Swarms of miniature robots clear up microplastics and microbes, concurrently

When outdated meals packaging, discarded kids’s toys and different mismanaged plastic waste break down into microplastics, they turn into even tougher to scrub up from oceans and waterways. These tiny bits of plastic additionally entice micro organism, together with those who trigger illness. Researchers describe swarms of microscale robots (microrobots) that captured bits of plastic and micro organism from water. Afterward, the bots have been decontaminated and reused.