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I think these trash / item sorting robots are trending because china is no longer accepting poorly sorted recycling and it is too expensive for most of the ZeroSort recycling orgs to employ humans and make a profit. https://t.co/Vp4CLlBFeo
PBS NewsHour had a good little documentary on the subject of commodity recycling networks and shipping. Linked to the relevant bits at 4:04https://t.co/mzLeiZISLg
These robots are FAST https://t.co/aMSQVfcOwc
More interestingly, they seem to be using a machine vision / learning method to train the robots.The fun thing is that they used the conveyor to automatically tag - loading a bunch of similar materials on the surface & just having it run past the camera.https://t.co/sugdMqIBCa
Mechanistically this system isn't that complex. Its a good camera, some light, and a Gantry style pick & place. I've been looking for something like that to work alongside some of the initiatives under #PreciousPlastichttps://t.co/AXTM2UtStf
There was a neat ML vision system using wide spectrum light I saw. #PrecioiusPlastic shared it under their roadmap (https://t.co/DlD2yex78t) a while back.It seems similar, and more importantly, no floating tests.https://t.co/Gv8L79L1R8
One of the interesting applications of wanting robotic swarms of #AntsOnMars is that fundamentally digging thru the ground looking for materials is very similar to the idea of digging thru garbage piles.https://t.co/owUIsT5jbM
The #PreciousPlastic initiative is particularly fascinating within this context because it's aimed at small scale & localized harvesting + production. This does away with the issue of needing to ship bulk material, and also minimize the need for bulk storage space of commodities.
The idea is that: by turning plastics into something people value, and providing low cost entry points for small business initiatives, we can leverage economic forces to fix the plastic glut our current systems seem to be creating.We've made a mess.https://t.co/9KJDzKdb4B
The idea of teaching students chemistry principles AND engineering principles with first hand experience is a fascinating way to look at the problem. In highschool we had a Student Greenhouse. Why not a recycling system?https://t.co/3zCBVuDDp4
Using plastic bins to raise crickets to who's guts might be able to eat corn and other plastics. Then turning around and using their shells as a source of plastic to build plastic bins to raise rickets who's guts...https://t.co/J9Riz6PG1X
It's a "Shell Game".... Get it?https://t.co/T7zhXpZQ9G
It seems Canada has been having a similar problem with plastic recycling.https://t.co/462AaVT60I
If your corn based bioplastics are being shipped to landfill or being burned, the fact that they are "biodegradable" is mostly irrelevant.https://t.co/ENTqqLMnNF
Do you even know if your 'compostable' straws are making it to a "commercial compost facility". Do you even know what that means?https://t.co/rR9PbFOQtt
Dear consumer, we offer a wide range of compostable plastics. Here's a site that tells you where to find a place to compost. Good luck figuring out if our product is valid at a nearby location.https://t.co/XcJXVBEqM9
What do you mean most "compostable" plastics don't naturally degrade?https://t.co/k7rJdFFbtY
It seems the robots are exactly because of poor quality recycling. Wild.https://t.co/XQMKNskh4R
["Styrofoam is recyclable, but there’s a reason that the process is not more commonplace."“You just can’t make money out of it,” Herritt says, bluntly. “That’s why nobody does it.”]https://t.co/V77uqFeLEQ
Does anybody have interesting ways to re-use styrofoam?https://t.co/ZOzNb7RkvX
One of the things that really caught my imagination was using salt-water filled soda bottles + ground up Styrofoam to help insulate a zero energy freezer. I wonder of JME's styrocrete blocks could be used to build a similar above-ground one.https://t.co/uH8pnEcmjM
When you look at the incentive based recycling systems around scrap aluminum, I often wonder if it makes more sense to make it easier to transform them locally than do what we currently do in the states.https://t.co/IdSYrKFJlF
I dream of a mass produced compact solar powered aluminum extrusion system.https://t.co/TQLHmKKS7E
In a shipping container.https://t.co/v8JSDtKXZD
I learned the cost to transport a train car of steel back in 2013. In the process I sparked an interest in nature of shipping networks and the evolution of the way society built things.This boat? Bought by a railway Barron, and shipped inland on rails.https://t.co/c0dSuR3ccx
Have you ever braised aluminum together?https://t.co/XEa9M362Yc
Did you know you can spot weld aluminum?https://t.co/ThdyyeyxBp
I want a machine that builds machines that build machines.https://t.co/GlwZOlsPeJ
It's amazing how many 'robots' running around Tesla's Factories are using aluminum extrusion for rapid fab.https://t.co/XCtok4MuyI
A machine that builds machines that builds machines.https://t.co/t3n911dmJn
I think the only thing better than Aluminum is growing bamboo.https://t.co/pNzdUcUA7J
"can be recycled infinitely with no degradation in physical properties […] significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the resulting extruded parts, because recycled aluminum requires only 8 percent of the energy to produce compared to primary aluminum"https://t.co/jpMXco2323
One of the more fun way to welding aluminum is just spinning a bit really really fast and mix the material together. https://t.co/fvNCuIEgsd
That also works on clay and plastic https://t.co/vR2EeQZlMGWelding plastic panels together using a rotary tool and no heated 3d print head required.
