Environmental hazards

[Parodite]

Accumulating 'microplastic' threat to shores

Microscopic plastic debris from washing clothes is accumulating in the marine environment and could be entering the food chain, a study has warned.

Researchers traced the "microplastic" back to synthetic clothes, which released up to 1,900 tiny fibres per garment every time they were washed.

Earlier research showed plastic smaller than 1mm were being eaten by animals and getting into the food chain.

[Demon of Undoing]

For every low, a high

Plastic-eating fungus could help deal with landfill

A team from Yale University has discovered a fungus deep in the South American rainforest that can live entirely on plastic - offering hope for new methods of waste disposal.

Pestalotiopsis microspora, found in the jungles of Ecuador, can digest polyurethane - which often currently ends up in landfill and takes generations to decay.

Burning polyurethane releases toxins as well as carbon dioxide; and, while it can be recycled, it frequently isn't.

The fungus can live entirely on polyurethane. And, most intriguingly, the fungus can break down polyeurethane even without the presence of oxygen, meaning it could do its trick even at the bottom of a landfill site.

The fungus was discovered on the university's annual Rainforest Expedition last year. It's one of several that the team found could brak down polyeurethane, but was the only one to manage this without oxygen.

"The broad distribution of activity observed and the unprecedented case of anaerobic growth using PUR as the sole carbon source suggest that endophytes are a promising source of biodiversity from which to screen for metabolic properties useful for bioremediation," the authors write.

Jonathan Russell has isolated the enzyme that the fungus uses to degrade the polyeurethane, a serine hydrolase. He says it's it’s possible that this molecule alone could be useful in getting rid of waste polyurethane.

[Enki]

Funny. That plastic eating fungus will be the new mold.

[Parodite]

Heh, it's like Nature saw us coming already long ago.

[Demon of Undoing]

It is fundamental to Taoist medicine that each thing has its opposite, every prey a hunter and every poison, an antidote. I believe the Ten Thousand Things are still more than a match for man. We excel in disrupting the balance, but the gyro stabilizes.

When we really master genetic manipulation, we will account for and use virtually every molecule around us. If this can evolve, a computer can crunch numbers to make the same thing happen in a lab. Phooey on toxic waste. I anticipate uranium eating cockroaches that poop rare earth metals.

I'm telling you. I'm going to live for ten thousand years and destroy the space Nazis on the moon.

For the Emperor, of course.

[Miss_Faucie_Fishtits]

For every low, a high

Plastic-eating fungus could help deal with landfill

A team from Yale University has discovered a fungus deep in the South American rainforest that can live entirely on plastic - offering hope for new methods of waste disposal.

Pestalotiopsis microspora, found in the jungles of Ecuador, can digest polyurethane - which often currently ends up in landfill and takes generations to decay.

Burning polyurethane releases toxins as well as carbon dioxide; and, while it can be recycled, it frequently isn't.

The fungus can live entirely on polyurethane. And, most intriguingly, the fungus can break down polyeurethane even without the presence of oxygen, meaning it could do its trick even at the bottom of a landfill site.

The fungus was discovered on the university's annual Rainforest Expedition last year. It's one of several that the team found could brak down polyeurethane, but was the only one to manage this without oxygen.

"The broad distribution of activity observed and the unprecedented case of anaerobic growth using PUR as the sole carbon source suggest that endophytes are a promising source of biodiversity from which to screen for metabolic properties useful for bioremediation," the authors write.

Jonathan Russell has isolated the enzyme that the fungus uses to degrade the polyeurethane, a serine hydrolase. He says it's it’s possible that this molecule alone could be useful in getting rid of waste polyurethane.

Holy unintended consequenses, Batman.......

One of the failings of primitive plastics is that it tended to biodegrade and one of the reasons plastics have become almost ubiquitous is precisely because it doesn't. Our civilisation is built on the assumption that plastic materials, generally, do not rot, and if we establish perishability as the new paradigm - I don't think we have a backup in many crucial areas. Like...... what do we do when all the sewer and gas mains rot out all of a sudden?..........

[Parodite]

Phooey on toxic waste. I anticipate uranium eating cockroaches that poop rare earth metals.

Cheers on that

[Enki]

For every low, a high

Plastic-eating fungus could help deal with landfill

A team from Yale University has discovered a fungus deep in the South American rainforest that can live entirely on plastic - offering hope for new methods of waste disposal.

Pestalotiopsis microspora, found in the jungles of Ecuador, can digest polyurethane - which often currently ends up in landfill and takes generations to decay.

Burning polyurethane releases toxins as well as carbon dioxide; and, while it can be recycled, it frequently isn't.

