#Advanced Plastic Recycling
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nexuscircular · 8 months ago
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Advanced Plastic Recycling – How Beneficial for Sustainability-minded Companies?
We at Nexus work with sustainability-minded companies and recycling organizations across the plastics supply chain to secure used plastics that would otherwise be thrown away and put into a landfill, reducing the potential of leakage of these plastics into the environment.
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reasonsforhope · 3 months ago
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"As the world grows “smarter” through the adoption of smartphones, smart fridges, and entire smart houses, the carbon cost of that technology grows, too. 
In the last decade, electronic waste has become one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world. 
According to The World Counts, the globe generates about 50 million tons of e-waste every year. That’s the equivalent of 1,000 laptops being trashed every second. 
After they’re shipped off to landfills and incinerated, the trash releases toxic chemicals including lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and so much more, which can cause disastrous health effects on the populations that live near those trash sites. 
Fortunately, Franziska Kerber — a university student at ​​FH Joanneum in Graz, Austria — has dreamed up a solution that helps carve away at that behemoth problem: electronics made out of recyclable, dissolvable paper. 
On September 11, Kerber’s invention “Pape” — or Paper Electronics — earned global recognition when it was named a national winner of the 2024 James Dyson Awards. 
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When she entered the scientific competition, Kerber demonstrated her invention with the creation of several small electronics made out of paper materials, including a fully-functional WiFi router and smoke detector. 
“Small electronic devices are especially prone to ending up in household waste due to unclear disposal systems and their small size, so there is significant potential to develop a more user-friendly end-of-life system,” Kerber wrote on the James Dyson Award website. 
“With this in mind, I aimed to move beyond a simple recycling solution to a circular one, ensuring long-term sustainability.” 
Kerber’s invention hinges on crafting a dissolvable and recyclable PCB board out of compressed “paper pulp.” 
A printed circuit board (PCB) is a board that can be found in nearly all modern electronic devices, like phones, tablets, and smartwatches.
But even companies that have started incorporating a “dissolution” step into the end life of their products require deconstruction to break down and recover the PCB board before it can be recycled. 
With Kerber’s PAPE products, users don’t need to take the device apart to recycle it.
“By implementing a user-friendly return option, manufacturers can efficiently dissolve all returned items, potentially reusing electronic components,” Kerber explained. 
“Rapidly advancing technology, which forms the core of many devices, becomes obsolete much faster than the structural elements, which are often made from plastics that can last thousands of years,” Kerber poses. 
PAPE, Kerber says, has a “designed end-of-life system” which anticipates obsolescence. 
“Does anyone want to use a thousand-year-old computer?” Kerber asks. “Of course not. … This ensures a sustainable and reliable system without hindering technological advancement.”"
-via GoodGoodGood, September 13, 2024
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solarpunkbusiness · 2 months ago
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At the core of Repolywise’s Atomic Scissors technology is a highly advanced hydrocracking process that breaks down waste plastics at the atomic level.
Unlike traditional recycling methods, Atomic Scissors selectively degrade plastics like polyethene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) into valuable raw materials.
This innovative catalyst, developed through years of research at Oxford, has already proven its efficiency and high yield in lab-scale tests.
The Atomic Scissors process transforms plastic waste into propane in a single step, which is then sold to the petrochemical industry.
This propane is cracked into olefins, a key ingredient in producing new plastics like polyethene and polypropylene.
This process addresses one of the most significant challenges in plastic recycling, which is turning waste back into high-quality raw materials and closing the loop in the plastic lifecycle.
This innovation is particularly significant for polyolefin plastics, which represent nearly half of the 330 billion kilograms of plastic produced annually.
Traditional recycling methods often lead to ‘downcycling,’ where plastic is repurposed into lower-quality products. In contrast, Atomic Scissors enables these materials to be recycled into high-quality polypropylene, supporting sustainable production.
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princess-nobody · 10 months ago
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Avatar Rant: Two Avatar takes that bother me
(Pssst! This was originally posted on reddit, but I liked it so much I decided to post it onto my this account! Here's a link to the original if you'd rather read it there!)
So, I saw a semi-viral tweet a while back that bothered me because it not only felt like a complete misunderstanding of the point of Avatar as a film franchise, but also just a very childish view of how societies and different communities function. I can't find it though (I didn't interact with it and it has since been buried) so I apologize for not being able to give the best context.
It was your typical RDA sympathizing humanity first take (makes sense, the account that tweeted it was a walking red flag) that claimed that the na'vi were stupid for not accepting human advancement and technology, that humanity should always put its preservation first, and that the RDA were simply prioritizing the well being of their people whilst the na'vi wanted them gone. I want to start by addressing the latter take(s).
The first and second movies make it very clear that the RDA are NOT prioritizing the survival of Earth or humanity. They are a money hungry organization that want to monetize pandoran resources to their dying people in hopes to squeeze out whatever little money they have left. The people of Earth are said to be protesting them for that very reason, every solution to their planet's problems that they have discovered is insanely expensive and inaccessible to anyone below the upper class one percent. The RDA don't care about humanity, they care about profit, which is the exact reason why their actions are so callous in the films.
There are certainly humans that want to preserve humanity, but I truly cannot wrap my head around how you can watch either film and come to the conclusion that it is the RDA that wants the best for humanity. Avatar is not a "human bad" movie, it is a "corporate greed bad" movie, which is reflective of real life environmental issues. The individual is green, the individual recycles and doesn't litter, the individual cleans their local rivers and sea shores. However, the powerplants continue to polute our air, the corporations continue to flood our oceans with plastic, the rich continue to cut corners and burn the air with private jets.
