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I think this will definitely occur. In the same way that organisms could not work with wood fiber's lignin during the carboniferous period, we're seeing it play

I think this will definitely occur. In the same way that organisms could not work with wood fiber's lignin during the carboniferous period, we're seeing it play out in a plastic period of our own construction. The Earth will win, but whether we will see that happen depends on all of us.

ASalazarMX 7y ago
We just need to wait 300 million years and nature will adapt! It would be cool seeing plastics things rot, though. We're used to them being impervious.
- core-questions 7y ago
  I think the coolness would wear off mighty quickly when your laptop starts to rot
  - ip26 7y ago
    I've been wondering if wood or some kind of injection molded cellulose product might make a comeback. Decomposing plastics would probably help spur that along.
    - Someone 7y ago
      If we really hit the end of Moore’s law, I see manufacturers embracing this. “No, that isn’t planned obsolescence; we try to be as green as possible”
  - tejtm 7y ago
    We will almost certainly crisper such beasts into existence and all be replaced with organisms with plastic infrastructure which existing live can't metabolize but thinks our collections of atoms are yummy building blocks.
  - ghostbrainalpha 7y ago
    Think about how often you replace your current laptop. Even if you are an outlier in terms of keeping tech a long time, upgrading internal components etc, there is very little chance rotting plastic will be the reason you laptop fails.
  - gamblor956 7y ago
    That explains why wood furniture begins to rot immediately instead of lasting hundreds of years and passing down through families as heirloom items... Oh wait! They use protective finishes to seal out the environment and bacteria that would eat the wood, so it doesn't go bad. They do the same with aluminum and titanium. Hell, they even do this with steel. The concept of applying a protective finish has been a solved issue for literally centuries...
- milesvp 7y ago
  I believe I saw a reference recently saying it only took 40million years before cellulose became widespread biodegradable. I can't find a source for that number, though it looks like it might have been an MS mycology student circa 2014. http://hn.premii.com/#/article/15977640 http://hn.premii.com/#/article/15977640 I suspect plastic will take significantly less time than cellulose though. It's an amazing material, and the biodiversity of the planet (though shrinking) is still much higher than it was when cellulose began proliferating.

ASalazarMX 7y ago

We just need to wait 300 million years and nature will adapt! It would be cool seeing plastics things rot, though. We're used to them being impervious.

core-questions 7y ago
I think the coolness would wear off mighty quickly when your laptop starts to rot
- ip26 7y ago
  I've been wondering if wood or some kind of injection molded cellulose product might make a comeback. Decomposing plastics would probably help spur that along.
  - Someone 7y ago
    If we really hit the end of Moore’s law, I see manufacturers embracing this. “No, that isn’t planned obsolescence; we try to be as green as possible”
- tejtm 7y ago
  We will almost certainly crisper such beasts into existence and all be replaced with organisms with plastic infrastructure which existing live can't metabolize but thinks our collections of atoms are yummy building blocks.
- ghostbrainalpha 7y ago
  Think about how often you replace your current laptop. Even if you are an outlier in terms of keeping tech a long time, upgrading internal components etc, there is very little chance rotting plastic will be the reason you laptop fails.
- gamblor956 7y ago
  That explains why wood furniture begins to rot immediately instead of lasting hundreds of years and passing down through families as heirloom items... Oh wait! They use protective finishes to seal out the environment and bacteria that would eat the wood, so it doesn't go bad. They do the same with aluminum and titanium. Hell, they even do this with steel. The concept of applying a protective finish has been a solved issue for literally centuries...
milesvp 7y ago
I believe I saw a reference recently saying it only took 40million years before cellulose became widespread biodegradable. I can't find a source for that number, though it looks like it might have been an MS mycology student circa 2014. http://hn.premii.com/#/article/15977640 http://hn.premii.com/#/article/15977640 I suspect plastic will take significantly less time than cellulose though. It's an amazing material, and the biodiversity of the planet (though shrinking) is still much higher than it was when cellulose began proliferating.