21–30 of 77 posts
All sorts of things start happening once you have a lot of them, and the process becomes incredibly tricky to keep going.
Is anyone else concerned about the effects this could have if it managed to get out of containment and into the wild? A self-replicating bacteria that eats plastics sounds like a potentially catastrophic event, considering how much we use them in day to day life.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It might have been better to say, “In the article, they say that this is a microbe that already exists in the wild.” Your words make you sound rude, though you may not have meant to be.
Thank you, I'm quite aware that it made me sound rude. I don't think that hypothetical scare-mongering is very useful in this context. Especially not when it risks mis-representing what the article was actually about. Then it just contributes to the kind of information noise you can find many other places on the internet.
Be kind. Don't be snarky. Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine. Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive.
And to specifically not do what you’ve done here:
Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that."
If a comment inspires you to say something insightful or interesting, say it. Otherwise maybe don’t.
How is this different from the products currently developed by companies like Carbios[1] ? I'm a totally ignorant in physics and chemistry (except from what I've studied at school) so excuse my genuine question. [1] https://carbios.fr/en/
Carbios looks like a product. This is essentially a microorganism that feeds on plastics.
Have there been studies about the dangers of these types of microbes spreading out into the "wild"?
The article talks about a microbe that already exists in the wild.
Articles like these are published several times a year, but I don't think I've seen any studies on the potential impact.
This article mentions it, but there are no accompanying references.
http://theconversation.com/how-plastic-eating-bacteria-actua...
Is anyone else concerned about the effects this could have if it managed to get out of containment and into the wild? A self-replicating bacteria that eats plastics sounds like a potentially catastrophic event, considering how much we use them in day to day life.
We use too much plastic, too casually, wastefully, with eventual results of microplastic and carbon release into the atmosphere. I would not weep in the least if this stuff blew around world-over and forced us to change our behaviour.
Is anyone else concerned about the effects this could have if it managed to get out of containment and into the wild? A self-replicating bacteria that eats plastics sounds like a potentially catastrophic event, considering how much we use them in day to day life.
We use too much plastic, too casually, wastefully, with eventual results of microplastic and carbon release into the atmosphere. I would not weep in the least if this stuff blew around world-over and forced us to change our behaviour.
Is anyone else concerned about the effects this could have if it managed to get out of containment and into the wild? A self-replicating bacteria that eats plastics sounds like a potentially catastrophic event, considering how much we use them in day to day life.
Yup. The whole reason we use plastic for everything is because it's cheap and mostly inert (i.e. doesn't break down in the environment). If plastic starts rotting we are going to be in for a really bad time. It's difficult to even imagine the cost of all the damage. Seems like we're a decently far way off from that point though.
Ideally any bacteria, or other microbes, would only breakdown plastics under certain conditions, probably in some kind of bioreactor.
Is anyone else concerned about the effects this could have if it managed to get out of containment and into the wild? A self-replicating bacteria that eats plastics sounds like a potentially catastrophic event, considering how much we use them in day to day life.
We use too much plastic, too casually, wastefully, with eventual results of microplastic and carbon release into the atmosphere. I would not weep in the least if this stuff blew around world-over and forced us to change our behaviour.
How is this different from the products currently developed by companies like Carbios[1] ? I'm a totally ignorant in physics and chemistry (except from what I've studied at school) so excuse my genuine question. [1] https://carbios.fr/en/
Carbios looks like a product. This is essentially a microorganism that feeds on plastics.