I truly believe the reading of Avatar as an anti-humanity movie is what has lead to people thinking the RDA are the "good guys". It is because they actually believe the RDA are supposed to represent humanity and their will to keep surviving (and that James Cameron is portraying them as wrong for that), when it is clear they are a representation of the corporate greed that leads to environmental damage and the destruction of humanity.
As for the belief that the na'vi are hostile and somehow wrong for not caring to "advance" in the way humanity did, that is just flat out wrong. When it came to the respectful, peaceful humans such as Grace and her team, the na'vi were incredibly welcoming. I mean, Grace built an entire school for them and taught them human language and other human academics, so clearly they aren't against learning from humans. Again, Avatar is clear about the fact that humans as a collective aren't bad, corporate greed is.
However, why should the na'vi "advance" when there is no need to? Innovation is built on the back of necessity, and in a world where there is no need for certain technological advancements, why should the na'vi chase it? Why do they need phones and tablets and video games and McDonalds? They are living just fine without it. This idea that every society needs to be "modernized", even when they function just fine without said modernization has always driven me up a wall.
This entitlement from the western world is what leads colonial brained weirdos to try and go to indigenous islands and force religion or their world view upon them, because they believe that if a society doesn't function like the "modern" world, it is wrong. The na'vi don't need currency, or modern tech, or modern trends or fast food. They aren't perfect, but they also aren't in a desperate situation that would call for innovation or some sort of technological evolution. They are fine, they don't need nor even want it, and it is strange to believe humanity is in their right to force it upon them.
I'll stop this here because it's getting too long, I would love to hear your thoughts. Last time I made a post in this vein I got some really interesting responses, I couldn't reply to all but I'll try and reblog if that means anything!
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starwrighter · 1 year ago
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I am not a baby!! (Yes you are,)
(Prompt) (Previous part) (Next) (Masterpost) (Ao3)
(Part four peoples!!!)
Either something went wrong with that transmission or he was going to be stuck on this planet for 99,999 hours. Both options didn't bode well for him but one was clearly better than the other.
Ancient's how long was 99,999 hours? With a number that big he was looking at spending around ten years waiting for a rescue team to show up and help them. If everyone wasn't dead by that point they'd probably have built a super cool society with Deepsea bases and nuclear power that they'd have to give up. In ten years he would've figured out what the heck was going on with him and brought them home himself. Though, ten years would give him an excuse for why he was still around the same age he was when he left. Wipe the PDA's data beyond recovery, blame the most annoying creature or plant as what shrank him, and refuse to elaborate any further.
A transmission error was more likely than his brilliant hypothetical scenario. When a spaceship as big as the aurora crashed there was bound to be some interference. Whether that interference be artificial or not was still unclear much to his dismay.
At least he had a scanner, that was a big step for him in his progression. A lot of the actually helpful blueprints were corrupted in the crash and supposedly the scanner could help recover them. Scanning fragments of salvaged tech would be the quickest way of recovery all things considered. Destroyed beacons, singed seaglides, and trashcans were scattered all throughout the shallows, pollution likely reaching farther than what he'd explored. With a crash, this big damage likely extended much farther than what was visible to him.
Not only did their ship crush who knows how many creatures and plants, the regular and radioactive pollution would screw over future generations of fish! It was the intergalactic equivalent of a catastrophic oil spill and he was an unwilling participant in it. Something deep inside him ached at the thought of him being a participant in a planet's destruction.
Chunks of broken spaceship were bad enough for the environment on its own. Batteries, trash, fuel, and hundreds of pounds of manmade resources that'd take hundreds if not thousands of years to decompose. Every scrap of metal, every piece of plastic trash no matter the size was something to poison, choke or kill the local wildlife. Sam would be furious, this wasn't a case of natural food shortages or extreme weather, this could very well be an extinction event! Nuclear power was the default for Alterra's larger ships, and if it wasn't already, the aurora was soon to start leaking radiation all over the place!
This was one of the few life-bearing planets humanity discovered! Hundreds upon hundreds of planets have been discovered within humanity's years of space exploration but life existing without human intervention was still rare. Metal, rock, and gas were what were all that were usually brought back in the beginning. As humanity's technology advanced, they went farther into space, with more habitable planets being discovered and an uptick in thriving alien life. There was always a continuous stream of new discoveries in their universe, alien floras and fauna being discovered as often as they went extinct. Even so, it'd be a cold day in hell before he shared responsibility for any aliens going extinct.
Genetic mutations, Birth defects, and massive amounts of death were the first things that came to mind when radiation was brought into the picture. Radiation was the biggest issue so far, the melted spaceship could be recycled, no matter what Alterra's stupid rules told him he could and couldn't do. Trusting a corporation to clean up their own messes was like asking a toddler to clean up their toys; it would only lead to a conniption fit and a half-assed job. It was unclear how long he was going to be here and if when he met up with the other survivors, the need for materials would only increase as time went on.
Scanning and salvaging would have to wait until the next morning. Darkness shrouded the ocean outside his life pod, making it twice as dangerous to be out there tearing wrecks apart. Bioluminescence wasn't a skill he could put on his resume just yet nor was any kind of night vision. It would be both dangerous and annoying to swim around aimlessly in the dark when he had a perfectly good life pod he could relax in.
Standing in the safety of his lifepod, Danny ran the scanner up and down his body, the tech lighting him up a brilliant blue.
