Scientists Turn Used LCDs Into Medicine

schliz writes "Scientists from the University of York have come up with a new recycling technique that extracts PVA from used LCD panels to create a 'a bioactive sponge.' The technique could allow recovered PVA to be used in pills, wound dressings and tissue scaffolds that aid human tissue regeneration. It could also keep waste LCD screens from incineration or landfill altogether."

Comments

So, which do you want?

[Chris Mattern]

The red pill, the blue pill...or the green pill?

Re:So, which do you want?

[Aphoxema]

Does that mean I can either keep living the dream, see how far the rabbit whole goes, or take the placebo?

What?

[EkriirkE]

So they are just salvaging the non-toxic readily bio-degradable glue from the panels?
Then what happens to the rest of the toxic non bio-degradable materials they claim will be prevented from entering the landfills/incinerators?

Re:What?

[Red Flayer]

I know it's anathema to some, but please RTFA. There's a qualifier in TFA that submitter left out (emphasis mine):

Coupled with current recycling methods, the technique could entirely prevent old LCD TVs, laptops and computer monitors from being incinerated or added to landfills.

For some snark: That's mostly because current recycling methods are largely composed of shipping the parts to third-world countries where they burn them (NOT in an incinerator) to extract heavy metals.

Seriously, though, if this process does truly result in a significant market for recycling process outputs, it could help make recycling old monitors economically sound. I suspect, however, that it will still be cheaper to make the PVA byproduct from scratch, and ship monitors to developing nations for scrapping.

Re:What?

[budgenator]

I use the stuff at work, it's available in various industrial, technical and even in food grades and not particularly expensive. It's also the primary ingredient in Slime a substance without which the Nickelodeon network could not exist.

Good thing I collect laptop screens....

[jameskojiro]

Good thing I collect laptop screens because when the Rapture comes and Jesus shows up and inflicts a mortal wound on me I can shove a shard of a LCD screen into my wound and it will keep me alive long enough to ask his forgiveness.

Re:I need to get my eyes checked

[Anonymous Coward]

You jest, but there were (seriouspsychological studies performed in the sixties and seventies whose results suggested that LSD and other psychedelic drugs, when used in a clinical setting with proper setup and safeguards, resulted in tremendous healing of long-standing psychological conditions. Some doctors went so far as to claim that a single session using LSD provided the kind of breakthroughs that normally come only after years of therapy. Thus, LSD, like marijuana, is a Schedule I drug because its legitimate medical use was buried before more studies could be performed.

It's enough to make a man paranoid.

Re:Response times

[Jerry Coffin]

Undoubtedly meant to be funny, but the serious answer is no. What they're using is PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol). An LCD panel has a polarizer on the front and back, and a layer of PVA is what actually does the polarizing. The polarizers are pretty much the same regardless of the response time... :-)

We actually use ink jet printers to run screens to

[WillAffleckUW]

A lot of scientific research labs use interesting things to get valid scientific results.

We use ink jet print heads to dispense accurate amounts of reagants for biochemical screens, for example.

Wait until you find out that we can put a device in your wrist to measure your glucose level via a wristwatch so you don't have to prick yourself to control diabetes. That one is a real trip. It actually charges itself from the wristwatch, so it can literally run for decades.