1 The future is (already) here: Fionn Ferreira and the power of magnetic iron
At just 18, Irish scientist Fionn Ferreira won the Grand Prize at the Google Science Fair with a simple yet brilliant idea: using a combination of magnetic iron (ferrofluid) and oil to attract microplastics present in water. Through particle polarisation, microplastics are bound together and then removed using a magnetic field.
What began as a youthful intuition has now become a technology undergoing real-world testing, with the aim of applying it in water treatment plants and even on ships.
2 Plants and science: okra and fenugreek as natural “coagulants”
In May 2025, a group of researchers affiliated with the American Chemical Society published a remarkable study: Plant extracts from okra and fenugreek were found to remove up to 94% of microplastics from water.
These natural substances act as coagulants, clustering plastic particles together and making them easier to eliminate.
The advantage? They are biocompatible, low-cost and already used in several traditional cultures for domestic water purification.
3 An ecology that knows how to look forward (and back)
What these examples illustrate is a shift in mindset. To face a crisis resulting from excess artificiality, we may need to resort to what is simplest, oldest and nearest to us: nature as an ally, not a resource to exploit.
This is the ecological culture we need – one that does not separate science, environment and health, but rather allows them to interact in a practical, intelligent and effective way.
