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Sponge-Like "Swelling Glass" Absorbs Toxins in Water

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the hungry-like-the-sponge dept.

MikeChino writes "A company called Absorbent Materials has created a new kind of 'swelling glass' that can clean up contaminated groundwater by soaking up volatile molecules like a sponge. Dubbed 'Obsorb,' the material can hold up to 8 times its weight in fuel, oil, and solvents without sucking up any of the water itself. Once the material is full it floats to the surface and the pollutants can be skimmed off."

2 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Spelling? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Redundant

    It was Obsorb, but it absorbed the first toxic b. Eventually it'll just be Osor, having rid itself of all the toxic bs.

  2. Re:And after absorbing all that gunk... by n3tcat · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Does it all magically disappear?

    TFA says you can skim the gunk off, then throw it back into the water to do it's work again, "hundreds of times".