"Performing self-scan. Vital signs follow continuous pattern; no adverse effects identified. Detecting tracing amounts of foreign bacteria. Continuing to monitor,"
The PDA chimed and if Danny were an actual infant like the stupid tablet insisted he was he wouldn't have understood a word of those sentences. But since he wasn't a baby he could properly understand that there were alien germs in his body that really shouldn't be there.
Yeah, That seemed like a problem but it wasn't the reason his powers were short-circuiting. Before they even entered the atmosphere his powers were going wonky. Everything felt the same as it did before he came in contact with this "Foreign bacteria" There were no physical symptoms to complain about so maybe it was just his PDA's way of warning him he was coming down with an alien cold?
Whatever it was, Danny bet fifty bucks the metal muncher was what gave it to him. The creature had a face that screamed "Hey! look at me, I have all the diseases!" Now he was no marine biologist but scrap metal and electrical wire didn't exactly seem like the healthiest snack to chew on. Although, with the resemblance it had to crocodiles back home, one could only wonder if it swallowed metal to help with digestion?
Jagged teeth like the ones on the metal muncher weren't exactly suitable for grinding up food. Finding out the Metal muncher's stomach was full of rocks would be the least surprising thing that's happened today. Metal salvage from the Aurora was way too big to work as a stomach stone so it was more likely the creature just liked chewing on metal. It seemed just as interested in the titanium deposits as it was with the salvage so maybe it was a natural way to file down or sharpen their teeth? Hopefully, the metal munchers were smart enough to avoid chewing on wires that were actively sparking.
Opening a note function on his PDA, Danny began scribbling down everything he'd learned from his encounter with the metal muncher. Easily distracted, aggressive, territorial? Deciding everything he’d seen today was their normal everyday behavior would be stupid. There were new variables in the creature’s environment that could impact its behavior. Continued observation would be helpful as would scanning the animal in the morning. If Danny was going to be stranded on an alien planet you bet your ass he’s going to be studying the local wildlife while he’s here.
“A proper sleep schedule is imperative to the physical and phycological development of young children, " A chime played on his PDA closing the notes app without any warning. A repetitive string of Z’s overtook his screen making it impossible for him to navigate through the applications. Cheeks burning Danny turned the thing off and on again stomping with a huff when the same thing happened when it booted up again.
Taking a deep breath Danny sulked over to the storage unit. It was the only flat surface in this Lifepod he could lay down on and one could only pray to the ancients that the lid wouldn’t cave underneath him. Sleeping on the floor was out of the question. biohazardous goo coated the floor, still liquid enough to slosh around with the erythematic motion of the sea. Naturally, due to preferences, Danny decided to curl up on a surface that didn't have his melted organs on it.
________
Slithering through a barren seabed that once flourished as well as one could in a dying ocean. Mourning the lives that were lost today, he'd failed all over again. His youngest had been the one to see the precursors building raise into the sky this time. A blast strong enough to shake the island that it was built on shot out into the sky. They'd expected something to crash into the water soon after but what they hadn't expected was the size of what hit the waters.
Miles of the seafloor was torn up, and thousands of animals were dead. Jason said it was ironic, even after the precursors wiped themselves out they still found ways to destroy the planet. Bruce thought it was just cruel. It was by sheer stroke of luck that none of his kids had been close to the reaper's breeding ground at the time of impact. All of them managed to remain relatively unharmed when flames and giant pieces of rubble fell from the sky.
Surviving reapers flocked to the sight of the impact, shielded, unseen through the cloud of upturned sand and rubble. It wasn't until they caught a reaper with a familiar-looking creature locked in its mandibles, red blood spilling into the waters as it once had a decade ago that they realized it was happening again.
Nearly all who they'd found near the impact site had been unresponsive, charred, or mangled with their organs strewn out through the sea. In the clutches of the predators now circling the site dying in their arms no matter how quickly or carefully they managed to pry them from the brutal maw of the reapers. Within minutes of the impact, they'd already had a death count in the dozens. It was horrific, little bodies so much like his and his children's more vulnerable forms, dulled claws of younglings that had not yet grown old enough to hunt for themselves. Worst of all was looking into their dying eyes and seeing the agony and confusion of a sentient creature facing a brutal death just as their lives had begun. But that was the death count before the others landed.
Eggs with metallic shells and odd patterning landed all throughout the crater some even landing in the cold darkness of the void where they couldn't be retrieved. Their landings had been much gentler than the initial impact. Immediately the little ones began crawling out of their shells, confused and scared, physically weak. It wasn't uncommon for the precursors to deform the unborn, kidnaping and experimenting on children who lived and died in agony. Malformities ran rampant in this batch of younglings. Instead of soft faces and the vibrant, expressive eyes, they'd come to associate with these children, there were pitch-black, featureless heads smoother than sandstone but solid as titanium. There were points when a child that looked perfectly healthy would go limp for seemingly no reason and never move again. A sped-up gestation period was known to cause problems, let alone a hatching that was induced by precursor technology. As much as it killed him to admit, these younglings, while more abundant were sicklier than the small batch of three that'd fallen years ago.
Most if not all the healthier young ones died from the elements before they could reach them. It was devastating for Dick to find the youngling he'd been guarding in his territory, covered in the luminescent cysts that foreshadowed a certain death. The children got scared when they tried to protect them and when these children got scared they had a tendency to die from it.
Every single death felt like a personal failure. It's like nothing they could do would ever stop the hurt that the precursors continued to cause a thousand years after their extinction.
