Is there an insect that can devour plastic, breaking it down to less harmful components?
Is there an insect that can devour plastic, breaking it down to less harmful components?
I felt a strange urge to buy me some bugs and let them eat my plastic garbage after watching this video 😂
Someone commented that microplastics would still emerge during/after bugs have dealt with plastics.
Do we have any bug existing that could eliminate microplastics as well?
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The problem with plastics is that the modern definition of the word plastic is too vague. Today it basically means any synthetic or semi-synthetic organic polymer. Do you know what fits this definition? Gluten in your bread.
And the problem with news reports is that they don't describe what exact plastic they're talking about.
Gluten is neither synthetic nor semisynthetic.
It's semisynthetic. Gluten doesn't appear in nature on its own. Just like viscose is a semisynthetic variant of cellulose.
No, it occurs naturally in grains. Fucking look it up. I’m a biochemist, i know this shit. Here, fuck it: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28244676/.
This comment is on the edge for rule 6 “Use appropriate language and tone.” I’d appreciate it if you’d edit the language to be more professional.
Thank you for providing a source in your comment!
It does NOT! And your link doesn't proof anything. If you're a biochemist, I'm sorry for your institute.
it’s the first sentence in the freaking abstract. You simply have no idea what you’re talking about.
Abstract
Gluten is the main storage protein of wheat grains. Gluten is a complex mixture of hundreds of related but distinct proteins, mainly gliadin and glutenin. Similar storage proteins exist as secalin in rye, hordein in barley, and avenins in oats and are collectively referred to as "gluten."
mods, you should ban this guy instead of being worked up about the word “fuck”. He’s incapable of acknowledging reality.
Im dealing with all rule breaking behavior. The unsourced comments have now been removed as the user is unable to provide a source to backup their claim. The comments that break civility rules, including this one, are also being removed.
Please report rule 9 violations so that we can act on them.
It doesn't say anything. That's the issue. Gluten is only created from a mixture of specific protein groups in the presence of water and heat. Your link is basically using the term incorrectly as an umbrella term.
Per rule 9, please provide a credible source for the statement “Gluten doesn’t appear in nature on its own”
It's something like "water is wet". To have gluten appear in nature, especially in a familiar to humans form, the grain should dry out, then be crushed by something before sprouting or being eaten by animals and birds, then it should come into contact with water for a specific amount of time at a nice warm temperature and without being degraded/digested by enzymes and microbes present on this crushed grain since the start, and once that's done, it should also be baked in an oven. Even without oven it's very unlikely.
The chances of that are not zero, after all, spontaneous nuclear reactor did happen in nature. But chances are so slim that it is safe to assume that it virtually never happens in nature. But it can. Thus it is semi-synthetic.
The source provided by another user gives a definitive counter argument.
From the article: “ The wheat kernel contains 8%–15% of protein, from which 10%–15% is albumin/globulin and 85%–90% is gluten (Fig. 1).1 Gluten is a complex mixture of hundreds of related but distinct proteins, mainly gliadin and glutenin. Different wheat varieties vary in protein content and in the composition and distribution of gluten proteins.”
Gluten is a protein, nobody would call it a plastic
No, gluten is a composite polymer.
Permanently Deleted
Per rule 9, please provide a source for the statement that gluten is a “synthetic or semi-synthetic organic polymer”.
loads of organisms that can digest gluten already exist. Not so much for polyethylene etc. Also gluten is made of proteins with definite length not polymers
Gluten is a composite polymer. Polymers can be made of carbohydrates, proteins or fats.
You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.
Let me school you on this one, too. There are polymethylsilanes, polyphosphazines, etc. You aren’t even aware of common polymers like PVC that fall outside of your categories. There’s more exotic stuff like polyferrocenes. You ought to quit spouting off about things you know nothing about.
What? Lol ook.
Also PLA can be suggested by microorganisms.
irrelevant
How's that irrelevant? PLA is a plastic. And can be digested. As well as cellophane. Also plastic and can also be digested.
I also just don’t care about plastic pollution that much… at least not compared to carbon emissions. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’d rather we didn’t have crap everywhere… but I’d rather we focused on minimizing carbon, even if the low carbon options happen to involve plastic.
It's not a binary choice