News

Scientists Discover Bacteria That Makes Toxic Water Safe To Drink

Treating wastewater using the newly discovered bacteria doesn’t require expensive equipment and chemicals, so it can be done at scale at a reasonable price.

Published

3 years ago

September 25, 2021

David Morelo

scientists discover bacteria that makes contaminated water safe to drink

Getty Images

UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that 1 in 3 people in the world don’t have access to safe drinking water. In places where safe drinking water is scarce, nutrition-related problems are prevalent, children have trouble staying focused in school, and diseases caused by bacteria and unhygienic practices are common.

Solving this global problem is one of the greatest challenges of our time, which is why many scientists from around the world are researching all kinds of methods for making unsafe water drinkable.

Among them are Dr. Vishal Mishra and PhD student Veer Singh from the Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU). Recently, the two scientists have published a paper in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, describing their discovery of a bacteria capable of separating toxic metal from wastewater and making it safe to drink.

They named the bacteria “Microbacterium paraoxydans strain VSVM IIT (BHU),” and described it as very effective when it comes to the elimination of hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen and a reproductive toxicant present in many water sources around the world.

“It is very effective for removal of hexavalent chromium from wastewater compared to other conventional methods,” said Dr. Mishra. “This bacterial strain showed fast growth rate in the Hexavalent chromium Cr (VI) containing aqueous medium and gets easily separated from the aqueous medium after the treatment process”.

Also Read: Istanbul Fights Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes Using A Smartphone App

Treating wastewater using the newly discovered bacteria doesn’t require expensive equipment and chemicals, so it can be done at scale at a reasonable price.

In India, the country from where the two scientists come from, less than 50 percent of the population has access to safely managed drinking water, and water contamination is present in more than 1.96 million dwellings. Hopefully, this and other similar discoveries will eventually help reduce these numbers to zero.

News

Will Upcoming Changes Turn Instagram Into A TikTok Clone?

Updates are rolling out for the grid layout and Reels length, while new editing tools clearly imitate those of the rival Chinese platform.

Published

1 day ago

January 24, 2025

Nour Nasir

Instagram

Instagram recently faced backlash for swapping its iconic square grid for rectangles, disrupting the aesthetic of thousands of carefully curated profiles. However, the Meta-owned platform isn’t stopping there, after announcing more incoming TikTok-like changes designed to give users greater control over their profiles.

“We launched a new tall grid on profiles this week and I got a lot of feedback, both positive and quite negative,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri shared in an Instagram caption on Monday. “The goal is a simpler, cleaner place that maintains, and even increases, creator control”.

Here are some of the details about further changes we can expect:

Customizable Grids: Users will soon be able to tweak how their posts appear on the grid, including adjusting image crops and reordering posts entirely.
Direct-To-Grid Posts: A new option will allow users to post directly to their profile grid without automatically adding it to their main feed.
Highlights Relocation: Instagram’s Highlights feature will move from above the grid into a dedicated tab, while also becoming part of the profile grid itself.
Longer Reels: Reels are getting a significant upgrade, with the maximum video length jumping from 90 seconds to 3 minutes.

The updates are part of Instagram’s ongoing effort to compete with TikTok, which narrowly avoided a US ban following a 75-day delay granted by President Donald Trump. With the Chinese video platform’s future remaining uncertain, Instagram seems eager to capture disillusioned users by offering features that feel increasingly similar to those of its rival.

Also Read: How To Find & Cancel Pending Instagram Requests

In fact, Instagram’s recent changes go beyond just the app’s layout: On Sunday, parent company Meta launched the standalone Edits app, a clear imitation of TikTok’s popular video-editing tool, CapCut. Additionally, Meta has been enticing creators with cash bonuses to encourage them to post their videos on Instagram and Facebook.

It’s clear Instagram is shifting its strategy to appeal to the short-form video crowd. Whether these changes will win over users or continue to spark discontent remains to be seen.