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Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

physics-astronomy.org

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Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#31

Post by Dobbs »

eaenki wrote: post #29

The article cites he will go to uni in the Netherlands. Why not MIT/Harvard/Stanford/Oxford/Cambridge?

The stereotype goes that the Dutch have forgotten more about hydraulic engineering than other countries have ever known. There is a grain of truth in this. If he wants to continue his current work then the Netherlands is one of the best places.

Plus many Europeans don’t want to go to the US. Not for anything more than a vacation. This view has strengthened over the last several years.

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#32

Post by tempodox »

> At present, no screening or filtering for microplastics takes place in any European wastewater treatment centres.

This seems to be a hole that needs plugging. Regulations that prohibit the use of this stuff altogether would be even better.

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#33

Post by pvaldes »

Maybe it was the cynical in me, but I wonder why those "teenager will save the world" relates are so popular (but often show so few results at long term). Some awards seem just a way to pose, borrow some good ideas, obtain a photo and a cover page and this is all.

Will be interesting to see how this ends

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#34

Post by bb101 »

"Ferrier sat his Leaving Certificate exams last month at Schull Community College and is due to attend university in the Netherlands. The teenager works as a curator at the Schull Planetarium, has won 12 science fair awards, speaks three languages fluently, plays the trumpet at orchestra level, and had a minor planet named after him by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory."

Anyone else feeling somewhat inadequate in comparison?

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#35

Post by secfirstmd »

bb101 wrote: post #34

"Ferrier sat his Leaving Certificate exams last month at Schull Community College and is due to attend university in the Netherlands. The teenager works as a curator at the Schull Planetarium, has won 12 science fair awards, speaks three languages fluently, plays the trumpet at orchestra level, and had a minor planet named after him by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory." Anyone else feeling somewhat inadequate in comparison…

As an Irish person, I feel both proud of his work and saddened by the fact that our own university research system is so lacking he has to move abroad.

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#36

Post by bb101 »

eaenki wrote: post #29

The article cites he will go to uni in the Netherlands. Why not MIT/Harvard/Stanford/Oxford/Cambridge?

Depends if his objective is form a future network of C-suite acquaintances (Harvard, Oxbridge), or to learn science (MIT, Netherlands).

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#37

Post by miemo »

trickstra wrote: post #26
abadar wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ocean microplastics come from trash being beaten into tiny pieces by waves, wind, and radiation from sunlight, not really exfoliating beads, straws, or glitter.

Source please. Only the pieces that are visible enough to be still recognizable make it into photos in news articles. The real data is very different, especially when you are looking for the micrometer-sized plastics that end up killing fish or getting into bottled water. Also I noticed the term "microplastics" is used for two different things - one are fragments of plastic size 1-5cm, the other is the size of glitte…

not OP but

https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/pollution-ecology/the-dow...

pretty much a google search away

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#38

Post by scarejunba »

bb101 wrote: post #34

"Ferrier sat his Leaving Certificate exams last month at Schull Community College and is due to attend university in the Netherlands. The teenager works as a curator at the Schull Planetarium, has won 12 science fair awards, speaks three languages fluently, plays the trumpet at orchestra level, and had a minor planet named after him by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory." Anyone else feeling somewhat inadequate in comparison…

Superstars exist, dude. The only actionable view is to improve on the current you. Sometimes there will be things you're not good enough to do or that you don't want enough to practise enough.

I can't ollie a board. Such is life.

Re: Irish Teenager Wins Global Science Award for Removing Microplastics from Water

#40

Post by 1337biz »

bananasbandanas wrote: post #20
jhanschoo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is correct only in the sense that that is the purpose of many manufactured microplastics, and the teenager's quote hints at it: "The method used was most effective on fibres obtained from a washing machine and least effective on polypropylene plastics". I strongly think it's the majority, though I don't have a source, that most microplastics come from wear and other sources. From consumer sources, micropl…

According to this [1] source, only about 2% of microplastics are due to cosmetics. The majority are from synthetic textiles (35%) and tyres (28%). [1] https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documen...

And they told us it's all our fault by using plastic bags...
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