Ultrasonic welder go Brrrhttps://t.co/AecT8QZMXc
You ever wonder what those weird weld spots were on plastic face masks?https://t.co/uKVXUd6hV0
"Why a weld that works on earth doesn't meant it will hold up in space"https://t.co/7Wxdaly3Z8https://t.co/cwdkbuK3eR
I want lasers too."Consequently, the weld zone is encapsulated. This results in an aesthetically pleasing weld, which is sterile and does not contaminate the surface of the parts being joined."https://t.co/3A0Vr2e9sO
"Abaca, a biodegradable fiber from banana plants, has shown promise as a potential replacement for polyester and plastics in medical masks."https://t.co/lLcjTkTQdhhttps://t.co/711SxKGwro
A bit over-dramatic at first, but this video shows some neat methods for advanced plastic sorting. https://t.co/qbSk0vhzHFGonna be a while until we see PET soda bottles being turned into soda bottles, but they're clean enough that using it for soaps/detergents is viable now.
The main thing that is driving a lack of recycling here is that it is still largely more economical to make new soda bottles from oil than to go thru the process of sorting and recycling.https://t.co/IsdbAvthJF
So improving plastic sorting efficiency is a big deal!Another interesting thing that caught my eye was a company that figured out how to make PETE cheaply from cellulose wastes. https://t.co/xQbOpkqpvT
It turns out @OriginMaterials figured out a way to take a different waste stream (wood pulp) and convert it into PET. Chemistry is over my head, but it looks like they're using an acid to break it apart to produce carbon materials without as much energy.https://t.co/OA05x6nEQO
Every time I throw away some plastic, I feel bad. But not because I care about the planet, I just see the massive waste of a perfectly viable materials being thrown away.https://t.co/GgVJcjwZC1
And honestly the more pressing concern I have is the burning of the plastics that ends up happening. Sure we get electricity out of the deal, but with having COPD issues I am alarmed by the idea of breathing in smoke. https://t.co/eGVL0YZpxJ
@TechoTechy Not just plastics. There's a bunch of stuff about PM1 sized pollution particulates leaching into airways and directly into blood. Suspicions it's contributing to a lot of modern disease https://t.co/qk9p2aCPjM and may be related to gender hormones https://t.co/54J0udb2VB
IMHO, focusing on "climate change" is the wrong way to approach this problem. We should be talking about how these chemicals are disrupting our health and how much of an impact poisoning ourselves with them is causing so many health issues.https://t.co/ZWZpCdQh28
But what happens to the animals in the environment who can't take more active measures like me?This paper from 1998 suggests we need more wide spread testing https://t.co/M0sd5PdzQF
What levers can we pull to help animals/plants/soil get healthier too?I have found some ideas about ways of filtering water using oysters and metabolizing pesticides, but don't really know of how to remove microplastics efficiently from the ground.
