Noise #208: The miracle tree

Music inspired by a natural remedy for microplastic pollution.

Plastic never goes away, says Desiree LaBeaud, a Stanford pediatrician, professor, and infectious disease specialist.

It just breaks down into smaller and smaller particles.

Microplastics are everywhere including, troublingly, inside us. And when it comes to medicine, biology, ecology—we’re far from understanding what the echoes and impact of that ubiquity will be.

That’s why a series of recent articles, tantalizingly referring to a microplastic-capturing miracle tree, caught my eye.

The articles describe new research that shows seed extract from the ancient Moringa tree filtering microplastics from water with shocking effectiveness.

As the study says:

Moringa offers a non‑toxic, renewable alternative that works across a wider pH range than conventional chemicals.

This is potentially amazing, and inspired me to create a piece of music that, to my ears, feels rich with depth and possibility. You may hear some melodies climbing like branches, others descending like roots. The piece also contains the darkness and noxious creep of a pollutant spreading everywhere—contrasted with the hopeful upward gaze of discovery, the promise of a natural elixir to synthetic disease.

Here’s Noise #208:

Wishing you peace,

Michael

(Noise #208 by Michael Gallant. Copyright 2026 Gallant Music LLC. All Rights Reserved.)