LoRes-TV: An Easy-to-See Solution for Oil Spills

Hard to believe it has been 20 years since the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Even harder to believe is that after two decades there has been no real improvement in the technology for cleaning up rogue oil from the surface of the sea and shorelines, which was shockingly evident during the recent BP disaster in the Gulf Coast earlier this year.

Two Penn State University professors from the school's Department of Materials Science and Engineering have developed and patented a solution. The duo's new polyolefin-based petroleum super-absorbant (Petro-SAP) can transform a maritime oil spill into a floating solid, and it's easy to see how it works in this silent video.