Oil companies intensify investment in new technologies for cleaning up oil spills with each new disaster, but rapidly lose interest, say experts. As a result, the technology has changed little in the past few decades. However, scientists are introducing new technologies that may make harvesting oil from spills more economically attractive, and create new incentive for R&D investment. One such project from scientists at Pennsylvania State University is a gel that can absorb up to 40 times its own weight in oil and leave the water behind.
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