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Ocean Sponge May Be Best for Fiber Optics

Posted by simoniker on from the spongebob's-unexpected-IPO dept.

TheViffer writes "ABC News is reporting that scientists say they've identified an ocean sponge, living in the darkness of the deep sea, that grows thin glass fibers capable of transmitting light better than industrial fiber optic cables used for telecommunication. 'You can actually tie a knot in these natural biological fibers and they will not break - it's really quite amazing,' said Joanna Aizenberg, who led the research at Bell Laboratories."

7 of 321 comments (clear)

  1. Sponge this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Frist prost!!!!

    I hope u die GNAA!

  2. Over fishing Risk? by HyperColor+Underware · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    I feel that this could pose a problem simply because Oceanic sponges are not nearly what we consider to be in great supply.

    The problem lies in that you can make glass with just sand - something that exists in nearly infinite amounts. Ocean sponges are a living thing. Do we really have to kill them to get their benefits? When does the killing end? How can we replenish them as fast as we kill them for Fiber Optics?

  3. bittersweet discovery by vnv · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Once again, science finds more incredible magic that exists in nature.

    And once again, science will likely lead to the extinction of this wonderful creature. We will now have sorts of divers capturing and killing every kind of sponge there is down there, all for the sake of profit. Who knows what brittle ecology we will stomp on by removing all these sponges?

    "Life in the sea" is becoming more and more of an oxymoronic statement as vast regions of the underwater world become inhospitable due to pollution.

    Too bad and too sad that Americans really don't care about the planet. They are the only ones with the power to change things. But the only god that the Americans have worshipped for a long time is Greed the Destroyer.

    1. Re:bittersweet discovery by vnv · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      What was okay a long time when there were fewer people does not make the same action valid today.

      It adds up very fast now when you factor in a 6,000,000,000+ multiplier.

      These researchers did not need to put a delicate deep sea ecosystem into danger. As I'm sure yoo have read, almost all (97%) of the fiber in the USA is NOT EVEN BEING USED. It was overbuilt. So rather than USE WHAT WE HAVE, it is better to go and plunder the sea and kill more sea life.

      Finding new justifications to plunder nature is not moral, it's not even intelligent. We are putting the very ecosystem that sustains human life at risk because science has gone crazy and thinks they are masters of the universe. With global warming, pollution and the many other woes that face humanity due to industrialization, it is difficult not to think that science has been arrogant and foolhardy in their quest for knowledge.

      There are now dietary consumption warnings for many large oceanfish due to the levels of mercury that they contain. Each too much tuna or swordfish and you will die.

      China has poisoned a giant bay of nearly all sea life in their mad rush to industrialize, due to their dumping untreated waste into the bay.

      As you know, many parts of the world have clothing requirements to go out into the sun due to lack of ozone.

      You are fooling yourself if you think the environment is not in danger and that human beings are not dependent on the environment.

      America is the largest polluter on the planet. And the recently backed out of the Kyoto agreement. Isn't it time America realized what they are doing to the planet? And took responsibility for it?

  4. Re:Ahh yes.. this brings back child hood memories. by Hott+of+the+World · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Wow. Someone smells like asshole. Oh, I think we found the smell!

    Get a shower, then a life, ASS MUNCH.

    --
    | - | - |
  5. Oh yeah? by oogoliegoogolie · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    You think nature is so smart. Bah! Nature can't destroy, pollute, and decimate the planet as fast as we can, so there. What took 500+ million years to develop, we can eradicate and wipe out in decades. Barring an outside influence such as a nearby supernova or a 30 km asteroid impact, let's see mother nature match that!

    We got mother nature by the balls...er...titties!

  6. Re:Space or oceans? by jgardn · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    OH NO! THE EARTH IS DOOMED!

    Bush has unleashed the marines with lasers to destroy the world's oceans.

    Meanwhile, he is dumping billions upon billions of oil into the oceans.

    All the little fishies are going to die! Whatever are we going to do?

    --
    The radical sect of Islam would either see you dead or "reverted" to Islam.