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Caterpillar found to eat shopping bags, suggesting solution to plastic pollution

phys.org

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Re: Caterpillar found to eat shopping bags, suggesting solution to plastic pollution

#291

Post by sqldba »

K0balt wrote: post #271
dmix wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Very wrong. I am going to flag your post because it contains serious misinformation that could be dangerous if taken as genuine by someone without accurate knowledge of the risks and effects of LSD. Well I'd expect someone would do a bit more research than the four sentences I typed out here... Do you honestly think people are going to run out and get LSD, without any regard, after reading my comment? The majority…

I think you may be badly misinformed. Perhaps with a small enough dose, what you say is true. I used to trip regularly. Lsd effects can definitely inude hallucinations! As a matter of fact, not having strong hallucinations was often a reason to drop another tab lol. A lot of us used to drop acid in college.... Almost everyone tripped balls. Vitamin C, for whatever reason, seem to intensify some visual aspects. (maybe…

Unfortunately I've watched at least one person go off the deep end with salvia. Permanently.

I guess some people get addicted easily.

I think it's best to stay away. But that's me.

Re: Caterpillar found to eat shopping bags, suggesting solution to plastic pollution

#292

Post by sqldba »

philipkglass wrote: post #168
justifier wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have sources? The paper cited in the article only tangentially talks about byproducts: > The most frequent hydrocarbon bond is the CH2–CH2, as in PE (Figure S1B). Although the molecular details of wax biodegradation require further investigation, it seems likely that the C–C single bond of these aliphatic compounds is one of the targets of digestion. Which seems to imply methylene(o) as the byproduct? Also bur…

Yes, the combustion of PVC and other halogenated hydrocarbons can produce dioxins. This worm digests polyethylene, a halogen-free hydrocarbon that does not produce dioxins even if burned. The article says "The analysis showed the worms transformed the polyethylene into ethylene glycol, representing un-bonded 'monomer' molecules." Methylene itself is an extremely reactive species that cannot be isolated outside of exo…

I googled and Wikipedia said Ethylene glycol is also toxic to people and animals.

So like yeah it must have to go through some other process after the worms eat it. It sounds like it'll get really complicated.

Re: Caterpillar found to eat shopping bags, suggesting solution to plastic pollution

#294

Post by baq »

riskable wrote: post #197
baq wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, imagine all the dead trees that basically don't decompose because nothing can eat them. that'd be a sight to behold.

It actually wasn't the trees it was mostly their bark! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carboniferous#Rocks_and_coal So it wasn't mountains of wood that lay on the ground during the Carboniferous period, it was like, the best mulching job ever. The trees pwned all other species at that time. Can you imagine being a weed trying to grow up through all that bark? You'd have one hell of an up-hill battle!

I'd evolve growing on the bark itself, given that the nearest soil was a few (dozen?) meters below. See also anything that grows on bare concrete :)

Re: Caterpillar found to eat shopping bags, suggesting solution to plastic pollution

#295

Post by omginternets »

djrogers wrote: post #289
omginternets wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>unborn children The Orwellianness of this turn-of-phrase never ceases to amaze.

What's Orwellian about it? You have to admit that at some point during the natal development cycle, there is a completely viable child in there capable of growing independent of the womb. How is that not an unborn child?

The overwhelming majority of abortions are performed well before this point is reached.

Thank you for demonstrating the Orwellian nature of this phrasing.

Re: Caterpillar found to eat shopping bags, suggesting solution to plastic pollution

#296

Post by notpresident »

omginternets wrote: post #295
djrogers wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's Orwellian about it? You have to admit that at some point during the natal development cycle, there is a completely viable child in there capable of growing independent of the womb. How is that not an unborn child?

The overwhelming majority of abortions are performed well before this point is reached. Thank you for demonstrating the Orwellian nature of this phrasing.

The problem is that you are arguing like all of them are.

By unconditionally accepting this you are defending some really really questionable practices. The fact that the laws I mentioned above (or below) even had to be made in the first place says something about this.

Re: Caterpillar found to eat shopping bags, suggesting solution to plastic pollution

#297

Post by dTal »

mikeash wrote: post #209
Falling3 wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Err on the side of caution. Draw the line as far as practically possible. We have a long history of underestimating the mental abilities of other animals. Heck, now we've got evidence of ants passing the mirror test.

Do you breathe through a filter and sweep the ground in front of you like the Jains?

>as far as practically possible

There's a big difference in effort, and not much difference in outcome, between doing as the Jains do and simply endeavouring not to kill things on purpose.

Re: Caterpillar found to eat shopping bags, suggesting solution to plastic pollution

#298

Post by mirimir »

harperlee wrote: post #284
mirimir wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if "all life should fall on the safe side of the line", what would you eat? Perhaps only organisms that have died without human intervention. Scavenging, I mean. But that wouldn't support very large populations.

> But that wouldn't support very large populations. Well I don't agree at all! Apart from the fact that large populations can live without meat, I can easily envision a "scavenging farm" where animals are liked after until they die, and only then processed. It wouldn't be as efficient as our farms, but completely possible.

I suspect that you're pushing plants over the line.

Re: Caterpillar found to eat shopping bags, suggesting solution to plastic pollution

#299

Post by justinclift »

noonespecial wrote: post #80
TeMPOraL wrote: post #8

Would be good to have plastic waste broken down, but be careful not to take down our whole civilization with it. Almost everything today is made out of plastic...

It would be a very interesting world indeed if you were worried about say, your car becoming infected with plastic-osis and disintegrating!

There was a science fiction story (years ago) along those lines. Someone created a plastic eating bacteria which escaped from lab confinement → mutated to voraciously eat pretty much all plastic (from memory) → downfall of human civilisation.

Not remembering the title off hand though, although it was a good read. Maybe someone else here knows it. :)

Re: Caterpillar found to eat shopping bags, suggesting solution to plastic pollution

#300

Post by justinclift »

SonicPenguin wrote: post #40
Clanan wrote: post #16

"A chance discovery occurred when one of the scientific team, Federica Bertocchini, an amateur beekeeper, was removing the parasitic pests from the honeycombs in her hives. The worms were temporarily kept in a typical plastic shopping bag that became riddled with holes." What a great accident.

Five years ago my balcony was invaded by fly larvae (maggots i guess) because my flatmate left some raw meat in the trash bin. While trying to contain the invasion, i put some of them in two or three nested plastic bags, but they ALWAYS found their way through the plastic after some minutes. They were literally making holes in them. I thought this was normal and well-known!

Well, while might be possible they were properly digesting/biodegrading the plastic involved, it's also possible they were just "chewing holes" in the plastic. eg mechanical action making the plastic smaller, but not changing its chemical structure

The caterpillars in the linked article are biodegrading the plastics into non-plastic (fairly quickly). That's the key thing.

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