When surgeons use metal scalpels to cut away harmful tissue, there is a risk of cutting healthy tissue. This risk is especially acute for operations on critical organs, such as brains and intestines. Now there is a laser “scalpel” that targets diseased or damaged tissue while leaving healthy tissue intact. A team of researchers from [...]
Metal Hip Implants Could Have New Testing Standards
April 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The possibility of new testing standards for metal-on-metal hip replacement systems could have implications for plastic implants. Reuters reported on March 29 that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), because of increasing concerns about the safety of the metal systems, will sponsor an advisory panel on June 27-28 to gather input from scientists, researchers, patients, [...]
Like Human Skin, New Plastic Heals Itself When Wounded
March 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment
At the American Chemical Society’s National Meeting & Exposition this week in San Diego, researchers described a novel type of plastic that has a property of human skin. The plastics can heal scratches and cuts so they may be useful as self-repairing materials on cell phones, laptops, cars, and other consumer products. The plastics change [...]
Recycling Plastic Beach Trash in Mexico
February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Plastic debris that washes up onto the beaches in Mahahual, Mexico, can stack up to two-feet thick at times. Locals fill large garbage bags on a daily basis with piggy banks, Barbie dolls, margarine tubs, juice bottles, and other flotsam that just keep arriving from various parts of the world with the ocean currents. Ecologists [...]
Emergency Systems Tested in the U.S. and England
November 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Earlier this week, government agencies in the United States and England tested out emergency response systems, and the results were mixed. On Nov. 8, firefighters in London conducted a three-hour mock chemical attack with 100 victims to test their response skills, according to the BBC. The exercise was done to prepare for the Olympic Games [...]
CSB Studies Safety Issues at University Labs
October 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Since 2001, the U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), an independent federal agency that investigates serious chemical accidents, has gathered preliminary information on 120 different accidents at academic labs. Last week, CSB released a first-of-its-kind case study report that detailed one accident at Texas Tech University. In that report, CSB recommended that the [...]
Predicting Role of Plastics for Medical Devices in 2012
October 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Plastic — be that a new compound, tool, or process — will be the key to making most breakthroughs in medical technology actually happen, writes Doug Smock for Plastics Today. So where is the market headed in 2012? He suggests that a good place to look is the list of Top 10 Innovations of 2012 [...]
Polymer Art Recognized as Museum-Quality
October 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Elise Winters was trained as a photographer, worked in ceramics, and spent much of her career as a high school art teacher before finding a passion for creating art jewelry with polymer. Thanks to Winters’ drive over the last decade to get recognition for great works of polymer art, a medium thought to be just [...]
How Steve Jobs Influenced the Plastics Industry
August 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Last week, Steve Jobs stepped down as chief executive officer of Apple but said he will remain the chairman of the company’s board. Amid the flurry of speculation about what the resignation could mean for Apple’s future, several reporters examined how Jobs’ minimalist but revolutionary ideas about design lead to changes in the appearance and [...]
1939 World Fair Plastic “Ghost Car” Up for Auction
July 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A Pontiac Deluxe Six, often called the “Ghost Car,” was a star attraction at the New York World Fair in 1939. It was covered in a plastic called Plexiglas, so that people could see the inner workings of a car. The Wall Street Journal reports the car will be auctioned July 30 at the RM [...]
