Diaper genius. (The Beat).Disposable diapers are currently the third largest source of landfill waste, in part due to the petroleum-based gels they're packed with to absorb wetness. University of Wisconsin at Madison food scientist Srinivasan Damodaran has developed a way to reduce the 2.7 million tons of disposable diapers landfilled annually by using proteins derived from the nearly 30 million tons of fish scraps discarded dis·card v. dis·card·ed, dis·card·ing, dis·cards v.tr. 1. To throw away; reject. 2. a. To throw out (a playing card) from one's hand. b. by the global fishing industry each year. Damodaran's solution is an odorless o·dor·less adj. Having no odor. o  dor·less·ly adv.o and inexpensive protein-based hydrogel hy·dro·gel n. A colloidal gel in which the particles are dispersed in water. hydrogel a gel that contains water. hydrogel Wound care A polymer absorptive wound dressing. See Dressing. that chemically binds water molecules. The gel can absorb up to 600 times its weight in water and rapidly biodegrades. In contrast, the petroleum-based gels currently in use absorb only 100 times their weight, and Damodaran says they "stand little chance of degrading TO DEGRADE, DEGRADING. To, sink or lower a person in the estimation of the public. 2. As a man's character is of great importance to him, and it is his interest to retain the good opinion of all mankind, when he is a witness, he cannot be compelled to disclose over a reasonable time." |
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