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Japanese Researchers Make Plastic Out of Water

Posted by timothy on from the what's-kanji-for-boffin? dept.

greenrainbow writes with this excerpt from Inhabit: "The material shown in the picture above is just ice, right? Look again. Elastic water, a new substance invented by researchers at Tokyo University, is a jelly-like substance made up of 95% water along with two grams of clay and a small amount of organic materials. As is, the all-natural substance is perfect for medical procedures, because it's made of water, poses no harm to people, and is perfect for mending tissue. And, if the research team can increase the density of this exciting new substance, it could be used in place of our current oil-based plastics for a host of other things."

5 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    any one else thinking of ice nine?

  2. Fine... by rmushkatblat · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It would be interesting to know exactly what the other "organic materials" are, and how they made it.

  3. whaa? by dissy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    First:

    is a jelly-like substance made up of 95% water along with two grams of clay and a small amount of organic materials.

    Then:

    because it's made of water, poses no harm to people

    That's about as reassuring as saying "This 95% water and 5% deadly deadly poison solution will be completely safe to inject directly into your bloodstream, since it is made completely out of water!"

  4. Re:Attention Japanese Science-fidels by Randle_Revar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is jello regional like Xerox? Because here in the Northwest most people use "Xerox" only as a proper noun.

    And I don't know about elsewhere, but here people only use "jello" for gelatin if you make it from a powder, and eat it by itself, regardless of brand. If solid gelatin is premade and in a jar and you put it on bread or something, it is always "jelly".

    --
    Climate Progress - Hell and High Water
  5. Re:Attention Japanese Science-fidels by aquila.solo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've almost always heard Xerox (ab)used like Google: As a synonym for the act of photocopying, the machine used in that act, the results of that act ("hand me that Xerox over there"), etc. Only context tells you what's intended. As for regional variations, I couldn't tell you. I've lived in four states (Virginia, New Mexico, Nebraska, Utah) and Xerox and Jell-O both seem to be in pretty wide usage. What really seems to vary is the word used to indicate a sweetened, carbonated beverage. That can change between zip codes. I would agree with your last statement. Jelly is usually a condiment, and Jell-O is the stand alone dessert. But it's all the same stuff ultimately: you take powdered gelatin, sugar, fruit juice (if you're doing it right) or artificial flavor (if you're doing it wrong) and boil them in water for a while.