The fungus can live entirely on polyurethane. And, most intriguingly, the fungus can break down polyeurethane even without the presence of oxygen, meaning it could do its trick even at the bottom of a landfill site.

The fungus was discovered on the university's annual Rainforest Expedition last year. It's one of several that the team found could brak down polyeurethane, but was the only one to manage this without oxygen.

"The broad distribution of activity observed and the unprecedented case of anaerobic growth using PUR as the sole carbon source suggest that endophytes are a promising source of biodiversity from which to screen for metabolic properties useful for bioremediation," the authors write.

Jonathan Russell has isolated the enzyme that the fungus uses to degrade the polyeurethane, a serine hydrolase. He says it's it’s possible that this molecule alone could be useful in getting rid of waste polyurethane.

Holy unintended consequenses, Batman.......

One of the failings of primitive plastics is that it tended to biodegrade and one of the reasons plastics have become almost ubiquitous is precisely because it doesn't. Our civilisation is built on the assumption that plastic materials, generally, do not rot, and if we establish perishability as the new paradigm - I don't think we have a backup in many crucial areas. Like...... what do we do when all the sewer and gas mains rot out all of a sudden?..........

Since sewers and gas mains are ceramic not plastic, I don't see the problem. Plenty of cities have problems related to this though. My Mother-in-Law was an urban geographer in her career, and one of her big projects was mapping out the sewer/hydrant/water system for Phoenix. Big sprawling unplanned cities like Phoenix were built on the cheap and ad hoc, and now that they are megalopolises they have terrible infrastructure problems.

[Enki]

For the Emperor, of course.

Your service will be appreciated.

[Typhoon]

Accumulating 'microplastic' threat to shores

Microscopic plastic debris from washing clothes is accumulating in the marine environment and could be entering the food chain, a study has warned.

Researchers traced the "microplastic" back to synthetic clothes, which released up to 1,900 tiny fibres per garment every time they were washed.

Earlier research showed plastic smaller than 1mm were being eaten by animals and getting into the food chain.

I noticed that the bit explaining exactly how and now much this is dangerous to life is missing.

[Miss_Faucie_Fishtits]

Since sewers and gas mains are ceramic not plastic, I don't see the problem. Plenty of cities have problems related to this though. My Mother-in-Law was an urban geographer in her career, and one of her big projects was mapping out the sewer/hydrant/water system for Phoenix. Big sprawling unplanned cities like Phoenix were built on the cheap and ad hoc, and now that they are megalopolises they have terrible infrastructure problems.

No, hon..... the new installation of sewer tiles and gaslines are all PVC. They dug up the street last summer by my house and I watched them do it. In cases where they lay a new gasline, they don't even dig a trench anymore. They attach a 'splitting head' to a coil of line and pull it through the old line with a cable backed by a hydraulic ram. They say the new system should last a hundred years and the old ceramic and cast iron one was already in for seventy - so, I dunno what they gonna do if that's not the case......

[Enki]

Since sewers and gas mains are ceramic not plastic, I don't see the problem. Plenty of cities have problems related to this though. My Mother-in-Law was an urban geographer in her career, and one of her big projects was mapping out the sewer/hydrant/water system for Phoenix. Big sprawling unplanned cities like Phoenix were built on the cheap and ad hoc, and now that they are megalopolises they have terrible infrastructure problems.

No, hon..... the new installation of sewer tiles and gaslines are all PVC. They dug up the street last summer by my house and I watched them do it. In cases where they lay a new gasline, they don't even dig a trench anymore. They attach a 'splitting head' to a coil of line and pull it through the old line with a cable backed by a hydraulic ram. They say the new system should last a hundred years and the old ceramic and cast iron one was already in for seventy - so, I dunno what they gonna do if that's not the case......

Well...if it lasts 50 then they'll probably just have little tiny robots with 3D printing capability that can disassemble and rebuild the pipe. Hell they might be able to reconstitute the material from the old pipe itself.

[Miss_Faucie_Fishtits]

What say...... thirty years to get to that point, and another twenty to get around to all the outstanding examples of the present infrastructure and rebuild it?.........

Maybe it would be the other way around - twenty and then thirty, but fifty years could be a working timeframe......'>........

[Demon of Undoing]

Feh. Pipes. We can use Kevlar buggy whips, too.

No, pretty soon your house is going to be a more or less self contained unit. Literally in/ on- house power generation. Biorecycling. Biology can treat waste and purify water in a completely independent SEED - type cell. You folks are thinking "FEED".

Think an open biodome. Without Pauly Shore.