Two great stories about plastic waste.

Story #1 is about a Mexican startup that wants to turn plastic waste into fuels.

[It] uses pyrolysis, a thermodynamic process that heats plastics in the absence of oxygen, breaking it down to produce gasoline, diesel, kerosene, paraffin and coke.

https://apnews.com/article/mexico-plastic-pollution-fuel-startup-eafe7b665638df5c361064e2c5a58f0d#

Meanwhile story number two is about a group of researchers at Texas A&M who want to break down the plastic into hydrogen.

By utilizing minimal amounts of solvents, they break down these persistent polymers into aromatic compounds, which can then be transformed into green hydrogen.

https://jasondeegan.com/no-one-believed-it-but-the-u-s-is-set-to-profit-from-a-discovery-that-transforms-plastic-waste-into-hydrogen/#google_vignette

Maybe, just maybe we'll see some progress in dealing with the mass of plastics we have generated in society

Peoples choice for wildlife photograph of the year (UK)

There were some great photos in the competition but this one was actually pretty amusing

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy/peoples-choice

Cool tech

The idea for autonomous grippers that could pick up space debris is pretty inspired.  But my big question - and one of the things this articles completely ignores - is what happens to the debris after its collected.

But Ill take the leap forward.

https://phys.org/news/2025-02-robot-grippers-space-debris.amp

Another weird example of who owns what and how they control content

This is a weird dispute between Sony Pictures and CBS on how the TV show Jeopardy is distributed.  And the fact that it airs on other networks in parts of the country just complicates it further.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/jeopardy-wheel-of-fortune-suit-cbs-restraining-order-sony-1236128804/

Superbowl streaker with some sage advice

"Being rich is living life on your own terms, according to your possibilities not your limitations."

While money certainly does offer more leeway, its a lesson for all of us to not live by the expectations and rules that have been set arbitrarily.  Be yourself and live your best life!  

https://www.the-sun.com/sport/13463185/super-bowl-streaker-dunkin-donuts-trader-chiefs-49ers/amp/

Science and innovation are under attack

T-rump has proposed "drastic cuts" to pretty much everything.  And while they all hurt in some way, the ones that make me nauseous are the ones that are related to the sciences.  Who needs weather forecasting?  Who needs any sort of public health information?  Who needs food that meets certain standards?  These are all things that are likely to be cut off.  

No more ability to keep us healthy. And no more ability to research and innovate - no that has to be left to private companies who can profit from it.

But on that note, there's another interesting twist here.  During Biden's presidency, there was an uptick in the number of patents that were filed.  The patent and trademark office protects these private companies (and individuals) when they invent something new. With the advances in computers, machine learning, and our ability to make physical things using 3D printing, there have been more patents filed.

So Biden, realizing that there was not enough space in the DC office and not enough people willing to relocate to DC anyway, took a different approach.  He implemented a "work from anywhere" program for patent examiners, and opened a satellite office in Atlanta to take some of the burden off of DC.

T-rump has told all government workers that they need to "return to the office" in DC, even if they were hired with the explicit agreement that they could work from anywhere.  And it appears as though he wants to close the satellite office in Atlanta, too.

As news of this unfolds, we are hearing that many of the patent examiners will simply quit,  rather than move to DC, and have an unknown office arrangement (there wouldn't be enough space if they all moved).  Besides, the cost of living is too high, and surely the pressure on them will mount.

And that means that the patent process will slow to a crawl.  If companies know that innovation that they want to protect may take a significant amount of time to go through the process, it seems likely they will be reluctant to innovate at the same pace.

Or perhaps they start patenting in Europe or elsewhere, which moves innovation out of the US.

These are dark times.

Tailgating!

Here's a fun look at tailgating. It has an interesting history that deserves a little attention. 

While doing my dolphins podcast, I met a few interesting folks who were true tailgating aficionados. 

There was the "commissioner of tailgating" (the designation came from him, but was picked up by the food network, and later by espn, and then the NFL featured him). He told some fun stories about tailgating and how it's become a part of our lore. And how it's a bit of friendly rivalry with opposing fans. 

He was big in the history and pointed out that the first tailgates happened during the civil war. At some of the early battles, locals would bring a sandwich picnic, and sit on a hill and watch the battle unfold. It's crazy but that means that tailgating is very much a part of our history. 

And then I met a guy from the UK who was so fascinated by the idea of tailgating, that he made a trip one fall to the US and went to tailgates for all 32 NFL teams. It was remarkable, and he crowd funded some of his expenses by sharing his experiences on the fledgling social media platforms. 

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/08/g-s1-47257/the-american-tailgate-why-strangers-recreate-their-living-rooms-in-a-parking-lot