"Hey... B?" Dick's voice echoed in his mind a reassuring reminder that his son was safe and close enough to contact them. However, the emotions that came in with his son's words were anything but reassuring. Stomach filling with dread he settled on the sea bed just preparing himself for devastating news.
"We've searched the entire crater- none of them survived," A wave of grief hit him like a tsunami when Dicks words sunk in.
"Not the entire crater, there's still the one that landed in the shallows," Tim chimed in.
"We watched that egg for three hours and nothing crawled out of it," Steph groaned and Bruce could almost hear the dramatic way his daughter threw herself into the sand.
"Plus it was smoking and smelled of rot," Duke added somberly, slowly gliding through the impact site by his side.
"Geez, none of them even survived long enough to start building this time!" Dick exclaimed a mournful edge to his usual cheerful tone.
"Tch, pitiful," Damian finally decided to chime in, disappointment clear in the juveniles voice
" Who's pitiful? The babies who died today or the precursors who set them up for death?" Jason questioned, a dangerous edge seeping into the bond.
"I think it's obvious who I was talking about Todd," Damian spat.
"Considering how obsessed you are with what the last group created no, it's not obvious demon spawn," Jason sneered.
"Guys!" Dick snapped. "Arguing with each other isn't help and it sure as the lava zone is hot isn't going to make you feel better for long," Murmurs of agreement rang throughout the bond.
" One of us should still keep an eye on the egg in the shallows," Bruce clutched a piece of metal in pitch-black claws, gills flaring as he swam underneath an egg floating upside-down on the ocean's surface. "Maybe they're just late bloomers?"
"...Maybe?"
"I guess it's possible,"
"Not likely,"
"Tch, if it's already rotten getting our hopes up is pointless," Damian added to the chorus of replies.
"Try saying that when we have new baby siblings swimming around," Dick beamed.
"I will not because it isn't going to happen," His youngest argued pointedly.
"Awwwww, someone's worried they won't be the guppy of the family anymore!" Dick cooed much to Damian's dismay and everyone else's entertainment.
"I am not!" Damian snapped his voice louder than Dick's despite him being the farthest from the impact zone. "If anything I'd be glad someone else would be the victim of you people's constant smothering!" Damian spat, his words lacking any true venom.
"Whatever you say kiddo,"
"Shut up Grayson!" Laughter rang out through the bond followed by teasing and cooing. A reminder that despite everything Bruce still had living children and he hoped it would stay that way long after he passed.
( @avelnfear @meira-3919 @thought-u-said-dragon-queen @hugsandchaos @blep-23 @zeldomnyo @bytheoldwillowtree @justwannabecat @shepherdsheart @starlightcat04 @stargazing-bookwyrm @pupstim )
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New chemical process separates textile fibers for easier recycling
A combined team of chemical and biomolecular engineers from the University of Delaware, and the Center for Plastics Innovation, both in the U.S., has developed a way to chemically separate fibers in textiles, allowing them to be recycled more quickly and cheaply than conventional methods. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes the process they developed and how well it worked during testing. Over the past several decades, the evolution of textile production for use in producing clothes has led to what the research team describes as "fast fashion"—where clothes that are considered fashionable by consumers are purchased and worn for a short period of time before being discarded as new fashions appear. Such clothes have also evolved in a way that has led to the use of multiple types or blends of fibers, which makes recycling them difficult. In this new study, the research team has found a way to chemically separate such fibers so that they can be easily and inexpensively recycled.
Read more.
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mindblowingscience · 1 year ago
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Polyurethane plastics are ubiquitous, used everywhere from mattresses to shoes. But once these products are no longer wanted, these materials litter landfills and oceans across the world. Now, a group of researchers at Northwestern University has developed a new recycling method for polyurethane foams, one of the most common types of plastic, that uses nontoxic, greener catalysts, as described in a paper published Aug. 27 in the journal Macromolecules. The process involves chemical reactions that simultaneously reprocess and "refoam" polyurethane after heating in the presence of a zirconium-based catalyst and foaming agent is introduced. The recycled foam maintained its durability and structural and chemical integrity. The process is described in a related paper published earlier this month in the journal Advanced Materials.
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starrystrawb · 9 months ago
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See now: Water Mother Nature. Water has been around as long as the planet has been. She will be here long after we are all gone. She is has seen it all and will witness everything that is to come. She is the depths of the Marianas trench, she has been the shallows of a back-yard creek.
On to the eco-tips!
1. A lot of phone cases are made of plastic. Even ones made of recycled plastic are well... plastic. But worry not friends! Some phone case companies take old cases and recycle them for you! Castify is one of them, and one that I regularly send my old cases to! To get an address to send the old cases to, email them on their website. Pack those old cases up, and ship them off to be reused! They even offer a discount on orders for sending them the old cases, and they take any brand!
2. Speaking of phone cases, Pela is a phone case company that makes compostable phone cases! They are made from plant material and are actually pretty cute. They are a bit pricey, so they're not for everyone. Other companies have similar cases that are made of plants, made from recycled plastics, or made in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner! Re-Castify is castify's version of this, ecoblvd also makes phone cases, and otterbox has a series called Core. And of course, keeping one phone case for a long time and reusing it over and over is always great!
