People and animals create lots of waste that is usually sent to landfills, incinerated or stored in engineered ponds such as manure lagoons. Now, researchers publishing in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters report a potential removal method using insects, specifically black soldier fly larvae. In experiments, the larvae ate spoiled food, sewage sludge or livestock manure, and removed most human-pathogenic viruses. The researchers say this demonstrates a step toward simple, environmentally friendly waste management.

Dining on the moon or Mars might seem like a fantasy reserved for science fiction, but researchers are investigating how it could become a reality. Their efforts to recycle plant and human waste into a fertilizer material — turning the barren surfaces of the moon and Mars into fertile fields that might be suitable for extraterrestrial agriculture — are described in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry.

Liquid crystal monomers (LCMs) are critical components of laptop, television and smartphone screens. Given their ubiquity in the environment, these compounds are considered persistent pollutants, posing threats to marine life that scientists want to understand. Research published in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology provides initial evidence that LCMs from household electronics or electronic waste (e-waste) can accumulate in dolphin and porpoise tissues, including blubber, muscle, and brain, demonstrating their ability to cross the blood-brain barrier.

As cultured meat moves toward commercialization, people want to understand how it impacts health compared to conventional animal meat. So, researchers publishing in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry conducted an initial food safety study to identify potential allergens in cultured beef cells. They report mixed hazard results: Cultured cells contained relatively fewer traditional protein allergens than regular steak but provoked stronger immune reactions in blood samples from people with an acquired meat allergy.