Simple technology that harnesses ultraviolet light to ‘zap’ airborne viruses has been shown to significantly lower the number of respiratory infections in aged care facilities, paving the way for smarter infection control. In a world-first trial, commercially-available GUV appliances in aged care facilities reduced rates of viral respiratory infections by more than 12%.

Tropospheric ozone (O3)  is a concerning pollutant, responsible for reduction in yields of major staple crops like rice, wheat, and maze. In this Journal of Environmental Sciences study, researchers from China and the United States of America found that rising O3 pollution led to national-level wheat, rice, and maize yield losses in China between 2005–2019. This trend was largely mitigated during COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, indicating the need for an effective emission control policy.

Millions suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a debilitating condition often overlooked due to the lack of diagnostic tools, may be closer to personalized care, according to new research that shows how the disease disrupts interactions between the microbiome, immune system, and metabolism.

A study comparing the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in lean and obese primates found different long-term consequences of the virus depending on prior obesity and metabolic disease. The results, which also highlighted how widespread long COVID symptoms are in animals, were published July 24^th in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Charles Roberts of Oregon Health & Science University, USA, and colleagues.

Over 950 billion (about 3.8 million tons) masks have been consumed in the last four years around the world to protect human beings from COVID-19 and air pollution. However, very few of these used masks are being recycled, with the majority of them being landfilled or incinerated. To address this issue, we propose a repurposing upcycling strategy by converting these polypropylene (PP)-based waste masks to high-performance thermally conductive nanocomposites (PP@G, where G refers to graphene) with exceptional electromagnetic interference shielding property. The PP@G is fabricated by loading tannic acid onto PP fibers via electrostatic self-assembling, followed by mixing with graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs). Because this strategy enables the GNPs to form efficient thermal and electrical conduction pathways along the PP fiber surface, the PP@G shows a high thermal conductivity of 87 W m^-1 K^-1 and exhibits an electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of 88 dB (1100 dB cm^-1), making it potentially applicable for heat dissipation and electromagnetic shielding in advanced electronic devices. Life cycle assessment and techno-economic assessment results show that our repurposing strategy has significant advantages over existing methods in reducing environmental impacts and economic benefits. This strategy offers a facile and promising approach to upcycling/repurposing of fibrous waste plastics.