#3 -- Melting heterogeneous plastics with only an N95 face mask? What could possibly obtain?
And that plastic in the oceans they mention? It could keel us all.
caymannewsservice.com: New horror revealed in sargassum blob
Quote:
(CNS): Scientists have discovered that a flesh-eating bacteria is interacting with sargassum and decaying plastic in the ocean, creating the perfect “pathogen” storm that has implications for both marine life and public health. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have found that the bacteria might be adapting to plastic and living in sargassum, washing up on beaches in a new environmental horror.
The seaweed has already been washing up on local shores over the last few weeks. Given the current size of the Atlantic sargassum belt, dubbed the “great blob”, as it has grown to reach some 5,500 miles across and is currently moving through our region, we can expect to see much more in the coming months.
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“Plastic is a new element that’s been introduced into marine environments and has only been around for about 50 years,” said Tracy Mincer, PhD, corresponding lead author and an assistant professor of biology at FAU. “Our lab work showed that these Vibrio are extremely aggressive and can seek out and stick to plastic within minutes. We also found that there are attachment factors that microbes use to stick to plastics, and it is the same kind of mechanism that pathogens use.”
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The study highlighted vertebrate pathogen genes closely related to cholera and non-cholera bacterial strains. Researchers also discovered toxin or “zot” genes, which increase intestinal permeability as the vibrios appear to be getting in through the gut, getting stuck in the intestines and infecting that way.
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In another news....
Episode 1943 -- Unbreakable Plastic at 1:14 shows what it takes to adequately disperse graphene in whatever matrix (Plastic, concrete) you choose.