Maybe we can grow special plants that we can harvest microplastics with? https://t.co/inCRAUcgmZ
IMHO, the most effective levers would be to stop doing something that might be causing weakness against microplastics to begin with. Could we get it so that the problem takes care of itself?I think it would be fun to eat plastic FR.https://t.co/5jYdGiZ7hX
There's like a million news reports of people figuring out how certain animals metabolize plastic like a slow drip. Its super annoying that no one ever turns it into something useful. It's the feel-good dross of a society looking for quick fixes and hope. https://t.co/sOfUSkIuYj
But no one wants to eat wax worm gut bacteria to find out if the enzymes that degrade plastic can be imparted in our own gut bacteria via horizontal gene transfer.https://t.co/b9uCdfY2mU
Does anyone know what chemical styrofoam is made of?https://t.co/OOy7s1FN3j
"Polystyrene has an exceptionally long history, being discovered in 1839 by an apothecary named Eduard Simon. He distilled oils from the American sweetgum tree, and called the resulting compound styrol oxide." https://t.co/LkHLUR5sav
I wonder if chickens like darkling beetles.https://t.co/5B5rhWcay0
"In fact, most plastics are not recyclable, largely because there is no market for materials labeled 3 through 7. But that hasn’t stopped the widespread use of the chasing arrows." https://t.co/qXZjAwnhK1 https://t.co/4AuxCjrNsS
Spent the last two months figuring out how to eat plastic. Literally via digestion, but also metaphorically via a hackerspace.And we're going mobile now.https://t.co/WRGEAxoz0e
Plastic is free! There's so much of it people just wanna burn it for electricity.If we don't wan this, we have to figure out how to make it more economical to recycle than to build it from new and then burn it.So that is what we'll do.
Mmm, delicious hydrocarbons.https://t.co/fMd7HxseVM
"This widespread paradigm differs significantly from the established chemistry [...] It provides insight into the natural remediation of man-made environmental contaminants such as styrene."https://t.co/bqfJiGIWZ3
“I hope that what I did can inspire others to iterate and try out their ideas,” he said.https://t.co/1gFmoqNDoo https://t.co/SZlg6g6adJ
If you are going to try to eat mealworms fed polystyrene, be sure you watch out for their poop.The original study said they don't digest the toxic flame retardant additive hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) https://t.co/yCFliDGsLH
That chemical makes the frass toxic. Humic acid might help, but its not 100%."Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) is a persistent organic pollutant that accumulates in soil and sediments, however, it has been difficult to degrade HBCD" [2019]https://t.co/F4SVUIWSDz
One of the off-grid farmers I'm following on YouTube just started experimenting with feeding Styrofoam to mealworms. He's also got a complete build for how to use them to feed chickens.https://t.co/qk5kM9m5KE
I wasn't able to find any significant parasites in mealworms themselves when I searched, but eating them raw would def be a risk.My big concern would be if snails got in to feed on the food stock used. https://t.co/nXBxHkH34rhttps://t.co/H0Ta0rKoSd
There may be other additives like that HBCD stuff in the Styrofoam that could be toxic as well if eating Styrofoam directly. I don't know how to tell what foams end up having that so it is probably not very safe to consume directly.
Styrofoam is really weird. The nanoparticles of it mess with blood properties like coagulation, and have been associated with cancers in white blood cells among others.Do not recommend eating it. https://t.co/G21Yi8s7rO https://t.co/EYNzytctPf
"about a third of our landfills are filled with styrofoam, which is a crazy amount when you think about it" https://t.co/kNi0iLJhyg
I would also advise having mealworms cleaned and moved to a bin without Styrofoam for a while before consuming them so that their GI tract has a chance to purge for a bit by having other food stuff move thru. Timing this might be a challenge.
