Bacteria Eat Styrofoam

chaosmage42 writes "Scientists at the University of Dublin have found a way to break down styrofoam, the bane of recyclers/composters everywhere. This could be a great step towards sustainability, but it does require the styrofoam to be heated first."

Side Effect

[dsginter]

Unfortunately, eating the styrofoam causes the bacteria to shit lead. Give a penny, take a penny.

In related news...

[Billosaur]

Kevin O'Connor of University College Dublin and his colleagues heated polystyrene foam, the generic name for Styrofoam, to convert it to styrene oil. The natural form of styrene is in real peanuts, strawberries and a good steak. A synthetic form is used in car parts and electronic components.

Anyway, the scientists fed this styrene oil to the soil bacteria Pseudomonas putida, which converted it into biodegradable plastic known as PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates).

The next step for University College Dublin researchers is to get the bacteria to excrete Guinness.

Another method....

[gasmonso]

Just disolve the styrofoam with gasoline and tada, you have napalm. Bingo bango, problem solved!

Re:Side Effect

[Douglas Simmons]

But what will happen if we rock the food chain boat like this, overfeeding the bacteria, to the point that they grow exponentially in population? Would you for one welcome our Lead-Pooping Overlords then?

As one learns too late

[kmahan]

Krylon spraypaint also eats away at it.

Re:In related news...

[Lectrik]

The next step for University College Dublin researchers is to get the bacteria to excrete Guinness.

Brilliant! ... but why force the bacteria to do something most of Dublin already does?

Re:In related news...

[Minwee]

"The next step for University College Dublin researchers is to get the bacteria to excrete Guinness."

Preliminary tests have already met with success in getting UCD researchers to excrete Molson Export, Labbat's Blue and three varieties of Budweiser.

Re:Cancer anyone?

[hcob$]

Last I checked, heating styrofoam let off some pretty nasty gasses... Is this really the whiz-bang solution we were hoping for?

Well, if you're going to stick your head into the oven that's being used to melt the styrafoam... you got other problems.

Re:Side Effect

[VitrosChemistryAnaly]

"Unfortunately, eating the styrofoam causes the bacteria to shit lead. Give a penny, take a penny.

Then we would just need bacteria that eat each successive product until something useful comes out.

1. Bacteria turn styrefome into lead.
2. Bacteria turn lead into copper.
3. Bacteria turn copper into Guiness.
4. Profit!!!

Re:Side Effect

[evil agent]

All we need to do then is create some genetically modified mice [slashdot.org] whose urine kills the bacteria.

Ah, the circle of life...

bacteria..

[dan20164]

now if they could only fart ozone..

Re:So what about me?

[sumday]

perhaps, but definitely not the first post by organisms with the same intelligence level as bacteria.

Re:I've seen this in action.

[flyingsquid]

How do you go about setting something like this up- how much organic material, what kind of aquatic critters, etc.? (actually, self-sustaining ecosystems would be an interesting slashdot article I think... an ecosystem hack).

My last experiment with aquatic ecosystems ended rather badly, unfortunately. I was raising a sea monkey colony. One night, I was enjoying a few beers, and I suddenly decided I had to know whether sea monkeys also liked beer. Science in action!

Alas, sea monkeys do *not* like beer. I'm not sure if it's the various carbohydrates, yeasts and soforth that so disagreed with them, or if they just can't hold their liquor.

Re:Side Effect

[Anonymous Coward]

Turn Styrofoam into Guiness using bacteria - BRILLIANT!

Re:Side Effect

[TubeSteak]

1. Bacteria turn styrefome into lead.
2. Bacteria turn lead into copper.
3. Bacteria turn copper into Guiness.

Step 4: Europeans drink Guinness and piss out American beer.
Step 5: Sell American beer
Step 6: Profit!

Yea, I know, the Europeans get a free ride off the Americans.. again.

I know an old lady...

[geobeck]

...who swallowed a cat
How about that? She swallowed a cat!

She swallowed the cat to catch the rat,
She swallowed the rat to catch the spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tiggled inside her.

She swallowed the spider to catch the fly,
She swallowed the fly to catch the bacteria,
She swallowed the bacteria to catch the styrofoam,

I don't know why she swallowed the styrofoam,
Perhaps she'll experience lead-hydrocarbon toxicity effects.

Re:Side Effect

[corbettw]

All we need to do then is create some genetically modified mice whose urine kills the bacteria.

Followed in short order by snakes to eat the mice, and apes to kill the snakes. Problem solved!

Re:Side Effect

[brjndr]

Unfortunately, eating the styrofoam causes the bacteria to shit lead. Give a penny, take a penny.

Wait....are they shitting copper now?

Napalm

[Dekortage]

I was going to say that too... but then you have to get rid of the napalm somehow. But then it's not a waste problem anymore. It's a military problem!

Re:Side Effect

[AvitarX]

You need to wait for winter to kill the apes though.

So does my wife.

[mmell]

She calls them "rice cakes", though.

This isn't Styrofoam!!!

[deviantphil]

Styrofoam (R) is a Trademark of The Dow Chemical COmpany [dow.com]. What this article is talking about is normal polystyrene such as taht used in cups.

Re:In related news...

[Thing 1]

Flaming plasma death
This message will self-destruct
Now the post explodes.

A proper haiku
Also mentions the weather
or the seasons, dude.

Re:This actually scares me

[jdibb]

Don't you just then push the blue button and your laptop recreates itself? That's what you do when your laptop gets eaten by little red bugs...

Re:Cancer anyone?

[krakelohm]

Why does anyone wanna read about bread anyway?

Everyone has a right to a hot meal....

[stevenharman]

Even lowly bacteria.

Re:Napalm

[ne0n]

I was going to say that too... but then you have to get rid of the napalm somehow. But then it's not a waste problem anymore. It's a military problem!

Good idea. Who's left to invade?
[x] Kuwait
[x] Iraq
[x] Afghanistan
[ ] Canada