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Engineer turns plastic into bricks that are reportedly stronger than concrete

peopleofcolorintech.com

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Re: Engineer turns plastic into bricks that are reportedly stronger than concrete

#181

Post by User23 »

qayxc wrote: post #175
User23 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plastic in a properly designed landfill doesn’t end up in people’s bloodstreams.

The company operates in Africa, where all of the plastic is just lying around. Properly designed landfills don't exist in most of the world (Africa, Asia, most of South America).

To me this sounds like people in most of the world are getting needlessly poisoned with microplastics when a technological solution exists. Why do I doubt there is going to be a successful non-profit helping build good landfills?

Re: Engineer turns plastic into bricks that are reportedly stronger than concrete

#182

Post by iancmceachern »

jerrysievert wrote: post #69
iancmceachern wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then get rid of everything plastic you own.

I actually don't have all that much in comparison - packaging is still hard to get rid of, since most of it is non-recyclable. but, telling others to get rid of plastic while praising plastic (in other comments) doesn't really help the issue that it is a pollutant, flammable, and an overall problem for our environment.

I'm not telling you to get rid of plastic. I'm trying to highlight the hypocrisy of your comment

Just because you think you don't use much plastic in your everyday life, you do. Let's say (god forbid) you go to the hospital or need other health services. Plastic.

Let's say you go to Starbucks amd order a croissant. The croissant is handed to you in a paper bag that to your eyes isn't plastic, but is in fact Coated on the inside with a layer of plastic making the paper not recyclable. That croissant came to that Starbucks in a plastic bag that was thrown away before it was handed to you.

On and on, if you choose to live in our modern world, not as a hermit in the amazon, you are dependent on plastics weather you realize it or not.

Re: Engineer turns plastic into bricks that are reportedly stronger than concrete

#183

Post by PKop »

braingenious wrote: post #124
PKop wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are no "Whites in tech blogs". Only certain races are allowed to do this. Point me to one? Post it on Hacker News and observe the reaction afterwards.

I don’t think anyone should or would stop you from buying a whites in tech domain, building a site around the concept and submitting your articles here. I’m kind of confused as to why you’d ask somebody else to go through the process of building that theoretical site and posting it here though. If that’s something that you would like to exist, why not make it yourself?

>ask somebody else to go through the process of building that theoretical site

What are you talking about?

The poster claimed these types of sites exist, I only asked them to show me the evidence of it, and I implied the reaction would most certainly not be one of passive acceptance or lack of comment like we see with this one. I obviously did not say they themselves should build it.

>or would stop you from buying a whites in tech domain, building a site around the concept and submitting your articles here

I disagree, but I acknowledge someone would have to run the experiment to know for certain.

I do commend you for not being a hypocrite, and supporting others who may also "not mind" when people "make websites about others folks like them in tech".

Re: Engineer turns plastic into bricks that are reportedly stronger than concrete

#184

Post by pajko »

lelandfe wrote: post #82
astatine wrote: post #70

Mixing plastics with asphalt has been tried for roads in India for many years now. There is one stretch near where I live which was done 10+ years ago. There is an official policy on trying this, as a pilot, for any agency that wishes to use it. See: https://www.prakati.in/use-of-plastic-for-road-construction-... The road which I use occasionally seems reasonably good as roads go. Unless you see the boards informing…

I think plastic probably makes more sense as a construction material than for roads. Cars are really tough on roads. I have to imagine that plastic in roads would get shredded into microplastics and wind up all over the place.

Wind blowing sand on the walls and the UV rays do the same with plastic. Rain extracts plasticizers, solvents and adhesives.

Re: Engineer turns plastic into bricks that are reportedly stronger than concrete

#185

Post by balls187 »

PKop wrote: post #122
balls187 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You wouldn't approve of a "Whites in tech" blog so why be so self righteous about this? You mean all the other blogs? It's safe to assume you also rail against the practice of "Wellness Rooms" being exclusively for use by nursing mothers...

There are no "Whites in tech blogs". Only certain races are allowed to do this. Point me to one? Post it on Hacker News and observe the reaction afterwards.

