MIT always seems to be pumping out cool new things, and this time it’s environmentally friendly to boot. We’ve all seen pictures (or at least Simpsons episodes) involving oil spills and have some idea of just how hard it is to clean up thousands of gallons of oil in water. But hopefully this new invention from MIT is a step towards handling these disasters better.

What they have done is create a material that does not absorb water at all, but it does absorb oil (and other hydrophobic fluids). It is also possible to recycle it for additional uses, that is, removing the oil from the towel and use it again, moreover the removed oil can actually be extracted and used again. Given the fact that over 200.000 tons of oil have already been spilled in oceans since 2000, this is sure to be a welcome tool to those in the business of cleaning up after the spills. It should be noted that this is NOT the first material of this kind, this is however, according to the MIT press-release anyway, the most effective one (that is, the other materials absorb water along with the oil, this one doesn’t).

Given the fact that they say that the production method used to make this material is pretty much the same as used to make normal paper towels, I’d imagine that the production costs aren’t that high and that this could be put to use fairly quickly, lets hope. The picture on top here (courtesy of MIT) shows water with oil in it before and after being introduced to the material, you can also check out this ultra-short video at the MIT site, showing it in action.