3. Phone cases usually go on phones, so lets talk about those little guys! It feels like every year, the phone you just got is slowing down, dying faster, and is rapidly collecting more and more issues. Technology is always advancing, which is great! But a lot of the components in electronics end up being tossed in the trash. If you have things like old phones or tablets laying around, and you're unsure what to do with them, worry not! Research your options! Some places like zoos, tech shops, or second hand shops might have tech recycling programs. And of course, selling to a shop that refurbishes and sells tech is always an option. A lot of phone companies and providers have started offering trade ins! Don't feel guilty for upgrading, trade in, sell, or recycle your old phones, tablets, and other electronics!
4. Moving on from tech, lets talk about paper! Did you know you can make your own paper? It was a pretty popular trend in 2020-2022. You do need some supplies, like a blender, a picture frame, some sort of netting, and usually glue or tacks of some kind. But I've done it before, and it's actually pretty fun! You can even sprinkle seeds into it to make a card that you can plant! Google and youtube have some very handy and easy to follow tutorials!
5. Talk to people! Online, in person, over the phone. Everywhere! Share eco-tips (like we're doing here), talk about legislation, organize groups, everything! Keep each other moving and keep spreading information and helping others. It is so important to involve your friends, family, and community in eco-friendly living! We all share the planet, friends!
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moonsb1996 · 11 months ago
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The reason why the AM suit and Iron Man suit are not the same thing And Izuku will never be like Tony Stark.
okay ! I know we've talked about this AM suit. There's 1A's special move that looks like an advertisement for people to recycle plastic bottles. And this complaint of mine has nothing to raise other than just complaining. So I apologize in advance, let's get started.
Why aren't the AM suit and Iron Man suit not the same thing?
The answer for me is Iron Man suit that was created has a unique set of abilities. But there will be a main attack move that we will see often from movies and the MCU that can be seen releasing beams of light from the palm. or from the middle of the chest Hell, even the suit built to fight Hulk in the movie isn't even the same as the AM suit! So what's good about the AM suit besides being a disposable copy of Class 1A's attack moves? oh ! Hori, when you say that the 1A students will have another role, is this just AM using their powers through the suits they created? It's just that the AM suit doesn't even have anything distinctive to fight with the Iron Man suit. Damn it! I'm not including the story that this manga is based on Hero society. There aren't even any brightly colored superheroes left. After all, the AM suit is a clear copy of Re Destro, isn't it?
Midoriya Izuku will never be a hero like Tony Stark.
Answer: Izuku is nothing like Tony! I mean Izuku has nothing even though he's smart. Analyze other people's special powers, but that's all. Even in the world of MHA, technology can do it so well that people with missing organs have prosthetics to support them. (Mr. Compes Mirko, UA teacher and Re destro) For many people it would be like that. Don't worry! Even though Izuku is missing an arm, he still has a prosthetic arm using OFA. Don't worry! He went and created a suit like Tony's in the MCU and he can be a hero! oh ! What a joke! There will never be a time when Midoriya Izuku will be a hero like Tony. Tony is smart, he created the Iron Man suit. I mean created with technology and his brain! Tony knows which suit does what. He made it out of screws. The first and the last screw! He knows the advantages and disadvantages of it. It's not because he only has money! He can become a hero with the Iron Man Suit. Midoriya Izuku is just smart, but can he repair watches or repair TVs? no ! Oh, but he also has Melissa Shield or Hasume Mei, so one of those two can do it. Have you forgotten that this is the reason why Izuku can't be like Tony? I don't think having Izuku have to wait for someone to make him a costume in order to fight would be fun. Because it's like I'm going to fight the villain now. But what is in this set? I can't remember. Okay, I think I've complained enough. I really wanted to curse Horikoshi.
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chentailai · 7 months ago
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Our adorable little bug Khajida is undoubtedly an excellent tailor who was able to design a casual outfit for Jaime (possibly in an extremely fast time). He is a considerate and efficient design and production all-in-one machine
I think he may have developed his hobby of designing clothes and using environmentally friendly materials to make them, such as using Jaime... (you know). Since he can use these (you know), can he use household waste or other environmentally harmful materials that need to be recycled to make his clothes?
Imagine they go to the community to pick up garbage, to the beach to pick up garbage, and after the meeting, they casually bring back empty plastic bottles from the conference room. When Jaime was asleep, Khaji da began to fully unleash his creativity, and when Jaime woke up, he saw new clothes all over the floor.
Then they picked a day off to sell clothes on the street, and friends came to support them.(I believe that with Khaji's abilities, he will soon be able to compete with advanced fashion designers
But none of the above is what I really want to say, it's just to cover up my dirty real thoughts. I'm curious why I didn't see anyone say this
Khaji da, Wearing new clothes for Jaime after disarming... So why, it's not a costume for fun
Why not? One day, Jaime reintegrated into the crowd after cracking down on crime, and everyone looked at him because Khajida gave him a bunny girl costume. Or Jaime could go on a date with someone and find himself dressed as a maid, wearing cat ears and a collar when he lands. When he was half exhausted and climbed onto the bed, he woke up to find himself wearing a real lingerie. As for superhero uniforms? It will be much more exciting than the female characters portrayed by cartoonists with male gaze. I mean, jaime Reyes will wear a more exciting erotic costume than the black canary to fight crime.(which reminds me of klk)
"If I can protect my family, even if I'm completely naked, it's okay!"
And these thoughts make me feel like a criminal👉👈
Anyway, we should understand that this scarab is actually the most promising s ■■ costume designer ever, and he will add unexpected surprises to Jaime's life. (Jaime's mother won't allow it, no matter what.
