SUPER SCIENCE NEWS

[Natalya]

http://www.nature.com/news/brightest-ev ... rs-1.19176

Fucking super super super nova. Just like. Whoah.

Other science in the news:
Legionnaires' Disease and lead poisoning strike Flint, Michigan
Chinese try to make space-based quantum encryption techknowlogy

[Gorthaff]

Entangled photons? I didn't even know photons had a spin. But if this succeds that could lead to some awesome stuff.

[Natalya]

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/569e9963e4b00f3e986327a0?

[Keldoclock]

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/569e9963e4b00f3e986327a0?

Huffington post should be put on trial for crimes against statistics.

I skimmed through the whole 36 page report.

Based on 5% growth between 2010 and 2025 (based on
Plastic
waste inputs from land into the ocean
and
Stemming the Tide
:
Land-based strategies for a plastic-free ocean
). This rate is larger
than overall plastic volumes growth as most of the growth takes
place in countries with high leakage rates. For 2026–2050, a
3.5% growth rate is applied, using a conservative assumption of
growth beyond 2035 following the long-term trend in global GDP
growth of 3.5% annually (source: International Energy Agency
World Energy Outlook 2015
).
23
Ocean Conservancy,
International Coastal Cleanup
(2014).
Excludes cigarette butts from calculation. D. Barnes et al.,
Accumulation and fragmentation of plastic debris in global
environments
(Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B,
2009).
24
Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey Center for Business and
Environment,
Stemming the Tide: Land-based strategies for a
plastic-free ocean
(2015).
25
By weight. Projections for 2015 and 2025 based on Ocean
Conservancy,
Stemming the Tide
(2015). Annual flow of plastic
waste into the ocean is assumed to increase in line with the
plastic packaging industry 2015
–
2020, at 4.8% annually and from
2025 at a more conservative 3% annually. The stock of fish in the
ocean is assumed to stay constant 2025–2050

While these sorts of figures are certainly effective at impressing laymen, who really expects the current high leakage plastic consumption zones to maintain their leakage rate as plastics consumption increases to the figures in the WEF report? See: Rwanda's OXO plastics.

[Natalya]

Umm it says right there they assume the leakage rate to decrease in the future?

[Keldoclock]

Their projections predict leakage rates for undeveloped coastal countries currently leaking lots of plastic into the ocean at 5% growth from existing quantities and then 3.5% growth after 2026.

OXO plastics programs in Africa show that plastic leakage can be completely eliminated in countries with low infrastructure. As these programs are already successful in low-infrastructure areas in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, it is clear that oceanic plastic leakage in the future will be below current rates, not above them, even with increase in plastics production and consumption.

While plastics infrastructure in already-developed countries will be difficult to replace, these countries are able to effectively use social controls(i.e. fining, propaganda) as opposed to technical ones which, I believe, will be adequate to limit oceanic plastic trash accumulation for the foreseeable future.

[Tzan]

I for one, welcome our plastic land bridge to Europe.

[Silverdream]

I for one, welcome our plastic land bridge to Europe.

I didn't know you were Syrian.

[Natalya]

I for one, welcome our plastic land bridge to Europe.

I didn't know you were Syrian.

And we have a winner.

[Tzan]

I for one, welcome our plastic land bridge to Europe.

I didn't know you were Syrian.

I'm not a loaf of bread!
I threw it on the ground!