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UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

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111–119 of 119 posts

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#111
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That subsidiary is just a legal trick. And this is exactly what J&J want you to believe. https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2022/10/20/the-texas-two-step-a...

> And this is exactly what J&J want you to believe. Do you mean that they lied in their annual report about their profits and/or their current cash on hand? Or that the total legal costs will be much higher than the 9 billion settlement agreement? Because I still don't see how a 9 billion settlement would bankrupt J&J, even if the subsidiary were to be reabsorbed into J&J tomorrow. They already set aside ~7 billion i…

The settlement is limited to those cases that have been brought and they're trying to plug that hole with legal tricks. But so far the judge isn't buying it which means the parent company will be liable and if it is found to be liable after all you can count on many thousands more lawsuits. It will also remove the cap on settlements. You can expect J&J to take a massive hit on account of that, possibly more than the market will bear. Keep in mind during all of this that in order to fail as a commercial entity all that needs to happen is that you are momentarily out of cash. The vultures will swoop in right away to dismember the corpse looking for bargains.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#112
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheaper tea bags are made out of paper and they work just fine. Tetley, for instance.

Sadly they still contain plastic to seal them: "We’ve worked hard to ensure that our tea bags are 99% bio degradable. However, as a result of the manufacturing process, Tetley tea bags do contain a very small amount of plastic to ensure the bags remain closed for you to enjoy your cup of tea." https://www.tetley.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions

Some teabags used to use a tiny metal staple for that (it also held the string on). Definitely do not need glue.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#113
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tea bags used to be made of fabrics such as cotton, silk, etc, it's not like we don't know how to make them without plastic.

They're still frequently made out of paper.

In the UK it would be very unusual for it not to be made out of paper, I was shocked when I visited the US

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#114
post #35
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are tea bags even necessary? people managed drinking tea before plastic was invented

Perhaps as a profit center to the tea industry. Most tea bags contain the grades of tea that can't be sold in the more expensive loose leaf form. Basically leaf fragments and dust. That material would otherwise be a waste product.

It's also a benefit to the consumer in the option of cheaper tea - you can still have choose to pay more for loose leaf.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the above solution is silly expensive. Expensive doesn’t mean that somebody is greedy, it means that it takes a lot of effort from a lot of people - effort that could probably be spent more effectively.

Equating expensive with valuable, while very much in line with rules coming from Economics 101, is very questionable in real life in my experience.

If talking about costs bothers you, just think of it in terms of time efficiency. We have a limited number of humans and time available to clean up the planet. What's the most effective way to use them?

This isn't.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#117
post #61

There is a researcher named John Todd whose work has been able to break down DDT in a matter of weeks. In this video, he gives a talk about some various projects. In the first one, he uses these methods to clean up a site contaminated with the top 15 pollutants (at least at the time). Heavy metal were sequestered by algea; 14 of the 15 toxins were below detectable levels, and the 15th was reduced by 99.999%; solids w…

I've never heard of armored carp. Googling for it leads to info on Breath of the Wild or Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Finally, 35 or 45 entries down I found a reference to an armored catfish. https://a-z-animals.com/animals/armored-catfish/pictures/ I hadn't heard of that, either, but I wonder if that's what you mean.

I had the reverse of that happen.

Was looking for advice on farming Aeonian Butterflies in Elden Ring, but delightfully stumbled across the fact Aeonian butterflys are actually a species of South American butterfly apparently.

https://gardeninginside.com/where-to-find-aeonian-butterflie...

I couldn't stop laughing.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#118
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never heard of armored carp. Googling for it leads to info on Breath of the Wild or Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Finally, 35 or 45 entries down I found a reference to an armored catfish. https://a-z-animals.com/animals/armored-catfish/pictures/ I hadn't heard of that, either, but I wonder if that's what you mean.

The video referenced armored catfish . There are multiple species known as armored catfish. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armored_catfish

I think my brain inserted “carp” in place of “catfish”. I too have put in some hours with Breath of the Wild

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#119
post #92
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They've been detected in a synthetic lab condition, but not in the wild.

It'd be a bit weird if they weren't in the wild though, wouldn't it?

The point is that their half life in the wild is so short that their presence is negligible.
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