Oil spill clean-up is a long-standing challenge for researchers to prevent serious environmental pollution. A new kind of oil-absorbent based on silicon-containing polymers (e.g., poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)) with high absorption capacity and excellent reusability was prepared and used for oil-water separation. The PDMS-based oil absorbents have highly interconnected pores with swellable skeletons, combining the advantages of porous materials and gels. On the other hand, polymer/silica composites have been extensively studied as high-performance functional coatings since, as an organic/inorganic composite material, they are expected to combine polymer flexibility and ease of processing with mechanical properties. Polymer composites with increased impact resistance and tensile strength without decreasing the flexibility of the polymer matrix can be achieved by incorporating silica nanoparticles, nanosand, or sand particles into the polymeric matrices. Therefore, polymer/silica composites have attracted great interest in many industries. Some potential applications, including high-performance coatings, electronics and optical applications, membranes, sensors, materials for metal uptake, etc., were comprehensively reviewed. In the first part of the review, we will cover the recent progress of oil absorbents based on silicon-containing polymers (PDMS). In the later details of the review, we will discuss the recent developments of functional materials based on polymer/silica composites, sand, and nanosand systems.

Publications overestimating the medical and ecological sequels of a slight anthropogenic increase in the radiation background have been reviewed recently with examples of different organs and pathological conditions. The overestimation contributed to the strangulation of atomic energy. The use of nuclear energy for electricity production is on the agenda today due to the increasing energy needs of humankind. Apparently, certain scientific writers acted in the interests of fossil fuel producers. Health risks and environmental damage are maximal for coal and oil, lower for natural gas, and much lower for atomic energy. This letter is an addition to previously published materials, this time focused on studies of cataracts in radiation-exposed populations in Russia. Selection and self-selection bias are of particular significance. Apparently, the self-reporting rate correlates with dose estimates and/or with professional awareness about radiation-related risks among nuclear workers or radiologic technologists, the latter being associated with their work experience/duration and hence with the accumulated dose. Individuals informed of their higher doses would more often seek medical advice and receive more attention from medics. As a result, lens opacities are diagnosed in exposed people earlier than in the general population. This explains dose-effect correlations proven for the incidence of cataracts but not for the frequency of cataract surgeries. Along the same lines, various pathological conditions are more often detected in exposed people. Ideological bias and the trimming of statistics have not been unusual in the Russian medical sciences. It is known that ionizing radiation causes cataracts; however, threshold levels associated with risks are understudied. In particular, thresholds for chronic and fractionated exposures are uncertain and may be underestimated.

Natural forests and abandoned agricultural lands are increasingly replaced by monospecific forest plantations that have poor capacity to support biodiversity and ecosystem services. Natural forests harbour plants belonging to different mycorrhiza types that differ in their microbiome and carbon and nutrient cycling properties. Here we describe the MycoPhylo field experiment that encompasses 116 woody plant species from three mycorrhiza types and 237 plots, with plant diversity and mycorrhiza type diversity ranging from one to four and one to three per plot, respectively. The MycoPhylo experiment enables us to test hypotheses about the plant species, species diversity, mycorrhiza type, and mycorrhiza type diversity effects and their phylogenetic context on soil microbial diversity and functioning and soil processes. Alongside with other experiments in the TreeDivNet consortium, MycoPhylo will contribute to our understanding of the tree diversity effects on soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across biomes, especially from the mycorrhiza type and phylogenetic conservatism perspectives.

The provided material presents a priority article on the scientific discovery titled “The phenomenon of simultaneous destruction of water-oil and oil-water emulsions”. The authors propose the corresponding formula: the previously unknown phenomenon of simultaneous destruction of water-oil and oil-water emulsions occurs when polynanostructured surfactant demulsifiers with characteristics akin to crystalline liquids, intramolecular interblock activity, and enduring intramolecular nanomotors (such as block copolymers of ethylene and propylene oxides, which act as sources of oligomer homologues of oxyethylene ethers) are added to crude oil during primary oil processing. This phenomenon is attributed to the redistribution of oligomer homologues, with the most hydrophobic oxyethylene ethers being dispersed in water-oil emulsions and the most hydrophilic ones in oil-water emulsions, resulting in robust nanodispersed phases with crystalline liquid properties.