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Sponge-Like "Swelling Glass" Absorbs Toxins in Water
MikeChino writes "A company called Absorbent Materials has created a new kind of 'swelling glass' that can clean up contaminated groundwater by soaking up volatile molecules like a sponge. Dubbed 'Obsorb,' the material can hold up to 8 times its weight in fuel, oil, and solvents without sucking up any of the water itself. Once the material is full it floats to the surface and the pollutants can be skimmed off."
Was that just a short press release with some random unrelated photos, or did I completely miss the boat on this one?
Does it all magically disappear?
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A material wich can absorb all the toxens out of the water and when it is full all we need to do is grind it back into little pieces and flush it down the toilet and all our problems are solve.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
TFA refers to the material as Obsorb, but a linked page refers to it as Osorb.
So which is it?
I seriously can't find anything about this online. Not a thing other than this particular press release. This tells me nothing about how it works, how to clean the obsorb, how much this stuff costs, how it is made... How can I not find a single thing about this?
I didn't see anything in the article that tells exactly how the science behind it works. Is it granulated particles? Normal sponge sized? Fiberglass like? How are the toxins removed from the material after use? etc. I assume some of it they might not be able to divulge due to pending patents or whatever, but a little more info might help to determine if it's viable or just vaporware.
Why not use a vacuum cleaner for the ocean instead. Suck up water and filter it through a steel mesh and I think it will be more effective.
Holds up to 20 TIMES its weight in fuel, oil, and solvents. Doesn't drip, doesn't make a mess. Contaminated antarctic penguins use it as a towel.
It sounds like an excellent solution, and depending on what else is in the compound besides glass (is it a process thing or does it depend on exotic chemistry?) it could be a quite a breakthrough. The summary implies it could be used for cleaning oil spills - if it can be made in bulk, but it also could be very useful in cartridge filters. Innovations like this can change the world for the better, in small increments. Good tech adds up.
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waste into the soil as Babcock and Wilcox did ?
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Yours In Novosibirsk,
K. Trout
has it been taste tested by a Nibblonian?
Floats to the surface and skim the contaminants off the top??? Quite the trick if it absorbs some sort of heavy metals. Exactly how does it not drip yet you skim the material off the top. Who get's to squeeze the contaminants out?
The groups that are least able to defend themselves from hazardous workplace.
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
that it's made only from cloned human embryonic stem cells harvested at the 33rd trimester.
Sponge-like Bobsorb Swelling Glass
If taxation is legalized theft, then Capitalism is a prolonged rape followed by a slow death.
To hell with the robots coming down on us. Isn't this the way "The Blob" was created?
Given that groundwater is not just freestanding water like a pool, what's the prevent this large piece of material from getting stuck on the dirt around it rather than floating to the top to be skimmed.
Either this thing is the bee's knees and will make a huge impact, or it's some mix of snake oil and too expensive. As usual, we're safest assuming the latter until we at least have details.
For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
Watch out, everything becomes glass!
This product is a reason why I love capitalism. New and cool stuff all the time. I hope they don't do anything anti-market to this product, like patenting it.
Yes, until they take the crud they absorbed and bury it underground right on top of the water table, because that ends up being the cheapest way to dispose of it for one reason or another.
Now that I think of it, that would also in turn increase demand for their product.. its like having their cake and eating it over and over and over!
Joking aside, it does seem interesting if it actually pans out to be a real product.
Glass - Silica.
Silica Gel - absorbent glass.
Easy, huh?
First rule of holes; When in one, stop digging.
So, it removes stuff that would've just evaporated off pretty quickly anyway? yipee.
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It is patented... a previous poster posted a link that explained this.
i wonder if aerogel was the inspiration?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel
"NASA used aerogel to trap space dust particles aboard the Stardust spacecraft. The particles vaporize on impact with solids and pass through gases, but can be trapped in aerogels"
They may be "toxic" but they are not "toxins". Example of toxin: Botox(TM), which stands for botulic toxin. A toxin is a toxic substance created by an organism.
So basically what you're saying is that we can build small scale models of stuff, pee on them for a few days, and they'll turn into the real deal. Kinda like those little dinosaur toys that you put in water and they grow to fill the glass. I'm down with that.
Wise men say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
groundwater |groundwôtr; -wätr| noun water held underground in the soil or in pores and crevices in rock. Me thinks this is a bogus article about a bogus "invention" by a bogus company. Water ON the ground is sometimes called "a flood", and sometimes called "a lake", depending upon whether or not the condition is chronic.
Capitalism? The guy has NSF funding....
So when you put this in water, it creates distilled water?
Good luck keeping the fish and plants alive with that stuff...
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Does it live in a pineapple under the sea?
2 words: Biodiesel Harvesting
Great Pacific Garbage Patch, here we come!
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i like the toxins, they're the best part.
Does alcohol count as 'volatile molecules'?
I can see some applications for this as a way of making better moonshine.
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