"we will learn from the bacteria and worms that possess the ability to break down and digest plastics, even stuff like polyethylene carrier bags, and design large, artificial worms that can eat their way through our plastic waste" https://t.co/IHR1vro6XG https://t.co/K3h19Ucbhy
Huh."The increased plasma levels of IL-6. Decreased levels of 17β-estradiol" stand out in this inhaled micro plastics study using nylon.https://t.co/J1bB3LyW1Whttps://t.co/EFGcNsc2PN
@AlexJournal2019 @Tarunashree1 "Inhalation of MNPs resulted in systemic inflammation as measured by increased plasma levels of IL-6. Decreased levels of 17β-estradiol were also observed suggesting that MNPs have endocrine disrupting activity." https://t.co/6NbO1hWR3F
This looks identical to findings around Crohn's Disease. IL-6 + estrogenic problems."Growing evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies suggests a role for estrogens, particularly 17β estradiol, in IBD pathogenesis [4-14]." [2015] https://t.co/niJt8MqEH6
Something weird going on here. https://t.co/zZfyXUaCqn… Is the IL-6 activation from nano-plastics getting into the blood true of all nano-sized pollution?Would explain why gut barrier impairment matches lung ingress of inhaled microparticles. https://t.co/eGVL0YZpxJ
@TechoTechy Not just plastics. There's a bunch of stuff about PM1 sized pollution particulates leaching into airways and directly into blood. Suspicions it's contributing to a lot of modern disease https://t.co/qk9p2aCPjM and may be related to gender hormones https://t.co/54J0udb2VB
Lots of weird stuff in smoke. In the modern world, most burning-building smoke has plastics in it.https://t.co/QhUzNVxWpg
@seracena @LeviTurk @ESYudkowsky Pollution -> immune problems -> white matter decay -> IQ drop?"It is clear that the innate immune system is intimately associated with AD progression, however, the specific roles of glia and neuroinflammation in AD pathology remain to be described." https://t.co/FBLSBTiUjI
When I feel bad for no reason, I've learned that I can usually look up that there was a fire where upstream of some air flow near us. This last time, it coincided with Canadian wildfires. https://t.co/p0CtKB0KL9https://t.co/s5BK1cEhiQ
I dealt with the muscle aches and panic attacks + irritability, by neutralizing them with herbal remedies that directly impact TRP receptors => modulation of immune cells.https://t.co/s6GgVHWLkK
@GRITCULT I learned that rebreathing warm moist CO2 impacts my lungs in a way that mirrors my mom's panic attacks (associated with COPD https://t.co/xhTn6X1ZMP ) and further confirmed that it might be due to TRP receptor activity that I can modulate thru diet.https://t.co/pxao2SNoGp
I can't wait to have Praetor Labs have functional lab space again. I am looking forward to microfluidic sensing of microplastics in the air and correlating it with my mood and behavior.https://t.co/lt2x4sjxBq
Do you know what a TRP receptor is?https://t.co/F9AWRu9QdT
Have you considered modeling microplastic toxicity as a TRP receptor activation problem?https://t.co/qK8zSfqTkx
I wanna be able to neutralize low levels of chlorine that we see in drinking water. It may be that in doing so, the same bacteria might actually fight all that plastic-like PFAS stuff on top of it? Hmm. https://t.co/2DQxKoGrZ1Might be able to do this using compost. https://t.co/VKBKrXkcMF
Tired: eating bugs to fight microplasticsWired: Using black soldier flies and human waste water bacteria to purify PFAS and make plant based meat something I'd actually wanna eat.https://t.co/ttQfCUPFbg
If we throw all the crazy ideas into a big bin and let it ferment, maybe something tasty will come out the other side.https://t.co/yFwOdwUYnU
@MarkProffitt I was looking up Black Soldier Flys and apparently you can just give them the junk from a composting toilet and they'll turn it into food for chickens. Its fascinating. Got me thinking to make a self contained fly bio-reactor for poop, that outputs edible maggots.
