Chief Brian O’Hara says he’ll fire city police officers if they don’t intervene when immigration agents use unlawful force. The post Minneapolis police chief warns officers: Stop unlawful force by ICE or lose your job appeared first on MS NOW.

## Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Email address Sign up Thank you! Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Fish gills may inspire an unexpected solution to one of our biggest sources of microplastics. According to researchers at Germany’s University of Bonn, taking a cue from the animals’ filtration systems might help remove the vast majority of harmful plastic particulates from washing machine wastewater. Microplastics are a huge problem. At this point, they can be found both inside our bodies as well as some of the Earth’s most remote locations. Aside from taking thousands of years to decompose, the particles are increasingly linked to a wide array of health issues. Our dirty laundry sneakily contributes to a huge amount of microplastics. Researchers estimate a washing machine in a four-person home produces as much as 500 grams of microplastics every year due to textile abrasion and deterioration. These removed clothing particles then travel with the wastewater into sewer systems and eventually treatment facilities. Because portions of sewage are often integrated into agricultural fertilizer, the microplastics ultimately find their way onto farmlands. _The fish gill filter system relies on rakers covered in microscopic denticles. Credit:Leandra Hamann_ University of Bonn biologist and study co-author Leandra Hamann explained that while washing machines often include various filter systems, they’re far from perfect. “Some of them quickly become clogged, others do not offer adequate filtration,” Hamann said in a statement. According to Hamann, designing alternative filtration methods could dramatically reduce laundry’s mountains of microplastic material. Instead of investigating advanced engineering concepts, she and her team looked to millions of years of animal evolution for inspiration. Fish like sardines, anchovies, and mackerel feature funnel-shaped gill arch systems that work similarly to a cross-flow filtration system. As water travels through their mouths and down their gullets, comb-like formations covered with tiny teeth form a stretchy mesh that screens out unwanted particles. A gill arch system works as both a filter and a means to catch a fish’s next meal. “During food intake, the water flows through the permeable funnel wall, is filtered, and the particle-free water is then released back into the environment via the gills,” added biologist and study co-author Alexander Blanke. “However, the plankton is too big for this; it is held back by the natural sieve structure. Thanks to the funnel shape, it then rolls toward the gullet, where it is collected until the fish swallows, which empties and cleans the system.” It’s a crafty bit of evolution. Because the arches roll toward the gullet, it’s much harder for particles to clog the filter. _The filter element in the center imitates the gill arch system of the fish. The filter housing enables periodic cleaning and installation in washing machines. Credit:Christian Reuß/Leandra Hamann_ After experimenting with various mesh sizes and funnel opening angles, Hamann and her colleagues settled on a design that rivals all those eons of evolutionary fine-tuning. “We have thus found a combination of parameters that enable our filter to separate more than 99 percent of the microplastics out of the water but not become blocked,” Hamann said. Once the microplastics are captured, the system collects them in a filter outlet before suctioning them out multiple times per minute. The team suggests that with minor alterations to a washing machine, the appliance could ultimately press the plastic to remove excess water before molding it into a pellet. After a few dozen washes, an owner could simply remove the plastic block and dispose of it properly in their general waste. The study’s authors also say that their new filter doesn’t require complex mechanical parts and is extremely cheap to produce. With a patent now pending, the team hopes washing machine manufacturers will soon help improve the system and integrate them into their own products. ### 2025 PopSci Outdoor Gift Guide 20+ editor-approved presents for the hikers on your list Shop now ## Andrew Paul ### Staff Writer Andrew Paul is a staff writer for Popular Science. * * * * * Biology * Engineering * Evolution * Health * Science * Technology

Jillian discusses a 12-step group dedicated to ketamine addiction.

LONDON – London-headquartered ACME Space has unveiled plans to begin hardware tests of its balloon-launched orbital manufacturing vehicle Hyperion next year and hopes to commence commercial operations in 2027. The Hyperion Orbital Factory Vehicle (OFV) is designed to carry up to 200 kilograms to low Earth orbit (LEO), using a hydrogen-filled balloon to overcome the thickest part of the atmosphere. Once in orbit, Hyperion OFV will serve as a microgravity manufacturing facility for biomedical and materials companies. The company, which won this year’s NASA LunaRecycle Challenge in two categories, is a brainchild of Czech entrepreneur Tomas Guryca, who self-funded the company after selling a previous AI venture. He said that the use of advanced AI-aided design technologies has enabled the company to move quickly, cutting the development timeline by 80% and the development cost by as much as 80% compared to developing the same project without AI. Within two years, the team designed and validated a balloon system that will lift the orbital factory into the stratosphere as well as a returnable launcher that will take the payload into orbit. “We are preparing for a drop test in Oman in Q1 or Q2 of 2026,” Guryca told _SpaceNews_. “After that, we will do some engine tests and we hope to have our first suborbital flight test by the end of 2026 from the Saxavord spaceport in the U.K.” The company is raising funds to scale operations, and is cooperating with two undisclosed pharmaceutical firms to develop protein crystal growth boxes for its first orbital missions in 2027. The Hyperion OFV uses a mix of balloon and rocket technology to reach orbit. It begins its ascent using a hydrogen balloon, which carries it up through the lower atmosphere. At the stratospheric altitude of 30 kilometers (19 miles), the Hyperion micro-rocket would separate from its hydrogen balloon and fire its liquid-oxygen/methane engine. The rocket’s main stage would then release the orbital capsule at an altitude of 100 kilometers (60 miles), considered to be the border of space, and the capsule would then continue under its own propulsion to the target orbit in LEO some 300 to 500 km above Earth’s surface. The orbital capsule returns to Earth with its cargo after two to three weeks and is expected to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean. Guryca said all parts of the system are designed to be reusable up to 15 times. The company plans to sell capacity on Hyperion OFV at $5,000 to $10,000 per kilogram and hopes to achieve a cadence of up to 20 missions per year by 2030. In addition to protein crystals, ACME Space wants to expand its offering to optical fiber manufacturers, focusing on the fluoride glass ZBLAN optical fibers that have previously been manufactured on the International Space Station. The company has no plans to operate as a launcher service, focusing solely on selling payload capacity to companies desiring to produce new materials and compounds in orbit. “There is a lot of competition from rocket launchers and prices are really going down,” Guryca said. “They are going to get really low with Starship and for us, since we only have 200 kilos of payload, offering launch wouldn’t be enough.” Guryca said using a stratospheric balloon to overcome the thickest part of Earth’s atmosphere helps keep cost down. The idea has previously been explored by Spain-based Zero2Infinity, which has been developing a balloon-based small satellite launcher called the Bloostar. That company, however, has struggled with funding. ### _Related_

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