For the first time, air-polluting soot particles have been imaged in flight down to nanometer resolution. Pioneering a new technique scientists snapped the most detailed images yet of airborne aerosols.

“Green rust” played a key role in making the Earth habitable and may now have an equally important role to play in cleaning it up for the future. Green rust is a highly reactive iron mineral which experts hope could be used to clean up metal pollution and even radioactive waste.