Although I still have a lot to say about this idea, let's stop at it(°ー°〃)
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bumblebeeappletree · 5 months ago
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5 Best Alternatives to Finally Replace Plastic. Plastic is firmly established in our daily lives, but we all know plastic recycling doesn’t really happen. So what can we do? We can convert starches, fungi, seaweed, heck, even shrimp tails into plastic alternatives and bioplastic. Let’s review five of the most interesting advances I’ve come across — including that shrimpy stuff. But are any of these plastic alternatives actually viable? Or are we literally grasping at straws?
Watch Top 5 New Battery Technologies to Follow in 2024 • Incredible Battery Bre...
Video script and citations:
https://undecidedmf.com/5-best-altern...
Follow-up podcast:
Video version - / @stilltbd
Audio version - http://bit.ly/stilltbdfm
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nexuscircular · 10 months ago
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Advanced Recycling of Plastics Creating a Cleaner and Circular Economy
Advanced recycling companies have bolstered many city economies with opportunities in terms of climate benefits and jobs. Houston City is an example where hundreds of petrochemical manufacturing units are witnessing a boom in the recycling industry as an ancillary industry.
Please visit : https://medium.com/@nexuscircular8/advanced-recycling-of-plastics-creating-a-cleaner-and-circular-economy-22cbda0d2a3b
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reasonsforhope · 4 months ago
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"At the University of Maine, one of the world’s largest 3D printers is using sawdust from the state’s lumber industry to 3D print cozy wooden cabins.
It’s part of a move towards making 3D printing faster and more sustainable in a state where the housing shortage that has metastasized in most states around the country is dire.
It’s thought that 80,000 new homes will be needed over the next 5 years to keep pace with demand, and though it takes years for building codes to be changed, the technicians at the Advanced Structures & Composites Center (ASCC) at the Univ. of Maine hope their new toy can help address this need.
Guinness World Records certified the machine at ASCC as the world’s largest prototype polymer 3D printer, capable of creating a 600 square foot house 96 feet in length, 36 feet in width, and 18 feet tall entirely out of bio-based material at a rate of 500 pounds per hour.
In 2022, it could print the walls, floors, and roof of the house in just 96 hours, but the ACSS has been refining the design with the hope of doubling the printing speed and getting it down to a 48-hour timeline.
“When they’re doing concrete, they’re only printing the walls,” Habib Dagher, the executive director of ACSS told CNN. “The approach we’ve taken is quite different from what you’ve seen, and you’ve been reading about for years.”
Indeed, GNN has reported on a fair number of 3D printing projects, but most if not all involve printing only the walls. One fantastical exception is an Italian firm that is 3D-printing domed, beehive-like, modular concept homes inspired by the Great Enclosure in Zimbabwe.
STAND-OUT 3D-PRINTING PROJECTS: 
First 2-Story Home to be 3D Printed in the U.S. Reaches for the Sky in Texas 
The World’s Largest 3D Printed Building is a Horse Barn That Can Endure Florida Hurricanes
This 23-Year-Old Founder is 3D Printing Schools in Madagascar Aiming to be a ‘Stepping Stone’ for the Community
A Startup Is Using Recycled Plastic to 3D Print Tiny $25,000 Prefabricated Homes in LA
The ASCC is calling the house design the BioHome3D, and says it’s rare people who tour the concept version don’t ask when they “can have one up?”
The interior gives the feel of a modern Scandinavian wooden cabin, making it fit well with the Maine aesthetic. The ASCC is now doing work on how to incorporate conduits for wiring and plumbing “exactly where an architect would want them,” says Dagher.
WATCH a time-lapse video of the printer doing the job…
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-via Good News Network, August 16, 2024. Video via The University of Maine, March 3, 2023.
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rjzimmerman · 6 days ago
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Excerpt from this story from Anthropocene:
In a new spin on green electronics, researchers have made a biodegradable electronic circuit board from tree leaves. Such leaf-based electronics, or “leaftronics” as the team from Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) has dubbed it, could reduce millions of tons of waste that humans produce every year.
Today, the world produces over 50 million metric tons of electronic waste a year. That number that is slated to double by 2050. And printed circuit boards (PCBs) – the flat boards onto which all the circuit chips, wires and other components of an electronic gadget are soldered–-constitute a big share of this e-waste.
PCBs are typically made of fiberglass or a composite plastic. The material is difficult to recycle and is usually either dumped in landfills or burned to separate the valuable metals for reuse.
As detailed in the journal Science Advances, the team used the veiny, webbed skeleton of leaves to create their biodegradable substrates. This fine branched structure is made of the same lignocellulose compounds that give its toughness. Postdoctoral researcher Rakesh Nair and colleagues started by stripping away the cells of a magnolia leaf to leave behind the white veined skeleton. They dipped the scaffold into ethyl cellulose, a tough biodegradable polymer.
The resulting leaftronics substrate is smooth, flexible, transparent, and can handle high temperatures. In that sense it rivals plastic and glass, Nair says, but is biodegradable. The researchers could use a laser to cut the substrate, print circuits on it, as well as solder electronic components on top.
To degrade the substrate, the researchers placed it in an ultrasonic acid bath to remove the metals and circuit components. The boards began to degrade after about a month in compost.
“Up until now, substrates made of biodegradable polymers could not be used for electronic device or circuit fabrication, since they naturally do not handle elevated temperatures well,” Nair says. There are ways to improve the thermal and mechanical properties of biodegradable polymers. But, he says, they “often result in these polymers either no longer being biodegradable or requiring complex, high carbon-footprint, chemical processes,” he says.
