“Matter Industries founder Adam Root has developed a filter to trap microfibres at home and on an industrial scale…

Root’s invention is the basis of his Bristol-based company, Matter Industries, which claims it can capture 97% of microfibres before they escape a washing machine. In 2025, it made Matter a runner-up in the oceans category of the Earthshot prize. (Root was just behind Rebecca Hubbard, the director of the High Seas Alliance, who campaigned to create the historic high seas treaty.) Matter’s filter is now available in more than 30 European markets and the UK, and the company plans to expand to the US…

His invention joins others including Xeros, and the US-based Cleanr and Filtrol, that work to filter out microplastic before it reaches waterways.

His filter cleaning itself is, according to Root, what makes his particular invention unique. Matter Industries finds that each wash cycle produces about 1g of fibre waste, and to capture as much as possible the mesh must be especially fine. But this makes filters prone to blockage, so Root’s version rinses itself after each wash, clearing the mesh surface so that wastewater can continue flowing through.”

From The Guardian.

“The most recent national survey has now revealed the highest ever number of Dartford Warblers recorded on RSPB nature reserves, with 264 pairs counted in 2025 – that’s a 44% increase in just five years! The wider UK population estimate has also reached 4,100 pairs, up from 3,200 during the last national survey in 2006.”

From RSPB.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that rough popcornflower has been reclassified from an endangered to a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The Service also finalized a species-specific 4(d) rule that provides for the conservation needs of the species. This reclassification of rough popcornflower aligns with efforts by the President Donald J. Trump administration to reduce regulatory burdens while continuing to advance conservation…

Rough popcornflower is an herbaceous plant found only in seasonal wetlands in the Umpqua River Basin of Douglas County, Oregon. Since its listing, the species has increased from about 7,000 plants in eight populations to more than 2 million plants across 18 populations. This remarkable increase is due in part to discovery of previously unmonitored populations, as well as extensive recovery efforts including reintroductions, population augmentations, and targeted treatment of invasive plant species. As a result, threats have been reduced or eliminated to the point that the species no longer meets the definition of an endangered species.”

From U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Delhi recorded its lowest average Air Quality Index (AQI) for the January-May 2026 in eight years, excluding 2020 when Covid-19 restrictions led to a sharp drop in pollution levels, according to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).

Data released by the commission showed that the city’s average AQI between January and May 2026 stood at 211.

In comparison, the average AQI was 214 in 2025, 231 in 2024, 213 in 2023, 238 in 2022, 235 in 2021, 181 in 2020,

237 in 2019 and 243 in 2018.”

From Times of India.