Biodegradable Microbeads Could Replace Plastic Exfoliants in Skincare Products
A degradable microbead made from a polymer has been developed by researchers, potentially replacing plastic exfoliants in skin cleansers. These beads break down into substances resembling sugars and amino acids, providing an environmentally safer alternative. Details of the study were shared in Nature Chemical Engineering on December 6. The microbeads, composed of poly(β-amino ester), are said to deliver effective cleaning results while addressing environmental concerns associated with plastic microbeads.
Ana Jaklenec, a biomedical engineer at MIT, remarked in a statement to Science News that this innovation could influence the materials industry to consider non-microplastic options. The polymer is already known for its role in medical applications, such as drug delivery.
Testing the Efficacy of the New Beads
Tests carried out on pig skin samples demonstrated that the polymer microbeads, when mixed with soap foam, removed 74 percent of permanent marker ink after 50 wipes, compared to 38 percent removal using soap foam alone. The polymer mixture was also found to be highly effective in clearing eyeliner, with twice as much removed compared to regular soap. Degradation tests revealed that more than 94 percent of the polymer disintegrated into sugar-like and amino-acid-like molecules within two hours in boiling water. This biodegradability makes the beads a suitable alternative for use in personal care products.
Implications for Environmental Safety
Ben Elling, a polymer chemist at Wesleyan University, noted in a separate statement that the performance of the new material could encourage the industry to transition to more sustainable options. He highlighted the common reluctance to switch to eco-friendly materials due to concerns about compromising product quality. However, he believes innovations like this can combine both efficiency and sustainability.
The environmental hazards posed by microplastics are widely acknowledged. While several countries, including the United States, have implemented bans on plastic microbeads in rinse-off personal care products, they remain in use in some regions. The potential adoption of these degradable beads by companies may mitigate pollution caused by microplastics in waterways.
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Asteroid Vesta, long considered a stalled protoplanet, may actually be a massive fragment of a larger world that once existed in our solar system. New findings based on gravity-field mapping and spin-rate data suggest Vesta lacks the dense core typically found in differentiated planetary bodies. The discovery challenges previous assumptions, drawn from NASA’s Dawn mission in 2012, that classified Vesta as an embryonic planet. Now, scientists report that Vesta might have been ejected from a differentiated world in a massive collision 4.5 billion years ago, upending ideas about the development of planets and asteroids.
New Gravity Data Suggests Vesta Is Debris from a Destroyed Planet, Not a Protoplanet
As per a new study published in Nature Astronomy on April 23, 2025, Vesta does not quite match the former model. Refined calibration methods polished the radio Doppler signals, confirming the absence of a metal-rich core, which was inconsistent with earlier work. Seth Jacobson of Michigan State University, who led the research, stated the new interpretation marks a major shift in planetary science. While Vesta’s basaltic, volcanic surface still indicates geological activity, its internal uniformity contradicts the expectations of a body that once underwent full differentiation.
This paradox has caused scientists to reconsider the asteroid’s heritage. One scenario is that Vesta started to differentiate but never got very far. But data from meteorites called howardite-eucrite-diogenites (HEDs), thought to have come from Vesta, show no signs of such incomplete differentiation. Jacobson and his team instead favour the explanation that Vesta was formed from material blasted off a fully developed planet during an ancient planetary collision, which could also illustrate its volcanic surface without requiring it to have a dense core.
The results not only question Vesta’s identity but also suggest a possibility of a more general theory: that other asteroids could also be pieces of shattered planets. NASA’s Psyche and ESA’s Hera missions, planned for the next decades, intend to do such gravity investigations, which could ultimately confirm this new view. Jacobson noted that Vesta’s composition could even hint at a shared origin with Earth or other early planets, a hypothesis that may reshape asteroid science entirely.
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