Science!! Fucking magnets, how do they work?

Drakurii

Drakurii

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This microbe makes a meal of plastic | Science News

A newly discovered microbe chows down on polluting plastic.

For humans, polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET, is a stiff, strong plastic fiber that's the main ingredient in polyester clothing and disposable bottles. But for the bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis, PET is dinner.

Researchers in Japan discovered the bacterium living in samples of soil, wastewater and recycling plant sludge, all contaminated with PET particles. PET is very stable, and few known microbes can break it down. But I. sakaiensis can use PET as its main food source, the scientists report in the March 11 Science. Tests revealed that the bacterium latches onto PET particles and releases a protein that decomposes the plastic into molecules the bacterium can munch on (SN: 2/20/16, p. 20).
 
Abefroman

Abefroman

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Drakurii_sl said:
This microbe makes a meal of plastic | Science News

A newly discovered microbe chows down on polluting plastic.

For humans, polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET, is a stiff, strong plastic fiber that's the main ingredient in polyester clothing and disposable bottles. But for the bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis, PET is dinner.

Researchers in Japan discovered the bacterium living in samples of soil, wastewater and recycling plant sludge, all contaminated with PET particles. PET is very stable, and few known microbes can break it down. But I. sakaiensis can use PET as its main food source, the scientists report in the March 11 Science. Tests revealed that the bacterium latches onto PET particles and releases a protein that decomposes the plastic into molecules the bacterium can munch on (SN: 2/20/16, p. 20).
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This sounds like the start of a scifi horror movie.
 
Tripamang

Tripamang

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Drakurii_sl said:
This microbe makes a meal of plastic | Science News

A newly discovered microbe chows down on polluting plastic.

For humans, polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET, is a stiff, strong plastic fiber that's the main ingredient in polyester clothing and disposable bottles. But for the bacterium Ideonella sakaiensis, PET is dinner.

Researchers in Japan discovered the bacterium living in samples of soil, wastewater and recycling plant sludge, all contaminated with PET particles. PET is very stable, and few known microbes can break it down. But I. sakaiensis can use PET as its main food source, the scientists report in the March 11 Science. Tests revealed that the bacterium latches onto PET particles and releases a protein that decomposes the plastic into molecules the bacterium can munch on (SN: 2/20/16, p. 20).
Click to expand...
When I first saw this I thought it was amazing, but apparently it's pretty easy to train fungus to eat plastic, among other chemical compounds. It doesn't take more than a few generations of exposure before they'll start breaking it down. This guy has trained fungus to eat tons of different toxic chemicals, despite him coming off as a crackpot the science around a lot of his claims are legit.The mushroom man who wants the world to take fungi seriously | New Scientist

Here are examples of fungus eating plastic:
http://www.wired.com/2014/12/mini-fa...ing-mushrooms/
 
Brahma

Brahma

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Thought this was awesome.


705oCx2.gif
 
Randin

Randin

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Gif of gravity's effect on the flow of time? Neat, but I does it have any sort of context? Or is it just there to look cool?
 
Abefroman

Abefroman

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Drakurii_sl said:
In other news....

Sarah Palin mocks Bill Nye over climate change - CNNPolitics.com

"Bill Nye is as much a scientist as I am," the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee said, according to The Hill. "He's a kids' show actor, he's not a scientist."
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Very nice. Every time one of these idiots speaks up like this it only draws more attention to how wrong they are. I mean seriously, how fucking hard is it to google someones name to get their background?
 
iannis

iannis

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Well, it's not like he's a climatologist!!!

Doesn't he have a phd in chemistry or something? I know he's an engineer, I thought he was a chemical engineer.

So hes pretty much 10e15 times more likely to read and comprehend the climatology literature. I think the first 4 syllable word palin hit she might go, "Hey! Woah now! There's no need to put on AIRS! Lets keep it simple!"
 
iannis

iannis

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Hrm. no, mechanical engineer. I thought he was a chemical engineer.

Just looks like one, I guess. All tall and lanky and dorky.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

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Bill Nye is definitely not a scientist. That said, it's not like climate change is something he is claiming to have discovered himself. I don't like him though. He guest hosted on Science Friday a few times a couple years back and he seemed like a condescending douche and him debating that creationist dude as the self proclaimed representative of science was beyond ridiculous when he has never done any science in his life. I guess what I'm saying is that yes Sarah Palin is a media whore whose opinion is mostly useless, but so is Bill Nye.
 
Abefroman

Abefroman

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BrutulTM_sl said:
Bill Nye is definitely not a scientist. That said, it's not like climate change is something he is claiming to have discovered himself. I don't like him though. He guest hosted on Science Friday a few times a couple years back and he seemed like a condescending douche and him debating that creationist dude as the self proclaimed representative of science was beyond ridiculous when he has never done any science in his life. I guess what I'm saying is that yes Sarah Palin is a media whore whose opinion is mostly useless, but so is Bill Nye.
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He is a scientist. It takes 2 fucking minutes to read his BIO.
 
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