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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

#191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 mysel…

I'm trying to point out there is plastic consumption where you don't even know, or can't get rid of. In your starbucks example for example. Using a reusable mug and making your own coffee is obvious. What is not obvious is all the plastic and petrochemical derived products used in getting that coffee to your grocery store, or door. It's sent to your grocery, or you, in plastic bags, the mug was fired with natural gas, on and on. You can't avoid it unless you sail to the tropics in your own sailboat, pick the beans, process them into coffee, and sail back.

I'm not trying to pick on you, or your lifestyle, quite the opposite. I'm just trying to point out its not so simple as to say don't use plastics, or all plastics are evil, because they're inherent in our modern life. You couldn't read this comment without plastics. My other comments in this topic talk about reducing our consumption, making more responsible decisions on how we use our resources, all of that is in line with your goals. We just can't be so extreme to say get rid of all plastics, because we're simply all not willing to roll thr technology clock back 50 years across our entire society. It needs to be a gradual weening off, a gradual March toward responsibility.

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

#192
post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>I obviously did not say they themselves should build it.

I’m not sure that that is obvious. You posted this bit of instruction:

>Post it on Hacker News and observe the reaction afterwards.

If the “whites in tech” site doesn’t exist, wouldn’t your command necessarily include creating it? How is the poster you’re talking to supposed to follow your instructions exactly?

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

How would someone _stop_ you from buying a “whites in tech” domain, using it to write a blog, and submitting a link to this website?

You are trying to make a bit of a fuss about a website that you say doesn’t exist, so why not build it and post about it? I don’t really understand being impassioned about something so squarely theoretical.

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

#193

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...

> You mean all the other blogs? Do you mean all blogs that don't state skin colors in the domain/name are done by white people? That's one of the more racist and demeaning comments I've seen here.

I mean, all the other blogs that highlight stories of predominantly white men in tech.

If you really feel that white people are poorly represented in online literature, feel free to create a "Whites In Tech" blog.

Also, can you be racist against a ethnic group that is in the majority and wields nearly limitless power?

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

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Then maybe not? I’m guessing there’s a lot of risk analysis that goes into building billion dollar structures.

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

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We absolutely can have both of these futures -- if people use the right tool for the right job and both of these tools can coexist (even if not used in the exact solution). Also roads may just be the first use case for this technology but new thinkers and new people will find new usecases.

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

If it's this one from Lu et al. (20022; Nature[0]), it operates best in a 50-70˚C, pH-buffered solution. Plus, it benefits from thermal pre-treatment to break up the crystal structure.

If someone floods your house--for days or weeks at a time--with a scalding solution, I think you're going to be annoyed regardless of what else is in it.

[0] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04599-z

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

#196
post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

> I obviously did not say they themselves should build it. I’m not sure that that is obvious. You posted this bit of instruction: > Post it on Hacker News and observe the reaction afterwards. If the “whites in tech” site doesn’t exist, wouldn’t your command necessarily include creating it? How is the poster you’re talking to supposed to follow your instructions exactly? > I disagree, but I acknowledge someone would h…

It would be flagged instantly.

>I'm not sure that that is obvious.

No, it is. You just missed it.

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

#197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend reading this in Lucasarts gaming style text: Meanwhile deep in a laboratory somewhere deep in the Caribbean…… several scientists hell bent on solving the landfill problem work frantically on bacteria which are capable of breaking down plastics as their primary food source.

Yeah but then plastic would rot, and it wouldn't be worse at many things.

Yea but I don’t think anyone wants their bricks to rot
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