Thanks, Nadine: horrific is a good word for describing the Patch. BTW, that this is not the only one, since there are four other known gyres in the world's oceans, and it's not easy to detect a plastic patch using visual means alone. At least one more has been found, that one in the North Atlantic:
Thanks for the clarification. No, this plastic pollution is by no means limited to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch , which is located within the North Pacific Gyre, or to shipping lanes. Plastic is everywhere in the world's oceans and beaches. My local Santa Cruz beaches would look unbelievable--and scare away tourists--if it weren't for periodic volunteer cleanups. Here's a photo of marine debris on the Hawaiian coast:
Yes, Ann, it's definitely good to see the plastics industry taking initiative here. Plastic has its positive aspects as well, and I guess when it was invented it was hard to foresee the problem it would cause. If anyone can put a dent in this problem, it's the people in the inudstry themselves. I definitely look forward to hearing more about specific actions that are taken in the future. Great reporting.
I'm glad to see so many people are aware of the garbage patch of plastic out there in the middle of the Pacific. You'd be surprised how many people have no clue the damage plastic is doing. It is truly horrific, yes, and I actually just saw quite another horrific video of birds that live on an island in the middle of the ocean miles from no other land and where no humans are that are dying with large amounts of plastic in their stomachs. It's unimaginable, but this is happening right now.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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