Others have also made degradable PCBs using paper, silk, and mushroom skins. But the new method that relies on dipping a leaf scaffold in a biodegradable polymer is much simpler and should allow researchers to make specific biodegradable substrates with superior properties.
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mariacallous · 1 year ago
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Not even the Arctic Ocean is immune to the incessant growth of microplastic pollution. In a new study that analyzed sediment core samples, researchers quantified how many of the particles have been deposited since the early 1930s. As scientists have shown elsewhere, the team found that microplastic contamination in the Arctic has been growing exponentially and in lockstep with the growth of plastic production—which is now up to a trillion pounds a year, with the global amount of plastic waste projected to triple by 2060.
These researchers analyzed the seawater and sediment in the western part of the Arctic Ocean, which makes up 13 percent of its total area. But in just that region, they calculated that 210,000 metric tons of microplastic, or 463 million pounds, have accumulated in the water, sea ice, and sediment layers that have built up since the 1930s. In their study, published last week in the journal Science Advances, they cataloged 19 synthetic polymer types in three forms: fragments, fibers, and sheets. That reflects a dizzying array of microplastic sources, including fragments from broken bottles and bags and microfibers from synthetic clothing.
Overall, the team found that microplastic levels have been doubling in Arctic Ocean sediments every 23 years. That mirrors a previous study of ocean sediments off the coast of Southern California, which found concentrations to be doubling every 15 years. Other researchers have found an exponential rise in contamination in urban lake sediments. 
The problem is likely to keep getting worse, lead author Seung-Kyu Kim, a marine scientist at Incheon National University, told WIRED by email. “The input of microplastics into the Arctic has increased exponentially over the past decades, with an annual increase rate of 3 percent,” Kim writes. “The mass production of plastic at an 8.4 percent annual increase—coupled with inefficient waste management systems—is projected to further increase loads of plastic entering the ocean for the next several decades, and thus plastic entering the Arctic will increase proportionally.”
The atmosphere, too, is increasingly infested with microplastics. By one calculation, the equivalent of hundreds of millions of disintegrated plastic bottles could be falling on the United States alone. A study of a peatland area in the Pyrenees found that in the 1960s, less than five atmospheric microplastics were being deposited per square meter of land each day. It’s now more like 180. 
This new Arctic paper “helps to show that any increase in production is matched in the environment,” says Steve Allen, a microplastics researcher at the Ocean Frontiers Institute who did the peatland study. “And as more research into human exposure comes to light, I believe the increase will also be shown in human bodies.”
Microplastics are readily moving between different environments. A previous study found 14,000 microplastics per liter of Arctic snow, the stuff having blown in from European cities. Microplastics are also arriving in the Arctic by sea: When you wash your clothes, hundreds of thousands—or even millions—of synthetic fibers break off and flush into a wastewater treatment facility, then eventually to the ocean. Currents then transport microplastics up into the Arctic, where they swirl around and eventually settle in the sediment. Allen and other scientists reported in May that a single recycling facility might emit 3 million pounds of microplastics a year—and those were numbers for a brand-new plant that filtered its runoff water. 
Interestingly, this new study found higher levels of microplastics around the retreat line of summer sea ice. This may be due to a biological highway of sorts. The algae Melosira arctica grows on the underside of Arctic sea ice, providing food for organisms like zooplankton. When that ice melts, the algae sinks to the seafloor, taking all those synthetic particles with it. “These clumps sink much more rapidly to the seafloor than other particles, within a day,” says marine biologist Melanie Bergmann of the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany, who recently reported finding 31,000 microplastics per cubic meter of this algae in the Arctic Ocean. “This could also explain why this [sediment] study, similar to our results from earlier studies, found the highest microplastic burden in the area with high melting rates.” 
Bergmann has also found that Arctic sea ice itself is loaded with 4.5 million microplastics per cubic meter. When it melts, the particles are liberated to swirl around in the water column, perhaps sinking to the seafloor. Once the sea ice freezes again, it “scavenges” microplastics from the water by collecting them into the new ice.
The cycling of microplastics through the Arctic Ocean may ultimately affect the food chain: The zooplankton that feed on Melosira arctica algae are eating the particles, and when the microplastics sink to the seafloor, bottom-dwelling creatures eat them too. Filling up on plastics, instead of actual nutrition, is a problem scientists call “food dilution.” “This could affect especially invertebrates like sea cucumbers, brittlestars, and worms that plough through and ingest these contaminated sediments all the time,” says Bergmann.
This burden on ecosystems is why environmentalists and scientists are calling for the United Nations plastics treaty, which is currently in negotiations, to include a dramatic cap on production. In March, researchers provided hints that a cap could produce quick results: They found that although ocean microplastic levels have skyrocketed over the past 20 years, they actually fluctuated between 1990 and 2005—perhaps due to the effectiveness of a 1988 international agreement that limited plastic pollution from ships.
Kim writes that the new paper is another data point in favor of production limits: “This strongly supports the urgent need of globally concerted vigorous action to substantially reduce the plastic ocean input, and thus to protect the Arctic environment.”
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thetechempire · 25 days ago
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A Rising Tide of E-Waste, Worsened by AI, Threatens Our Health, Environment, and Economy
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The digital age has ushered in a wave of innovation and convenience, powered in large part by artificial intelligence (AI). From AI-driven virtual assistants to smart home devices, technology has made life easier for millions. But beneath this rapid progress lies a less glamorous truth: a mounting crisis of electronic waste (e-waste).
