Gleanings of the Week Ending November 7, 2026

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

10/28/2026 I’m Plastic Free Do Plastic-Free Retainers Exist? What the Research Says About Retainer Microplastics - In lab tests, clear PETG retainers, acrylic Hawley retainers and aligners all released plastic particles into artificial saliva (2), with an estimated 59,000 detectable particles per PETG pair over six months of simulated night wear in one company-run test. The leading alternative is the Unplastic Retainer by moses, made from PHA, a biodegradable polymer grown by microbes. It still sheds particles, but its maker reports that they break down. A permanent stainless steel wire retainer is the other low-plastic option.

10/28/2026 Nature How the pandemic changed trust in science — in four charts - Trust in science and researchers has fallen following the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also shows a connection between science and people’s broader experiences, including their perceived financial security. The survey found that countries where people reported high confidence in hospitals and health-care clinics were more likely to have greater trust in science. Levels of trust were also high in respondents who were confident in accessing health-care services when needed.

10/28/2026 The Conversation The deep ocean’s protection against warming started to change in 2016. Nobody knows what happens now - Over the past decade, the Antarctic intermediate water has rapidly become saltier and more dense, and sitting deeper in the ocean. As a result, more heat may reach the deeper waters – with unknown consequences for the world’s climate.

10/27/2026 Yale Environment 360 Industry Knew for Decades That Microplastics Could Infiltrate Human Bodies - The chemical industry has known for decades that ingested microplastic particles can reach vital organs. At a scientific meeting in 1974, a German scientist named Gerhard Volkheimer presented research showing that ingested bits of PVC plastic could enter the bloodstream. In experiments, he had fed bits of PVC to dogs, pigs, and other animals, finding that within two hours, the particles had infiltrated the liver, brain, lungs, and other tissues. In one 1975 memo, an executive at chemical maker Union Carbide said the Volkheimer study had “been cited often as a ‘horror story’ on ingesting PVC resin.” while scientists have shown that plastic additives are harmful to human health, researchers are only beginning to understand what impact plastic particles may have. 

10/27/2026 Planetizen Iowa taxpayers are paying thousands to clean manure out of their water - Iowa residents are accusing factory farms of failing to keep their manure spreads out of Iowa’s streams, including the Des Moines River, which provides drinking water for over half a million Iowans.

10/27/2026 Clean Technica New Whitepaper Shows How Grid Operators & Energy Regulators Can Use Solar & Storage to Secure the Grid, Boost Reliability & Reduce Energy Costs - A new report released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Current Energy Group outlines how grid operators and regulators can deploy distributed energy resources (DERs) like solar and battery storage to boost reliability and affordability of the electric grid. Numerous states have recently passed laws to expand DERs, such as community solar and battery storage, and to maximize the value of these resources by aggregating them through programs like virtual power plants.

10/27/2026 NPR When an invasive fish is also tasty, Maryland schoolkids can help 'eat the problem' - Since spreading to the Chesapeake Bay in recent decades, the blue catfish has become an apex predator. It can grow to more than 100 pounds; its voracious appetite is fueling worries that it's eating too many native species. School districts in both Maryland and Virginia are serving blue catfish.

10/26/2026 Our World in Data How much development aid is spent on climate change? - round one-third of this funding — $50 billion — was committed to climate-related projects in 2024. These projects can fall into two categories. Mitigation aims to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions; think investments in clean energy, stopping deforestation, or low-carbon transport. Adaptation helps countries deal with the impacts of climate change: flood defenses, drought-resilient crops, or more reliable water supplies.

10/26/2026 BBC Future 'It's offensively cheap': How solar power is quietly becoming bigger than nuclear - The world's solar power is crossing a threshold. A decade ago, it barely registered on a global scale, providing just 1% of the world's power. In 2026, it will almost certainly increase to 10% of power, and overtake nuclear, a mainstay of electricity since the late 1970s. By 2030, the IEA thinks solar power generation will have reached double that of 2025's levels, with solar overtaking hydro to become the world's third-largest electricity source.

10/26/2026 Science Daily Scientists discover Arctic sea ice loss could be far worse than predicted - By using ancient climate records to refine modern computer models, researchers have produced more reliable estimates of how much ice may disappear in the coming decades. Recent observations have also highlighted the Arctic's changing conditions. In March 2025, winter sea ice reached the lowest annual maximum extent recorded since modern monitoring began. The Arctic matched that record again in 2026. The consequences of a warming Arctic may be more extensive than existing predictions indicate. The revised simulations offer researchers a clearer foundation for investigating those risks and understanding how changing Arctic conditions could influence weather elsewhere.