compl3x Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Plastic is possibly the greatest commercial creation of last 150 years. It's made it into tupperware, saran wrap, toys, car parts, computer parts, smartphones, and shopping bag all over the world. The only problem is that polyurethane is not biodegradable, and recycling plastic can be equated to just turning it into another product, so all that plastic already in landfills will stay there for centuries to come. Scientists have not found a single way to break down polyurethane--luckily, nature has found a way on its own. Yale scientists recently found a fungus in the Amazonian rainforest that naturally eats polyurethane. This is the first fungus species, identified by the Yale researchers as Pestalotiopsis microspore, which exclusively subsists on polyurethane. It can also grow in an anaerobic (air-less) environment, which will hopefully allow it to take root in the deepest regions of our trash heaps. Jonathan Russell, a Yale scientists of the group, has managed to isolated an enzyme the fungus uses decompose plastic. The scientists hope to use the extracted chemical to eliminate plastic trash and to help in bioremediation projects. http://www.pcworld.com/article/249216/yale_discovers_a_fungus_that_eats_plastic.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00000000000000000000000000 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 The term plastic is too broad to be used in this article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Right - the thread title should say 'polyurethane' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compl3x Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Isn't polyurethane a vital component of most plastics? Or most plastics are made from polyurethane? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phouchg Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Very cool! What does this fungus eat in Amazonian rainforests, though? Polyurethane doesn't occur naturally, does it? :s Seahorsepip and Shane Ekanayake 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compl3x Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Very cool! What does this fungus eat in Amazonian rainforests, though? Polyurethane doesn't occur naturally, does it? :s Perhaps plastic has been dumped there and it has evolved to eat it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wombatt Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Awesome stuff! These might be appearing in our reycling bins before you know it ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louisifer Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Awesome stuff! These might be appearing in our reycling bins before you know it ;) Or a plastic heap next to a compost heap in peoples gardens, what will the hippies do now that plastics won't be polluting the world :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raa Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Nature is always going to 1-up Humans... :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹ Posted February 6, 2012 Subscriber¹ Share Posted February 6, 2012 i have heard news liek this before, about processing plasic in effective ways, amazing! this one is the best of all. that gives hope of disposing of all the dumps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redvamp128 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Actually think about it-- release it out into the oceans-- on a tide of plastic to eat the plastic soup or the what washes up like this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArialBlue Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Right, now aside from polyurethane what else does it eat? You release this into out trash dump sites and... then we get mass extinctions of some other species? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerowen Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Before we start releasing it into the oceans, let's create controlled environments where we can observe its behavior. Does it also like to eat native wildlife? Does it suck all the oxygen out of the water when it eats? Does it release toxic chemicals? It'd be nice if all it did was eat the pollution out of the water, but let's make sure it isn't going to cause bigger problems. I've personal experience with scenarios like this. The forestry department re-introduced timber rattlesnakes to cut down on the turkey population in my hometown, and now we've got rattlesnakes everywhere, when we didn't used to have any at all. Richio 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lt8480 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 If man actively spreads it to "solve" problems it will be only a matter of time before it spreads and eats polyurethane we don't want it to - thus causing more problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louisifer Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 If man actively spreads it to "solve" problems it will be only a matter of time before it spreads and eats polyurethane we don't want it to - thus causing more problems. Rubbish dumps are usually away from most things due to the smell, I think we use old quarries here in the UK so spreading wouldn't be a worry and I'm sure an anti-fungal spray around the perimeter would keep it in check if it did try and 'escape'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Shades of the Andromeda Strain :shiftyninja: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066769/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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