I made a joke about growing chickens: https://t.co/bQfYH3WCM9
"The researchers are gathering birth and health records as well as data about wildfire smoke exposure in California. They’ll look for links between pollution from wildfire smoke and low birth weight, developmental delays and autism" https://t.co/vP1fYjT6lK https://t.co/0cMjj4alcv
Is smoke inhalation an age related disease?https://t.co/aOJWa3m4jj
> "In this first study of air toxics and telomere length in a nonoccupational setting, several air toxics, particularly 1,4-dioxane and benzidine, were associated with shorter relative telomere length."https://t.co/tlURRUpQD7
"1,4-Dioxane: Another forever chemical plagues drinking-water utilities" https://t.co/VTppl7zvk5
"used in the production of textiles, paints, printing inks, paper, and pharmaceuticals. They are also used as reagents and biological stains in laboratories, and have more recent uses in laser, liquid crystal displays, ink-jet printers, and [...]" https://t.co/UnURGH8Pbp
"Major U.S. dye companies no longer make benzidine-based dyes. Benzidine is no longer used in medical laboratories or in the rubber and plastics industries." https://t.co/ijz5tjigwB
"Coim is an Italian polymer and plastics maker, and 1,4-Dioxane is one of its byproducts." https://t.co/nMnWSHCFlD https://t.co/eGrxMiGgYg
"PFAS chemicals […] are sustained by microbial precursor biotransformation in the soil. These precursors are retained in the soil where they leach into groundwater in terminal form at concentrations thousands of times greater than the safe levels"https://t.co/haiBrveg3aWhoops
The sun was red, the air smelled of fire.My lungs burn, my immune system is no lier.https://t.co/7e2VmxWC2X
Everyone around me is tired and ache-y including me.How do I neutralize smoke inhalation related immune system overactivity?https://t.co/7xqXibYAQp
Part of immune reaction may be the small particulates in the blood, so also exploring 'blood purifying' stuff. This implie liver funciton. Sure enough Glutathione and Vitamin C seem to be recommended. Suggests mitochondrial function health is important.https://t.co/M9evoc3veq
My main symptom is my joints ache, so I am considering a warm shower too to help calm TRPM8. https://t.co/jeKacE7IAL
Haha... Oh no.https://t.co/yCQCwMvN4Lhttps://t.co/1VFBXKHmvg
"flame retardants escape from household products and settle in dust. That's why toddlers, who play on the floor and put things in their mouths, generally have far higher levels of these chemicals in their bodies than their parents."https://t.co/OZ16dvJeothttps://t.co/1torvFUugv
"That snippet from The New York Times led Egginton to years of research and interviews, culminating in more than 300 pages packed with details, outlining a quietly escalating tragedy that centered around PBB." https://t.co/Aff9bLZ4RDThe fuck?
Gotta figure out how to eat flame retardants like some kind of autistic retard*."They are found, too, in breast milk of women all over the world."https://t.co/BqaANnewAa (*I can make this joke cuz I'm actually a retarded autistic psychopath) https://t.co/NM5b5hihnR https://t.co/MdLAPj0pAY
Fire retardants?More like baby retardants. Amirite?"Exposure to flame retardants is causing US kids to lose millions of IQ points. They're more damaging than lead or mercury."https://t.co/qGJ9E2uEvu
And... it causes DNA damage. Of course it does.https://t.co/utdadsGadt
"Hexabromocyclododecane-induced Genotoxicity in Cultured Human Breast Cells through DNA Damage"https://t.co/xW4FA17jyKStop. Just stop it. Get some help.
I find it alarming (but surprisingly on brand) that my thread about recycling plastic has some how meandered it's way into the topic drinking breast milk. And technically we're recycling fire retardants if you're loose with definitions.https://t.co/79iPr6lAPp
Mixing microplastics with a known DNA destroying chemical leads to worse outcomes in zebra fish.https://t.co/IaIleZuV1ohttps://t.co/TUnUwQDNrV
"In addition, the leaching rate of FRs is found to be higher in finer particles (micro and nanoparticles) compared to larger-sized ones and has the potential to dissolve in humic matter hence endangering the lives of humans and animals." [APR 2022]https://t.co/WHRRjKDNVM
I need a place I can grow mealworms and raise rabbits.https://t.co/DEWJBOUZeM
Fun fact: Figuring out how butyrate might be working to help treat cancer is an offshoot of me trying to figure out how to eat fire retardants.I think it would be neat to eat crude oil and trees too. Might prevent climate change. https://t.co/NXdrw3JR1mhttps://t.co/DDFEtFZ3e4
Saw this in @uwutoowo1's discord and I am having a big think about ways of eating platsics.https://t.co/NXdrw3KoQU https://t.co/koVEuXlQwi
I think about this scene from Baki Hanma a lot now. https://t.co/tovIVZiSWvThinking about ways to training my gut bacteria to resist toxins & how to become more resilient to the constant assault on our bodies.https://t.co/zlVcTCn0E7 https://t.co/eyrpvC1A6W
What if plastic is good, actually?https://t.co/uJC08Kk2qt
Watching @tippyhendrix doing a little experiment and I'm so here for it. https://t.co/MBVCOa8LB6
Watching @uwutoowo1 eat packing peanuts, and I'm jealous."they need to sell just food grade versions of these, these taste like candy." https://t.co/IAjFdk3UG1