Field-Portable Microplastic Sensing in Aqueous Environments: A Perspective on Emerging Techniques.

Microplastics (MPs) have been found in aqueous environments ranging from rural ponds and lakes to the deep ocean. Despite the ubiquity of MPs, our ability to characterize MPs in the environment is limited by the lack of technologies for rapidly and accurately identifying and quantifying MPs. Although standards exist for MP sample collection and preparation, methods of MP analysis vary considerably and produce data with a broad range of data content and quality.

Remotely controlled chemomagnetic modulation of targeted neural circuits.

Connecting neural circuit output to behaviour can be facilitated by the precise chemical manipulation of specific cell populations. Engineered receptors exclusively activated by designer small molecules enable manipulation of specific neural pathways. However, their application to studies of behaviour has thus far been hampered by a trade-off between the low temporal resolution of systemic injection versus the invasiveness of implanted cannulae or infusion pumps.