Japanese Researchers Make Plastic Out of Water

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."

Re:water + clay + organic = god made a human?

[bill_mcgonigle]

The story has no details, it's water + clay + some organic stuff.

That's the Jell-O you dropped on the ground by accident.

Re:more

[Shadow of Eternity]

And suddenly I think we might actually see this stuff getting mass produced.

*ANOTHER* Misleading Title.....

[IHC Navistar]

Again, the "Wizards" at SlashDot let ANOTHER crappy and purely misleading title make its way into "News":

".....95% water along with two grams of clay and a small amount of organic materials."

-So, in all ACTUALITY, the researchers did *NOT* make plastic out of water, the made it out of water, clay, and other chemicals, but not just water.

This use of water is no more remarkable than the use of other absorbant polymers or hydrogels, such as Super Slurper, or for an organic material, Gelatin.

It's about time somebody started seeing such "discoveries" for what they really are: Re-hashed Crap. I'm waiting to see a SlashDot article where somebody discovers The Wheel.

Aerogel anyone?

[Hurricane78]

Aerogel [wikipedia.org]* is also only 2% silica and 98% air. Doesn’t mean it’s made out of air.
This is a material out of clay, that can bind lots of water. Just like aerogel binds lots of air.

___
* Btw, my favorite of all “normal” materials on this planet. :) (The favorite abnormal is definitely a Bose-Einstein condensate!)

Re:more

[Hurricane78]

If they are implanted, they are by definition not natural. Sorry. ^^

Safe for human use?

[sodafox]

Just because it is 95% water does not mean it is necessarily safe for human use. Aside from a little clay, what is the rest of that 5% of 'organic material'? Formaldehyde is an organic material, and I would not want that put into my body in any great quantity.

Another Great Product That Won't Make It

[Codename Dutchess]

This will never replace oil based plastics. All you need to do is look at how hemp isn't replacing wood products, paper, clothing, etc. There are too few people with too much money running the oil industry. If they don't want your little water-plastics taking over the market, then it won't be. Simple as that.

Re:more

[dhalgren]

The implants may be natural, but that doesn't mean that the breasts are.

Re:Whatever...

[Pikoro]

Yah, homeopathic history. The farther from the original event they are recorded, and the more times it has been passed by word of mouth before it's committed to some more permanent medium, the more believable it is.

Re:Fine...

[Sir_Lewk]

Ricin. From Castor oil seeds.

Organic, so it is perfectly harmless. Right? Right??

Re:more

[bhartman34]

What matters to the end user (which would be males or lesbians, I suppose) is that the breasts in question feel natural. In terms of actually being natural, if they feel natural and look natural, for all intents and purposes, for the end user, they are natural.

As with all other prosthetics, what matters is the function and the perception, not the strict reality.

What you were born with naturally isn't part of your character traits. It's an accident of genetics. The only thing to be embarrassed about with prosthetic breasts is, therefore, poor workmanship.