People of Color is a race?

Re: Engineer turns plastic into bricks that are reportedly stronger than concrete

#186

Post by qayxc »

User23 wrote: post #181
qayxc wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company operates in Africa, where all of the plastic is just lying around. Properly designed landfills don't exist in most of the world (Africa, Asia, most of South America).

To me this sounds like people in most of the world are getting needlessly poisoned with microplastics when a technological solution exists. Why do I doubt there is going to be a successful non-profit helping build good landfills?

Simple solutions aren't sexy enough. Heck, proper refuse collection service (garbage collection in the US) would be a start.

See this report: https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/21134/...

Rapid urbanisation and comparatively high poverty (lack of access to clean drinking water, so plastic bottles are used) lead to more and more waste without proper waste management catching up.

Almost all plastic in the ocean comes from 10 rivers - 2 in Africa (Nile and Niger) the rest in Asia [0]

[0] https://www.dw.com/en/almost-all-plastic-in-the-ocean-comes-...

Re: Engineer turns plastic into bricks that are reportedly stronger than concrete

#187

Post by BurningFrog »

efkiel wrote: post #145
BurningFrog wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tried to look up "aspirate", but it didn't clarify: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aspirate Note that "twice as much" doesn't mean it's a lot. Nor does the number of chemicals indicate danger.

In this context it means ''to suck in', 'to absorb'

From context, it seemed clear that OP meant the opposite:

That this material would leak out potentially dangerous chemicals.

Re: Engineer turns plastic into bricks that are reportedly stronger than concrete

#188

Post by jerrysievert »

iancmceachern wrote: post #182
jerrysievert wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually don't have all that much in comparison - packaging is still hard to get rid of, since most of it is non-recyclable. but, telling others to get rid of plastic while praising plastic (in other comments) doesn't really help the issue that it is a pollutant, flammable, and an overall problem for our environment.

I'm not telling you to get rid of plastic. I'm trying to highlight the hypocrisy of your comment Just because you think you don't use much plastic in your everyday life, you do. Let's say (god forbid) you go to the hospital or need other health services. Plastic. Let's say you go to Starbucks amd order a croissant. The croissant is handed to you in a paper bag that to your eyes isn't plastic, but is in fact Coated on…

> Then get rid of everything plastic you own

followed by:

> I'm not telling you to get rid of plastic. I'm trying to highlight the hypocrisy of your comment

then you give examples of where plastic is. I'm acutely aware of exactly how much plastic I consume, and make a concerted effort to not do so. the Starbucks example? easy to avoid when you don't go to Starbucks. if I want coffee, I can safely either make it myself or take my reusable mug (which, yes, has one of the few plastic items that I care to consume with as a lid) to my local barista. and yes, I know how much plastic went into the production and transport of the beans.

believe it or not, not everyone chooses to go through life with their heads in the sand, but instead try to make a difference. so, before you continue on this line of thought, perhaps you should remember that not everyone in the world are idiots.

some of us (and likely more than you realize) do understand the impact, and make choices to have as small of an impact as possible while realizing exactly how much plastic there is around them (typed on plastic keys).

Re: Engineer turns plastic into bricks that are reportedly stronger than concrete

#189

Post by jerrysievert »

stevenhuang wrote: post #139
iancmceachern wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then get rid of everything plastic you own.

Should be an ideal to strive towards, truthfully.

agreed, and not a throwaway comment trying to make someone look "smart".

we should all be aware of how much plastic we consume, and work toward consuming less of it, and lower the impact of what plastic we cannot avoid.

Re: Engineer turns plastic into bricks that are reportedly stronger than concrete

#190

Post by jazzythom »

whynotminot wrote: post #114
jazzythom wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about the malicious actors in the crowd? This is an asymmetric vector with significant latency

A malicious actor could also dump termites on your lawn, start a fire, throw a rock through your window, etc. What you bring up is a point for the police to investigate, and maybe a few more lines in your insurance policy to cover. If you’ve made an enemy, it doesn’t really matter what your house is made of.

How about a billion dollar bridge?
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