A new device called an algae turf scrubber is being used to help clean the water in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.The device works by pumping polluted water into a shallow screened trough, and as the water ...

In their quest to cure Baltimore’s ailing harbor, advocates and authorities have tried one gadget after another: floating wetlands, a solar-powered aerator, even a trash wheel. Add now the “algal turf ...

The algal scrubber in action. Courtesy of Smithsonian Sidedoor Listen to this episode of Sidedoor, the Smithsonian podcast that explores behind-the-scenes stories from the Institution, for more ...

“Nature sometimes isn’t pretty,” said University of Maryland environmental scientist Peter May, grabbing a clump of slimy green-brown gunk. That gunk lines the bottom of what’s called an algal turf ...