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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday December 03 2017, @09:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the impossible-tasks dept.

Some scientists want to ban glitter, a microplastic that can contribute to contamination of the world's oceans:

It's sparkly, it's festive and some scientists want to see it swept from the face of the Earth.

Glitter should be banned, researcher Trisia Farrelly, a senior lecturer in environment and planning at Massey University in New Zealand, told CBS. The reason? Glitter is made of microplastic, a piece of plastic less than 0.19 inches (5 millimeters) in length. Specifically, glitter is made up of bits of a polymer called polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which goes by the trade name Mylar. And though it comes in all sizes, glitter is typically just a millimeter or so across, Live Science previously reported.

Microplastics make up a major proportion of ocean pollution. A 2014 study in the open-access journal PLOS ONE estimated that there are about 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic weighing a total of 268,940 tons (243,978 metric tons) floating in the world's seas. Microplastics made up 92.4 percent of the total count.

NOAA and Plymouth University pages on microplastics.

Also at NYT and National Geographic.


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday December 03 2017, @10:59PM (11 children)

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday December 03 2017, @10:59PM (#604832) Homepage

    nitrocellulose lacquer is the clear-coat of choice for true guitar addicts.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by aristarchus on Monday December 04 2017, @06:51AM (10 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Monday December 04 2017, @06:51AM (#604936) Journal

    Little known historical fact: "Django Reinhardt lost most control of two fingers on his left hand in a fire in his youth." [wikipedia.org] What they do not mention is that the fire was caused by nitrocellulouse, from his wife making plastic imitation flowers out of the same material. Many vintage fountain pens are made of the same material, as well as guitar picks of a certain vintage. Careful what you expose to open flame. You could end up being the greatest jazz guitarist of all time, if you are not careful.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 04 2017, @08:10AM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 04 2017, @08:10AM (#604947)

      ...well, if you dismiss Charlie Christian, Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel, Wes Montgomery, Larry Carlton, Pat Metheny...

      Now, the greatest that uses only 2 fingers?
      I'm OK with that.

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

      • (Score: 2) by turgid on Monday December 04 2017, @09:11AM (8 children)

        by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 04 2017, @09:11AM (#604955) Journal
        • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Monday December 04 2017, @09:27AM (3 children)

          by aristarchus (2645) on Monday December 04 2017, @09:27AM (#604956) Journal

          Wow, seem to have touched a nerve with Soylentils that I did not even dream of existing. But now that I have found it, go on, please, go on!

          • (Score: 3, Informative) by turgid on Monday December 04 2017, @10:00AM

            by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 04 2017, @10:00AM (#604959) Journal

            Tiny Iommi, guitar legend, lost the tips of two fingers in an industrial accident when he was a young man about to embark on his musical career. His boss felt very sorry for him and visited him in hospital, giving him a Django Reinhardt record as a present. This gave us Black Sabbath and Heavy Metal was invented and life now had meaning!

          • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 04 2017, @02:18PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 04 2017, @02:18PM (#605035)

            There are many things that you don't dream, oh self-described philosopher. And, many more that you cannot dream, because your mind is much to small to imagine them. Please, confine yourself to inane discussions about angels dancing on the heads of pins.

            • (Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Monday December 04 2017, @04:24PM

              by aristarchus (2645) on Monday December 04 2017, @04:24PM (#605107) Journal

              "Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto".

              C'mon, AC, admit it. When I wrote "Django" your first thoughts were Jamie Fox and Quentian Tarantino, were they not? Why do Americans persist in being so stupid and anti-philosophy? Even Harry Potter was changed from "Philosopher's Stone" to "Sorcerer's Stone" for the American market.
               

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 04 2017, @09:05PM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 04 2017, @09:05PM (#605294)

          I don't recall any of Tony Iommi's Jazz recordings.
          Perhaps you could point to a list.
          Barring that, maybe an advertisement/poster for one of his Jazz concerts.

          ...and if we're straying into the Rock world: Eddie Van Halen, Gary Moore, Slash[1], Ted Nugent[2]...

          [1] I've heard a recording by him on solo flattop on Smooth Jazz radio.
          [2] I hate his politics and his personality but the douchebag can play.

          With the needing-fingertip-extensions thing, you've reminded me of another Jazz master.
          Pat Martino, after many years as a successful jazz guitarist, had a near-fatal stroke.
          The part of his brain that knew how to play guitar now didn't work and he had to learn all over again.

          ...and for those who have been living in a cave and don't recognize the name Barney Kessel, if you've ever heard Julie London's "Cry Me A River" (a monster hit), that's just Julie on vocals and Barney on guitar.

          -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

          • (Score: 2) by turgid on Tuesday December 05 2017, @02:55PM (2 children)

            by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 05 2017, @02:55PM (#605645) Journal

            I don't think he needed to do many jazz recordings. That's already taken care of. However he did invent a new genre.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @08:32PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @08:32PM (#605801)

              It would be interesting to see a timeline with his accomplishments plotted with those of e.g. Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Dave Davies.

              -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

              • (Score: 2) by turgid on Tuesday December 05 2017, @08:59PM

                by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 05 2017, @08:59PM (#605811) Journal

                Indeed, but I would contend that Heavy Metal as a distinct genre was invented by Tony Iommi/Black Sabbath. Everything up until then was Blues/Rock 'N' Roll/Rock. Right enough, the Kinks nearly got there. Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple are Rock. Jimi Hendrix is Blues, in my humble opinion. :-)