spills?

This image shows the surface oil slick from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Research, including this latest study, has identified which bacteria were most important in breaking down the oil. Andreas Teske, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

Biology Environment

Oil Spill Cleanup Secrets of Gulf Coast Bacteria

June 6, 2016May 4, 2021 Science Connectedbacteria, oil, polution

By Shayna Keyles Bacteria have played a large role in cleaning up the Gulf Coast after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, but it is just now becoming clear how helpful these microbes have been. Microbiologists sequenced DNA from native Gulf bacteria and discovered genetic properties that make some of these microbes so well suited to the job of cleaning up oil. The Smallest (and Largest) Clean-Up Crew Scientists noted the proliferation of native bacteria just weeks after the rig explosion began to leak 4.1 million barrels of oil…