TIL in the Carboniferous Period, no fungus existed to decompose trees. They just grew on top of each other up and up.
TIL in the Carboniferous Period, no fungus existed to decompose trees. They just grew on top of each other up and up.
The weight of the trees was so great that the ones on the bottom got squished and became coal. That’s where coal is from. Bonus fact: the whole time this was happening, sharks were hunting in the oceans. Sharks are older than trees and fungus!
You're viewing a single thread.
At some point this will happen with plastics too. Soo much plastic is ending up in nature, with soo much energy ready for the taking. When one fungus or bacteria mutates just right to munch on that feast of plastic, that vast energy source will ensure that organism multiplies rapidly.
And that is when plastic stops beeing useful for many of the tasks we humans use it for. If your plastic container decomposes as rapidly as a cardboard box, it will quickly become much less usefull.
There are already organisms which can digest certain plastics. The problem (AFAIK) is they can digest other stuff more easily. So maybe in landfills ill work, not so much in nature were there's other organic matter for the taking.
If your plastic container decomposes as rapidly as a cardboard box, it will quickly become much less usefull.
How so? Plastic would retain its current properties, just something may break it down over time. Wood is still useful after all.
Cardboard boxes last almost indefinitely in a cool dry warehouse. It's not just a matter of time, but the environment that matters.
It would depend on how well we can control it.
Ideally the material would be completely nonreactive for as long as you're using it and then instantly degrade into component elements.
The faster things degrade, the higher the chance that they'll degrade when you don't want it to.
Well the carboniferous period lasted 60 million years. If life takes even a fraction of that to figure out plastics, humans will be long, long dead by the time they do. But I'm sure it'll be something interesting for future non-human civilizations to ponder over.
Speak for yourself there, buddy. I plan on being around for at least another 82 million years. I'm uploading my brain into a terrible android as we speak.
Why terrible?
It was the only one available. I'll upgrade in a few years, probably.
Can you just buy a new one in a few years and have two?
I guess it depends on how much money I can make as Texas, the Drunk Android.
Probably a lot. But also more than double if you duplicate your consciousness into a second android.
Shit, you sold me. Where can I get a cheap android to upload my consciousness into, so I can make them slave 80 hours per week for me $$
Unfortunately due to capitalism I can't tell you or it'll cut into my money and thus ability to live for millions of years. Once I've made my money I'll DM you so that you're second in line.
Fortunately we've always had a solution: just fucking use glass
There are entire beaches where sand is being stolen from. And the fans in the great deserts are the wrong kinds for glass apparently
Glass is infinitely reusable. Deposit systems work.
Sorry wasn't meant to be an argument against glass, was just a related thing i found out recently.
I can see what i did now though. Suz mate
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/NBRquiS1pis
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.