The global e-waste problem is already enormous, with millions of tons discarded every year. Now, with the rapid growth of AI, this tide of e-waste is swelling even faster. Let’s break this down to understand the full scope of the issue and what can be done to mitigate it.
What Is E-Waste, and Why Should We Care?
E-waste encompasses discarded electronic devices — everything from old mobile phones and laptops to smart home gadgets, electric toothbrushes, and even large appliances like refrigerators. It’s not just junk; it’s an environmental and health hazard in disguise.
Each device contains a cocktail of valuable materials like gold and silver, but also toxic substances like lead, mercury, cadmium, and flame retardants. When improperly disposed of, these toxins leach into the environment, harming ecosystems and human health.
A Problem of Global Proportions
Annual Generation: The world generates over 50 million metric tons of e-waste annually, and this figure is projected to grow by 2 million tons each year.
Recycling Rates: Only 17% of e-waste is formally recycled. The rest? It ends up in landfills, incinerated, or handled by informal recycling sectors in developing nations.
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While we’re busy marveling at AI-driven innovations, the discarded byproducts of our tech obsession are quietly poisoning our planet.
The Role of AI in Escalating E-Waste
AI, often lauded as the backbone of modern technology, is inadvertently exacerbating the e-waste crisis. Let’s examine the key ways AI contributes to this issue:
1. Accelerating Product Obsolescence
AI-powered devices are evolving at an astonishing pace. Smartphones with AI-enhanced cameras and processors, smart TVs with AI voice assistants, and wearables with health-tracking AI have become must-haves.
But these devices are often rendered obsolete within a few years due to:
Frequent Software Updates: AI systems improve rapidly, making older hardware incompatible with newer software.
Limited Repairability: Many modern gadgets are designed in a way that discourages repairs — sealed batteries, proprietary parts, and inaccessible interiors push consumers toward replacing rather than fixing.
Consumer Demand for New Features: AI advancements create a “fear of missing out” (FOMO), prompting consumers to upgrade frequently.
2. Proliferation of AI-Specific Hardware
AI-driven technologies require specialized, powerful hardware. Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), and custom AI chips are integral to devices and data centers. Unlike general-purpose electronics, these components are challenging to recycle due to their complexity.
3. Growing Data Center Infrastructure
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AI thrives on data, which means a relentless demand for computational power. Data centers, the backbone of AI, are:
Upgrading Constantly: To keep up with AI’s demands, servers are frequently replaced, generating massive amounts of e-waste.
Consuming Energy: Outdated hardware contributes to inefficiency and waste.
The Consequences of the E-Waste Crisis
The consequences of unmanaged e-waste are vast, impacting not only the environment but also human health and economic stability.
Health Hazards
E-waste releases harmful substances, including:
Lead and Cadmium: Found in circuit boards, these cause neurological damage and kidney issues when absorbed by humans.
Mercury: Found in screens and lighting, it can lead to brain damage and developmental issues, especially in children.
Burning Plastics: Informal recycling often involves burning e-waste, releasing carcinogenic dioxins into the air.
These pollutants disproportionately affect workers in informal recycling industries, often in developing countries with lax regulations.
Environmental Devastation
Soil Contamination: Toxic metals seep into the ground, affecting agriculture and entering the food chain.
Water Pollution: E-waste dumped in waterways contaminates drinking water and harms aquatic life.
Air Pollution: Incinerating e-waste produces greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change.
Economic Loss
Ironically, e-waste is a treasure trove of valuable materials like gold, silver, and rare earth elements. In 2019 alone, the value of discarded e-waste was estimated at $62.5 billion — higher than the GDP of many countries. Yet, due to poor recycling infrastructure, most of this wealth is wasted.
Turning the Tide: Solutions to the E-Waste Crisis
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For Tech Companies
Design for Longevity: Adopt modular designs that make repairs and upgrades easy. For example, Fairphone and Framework Laptop are already doing this.
Reduce Planned Obsolescence: Commit to longer software support and avoid locking critical components like batteries.
Improve Recycling Systems: Implement take-back programs and closed-loop recycling processes to recover valuable materials.
For Governments
Enforce Right-to-Repair Laws: Legislation that mandates access to repair manuals and spare parts empowers consumers to fix devices instead of discarding them.
Promote Circular Economy Models: Incentivize businesses to design products for reuse, repair, and recycling.
Ban Hazardous E-Waste Exports: Prevent the dumping of e-waste in developing countries, where improper recycling leads to environmental and human rights violations.
For Consumers
Think Before You Upgrade: Do you really need the latest gadget, or can your current one suffice?
Repair Instead of Replace: Support local repair shops or DIY fixes with the help of online resources.
Recycle Responsibly: Look for certified e-waste recycling programs in your area.
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Can AI Help Solve the Problem It Created?
Interestingly, AI itself could be part of the solution. Here’s how:
Optimizing Recycling Processes: AI-powered robots can sort e-waste more efficiently, separating valuable materials from toxins.
Predicting E-Waste Trends: AI can analyze data to anticipate where e-waste generation is highest, helping governments and companies prepare better recycling strategies.
Sustainable Product Design: AI can assist engineers in designing eco-friendly devices with recyclable components.
A Call to Action
The e-waste crisis is a ticking time bomb, exacerbated by the rapid rise of AI and our insatiable appetite for new technology. But the solution lies in our hands. By embracing sustainable practices, holding companies accountable, and making conscious choices as consumers, we can ensure that the benefits of AI don’t come at the cost of our planet.
It’s time to act, because a rising tide of e-waste doesn’t just threaten the environment — it threatens our future.
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