[mindblowingscience]

Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles

The breakthrough, spurred by the discovery of plastic-eating bugs at a Japanese dump, could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis

Scientists have created a mutant enzyme that breaks down plastic drinks bottles – by accident. The breakthrough could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis by enabling for the first time the full recycling of bottles.

The new research was spurred by the discovery in 2016 of the first bacterium that had naturally evolved to eat plastic, at a waste dump in Japan. Scientists have now revealed the detailed structure of the crucial enzyme produced by the bug.

The international team then tweaked the enzyme to see how it had evolved, but tests showed they had inadvertently made the molecule even better at breaking down the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic used for soft drink bottles. “What actually turned out was we improved the enzyme, which was a bit of a shock,” said Prof John McGeehan, at the University of Portsmouth, UK, who led the research. “It’s great and a real finding.”

Continue Reading.

[lc-deact-deactivated20190508]

Here’s another story from Science Alert that goes into a bit more detail about the research and includes a link to the paper itself, if anyone is interested.

“After just 96 hours you can see clearly via electron microscopy that the PETase is degrading PET,” says NREL structural biologist Bryon Donohoe.

[decadent-trans-girl]

I hope this is real

[dressage-arab]

This is so great i don’t think most people understand the full value of this yet

[sixpenceee]

A dog in Japan follows a Google Street car. Follow his journey here.

[highonhorses]

Sorry we woke you up princess, I know it’s only like 2’ high, but come on 🙄

My boy today doing prix caprilli at Pony Club regional finals, day one. (Not me riding)

[highonhorses]

I am never getting over the fact that my horse did this.

[teethwreath]

this is 100% me as a horse except I’d probably mess it up and hit the poles. he’s very skilled at laziness

[highonhorses]

@oleandir yes Nick’s motto seems do be “put in only as much effort as you absolutely need to, and even then try not to use that much effort”

[shrekyourself]

[elcilantro]

[baby3k-deactivated20131029]

power stance

[howwolf]

I see your power stance and raise you

a majestic mermaid

[muxer-rebelde-deactivated201310]

emotional abuse is when someone does something to hurt you, and when you express your feelings, that you’re upset, they turn it around to be something you did to hurt them and they force you to apologize for it, and your feelings, like always, are rendered invalid and silenced, forever damaging the ability to trust others with your feelings because they always are used against you.

[brav3andwild]

this is important because so many people don’t know this

[tatsandtudes]

Thisssssssssss.

[kingjaffejoffer]

[madeline-kahn]

Dancing in Film:

Moana (2016) dir. John Musker, Ron Clements

Choreography by Tiana Kiufau

[femcassidy]

hey fellas last night i took a medication which is more or less the anxiety equivalent of a horse tranquilizer & essentially enterred the fifth dimension of sleepwalking in which i awoke but enterred a dissociative fit so strong i was really confused why my loving girlfriend was not my good friend and fellow viking bjorn, who i had to bring some furs to. also i might’ve cried about this. don’t remember

[femcassidy]

was informed i left out the best part of this 3am experience which was the bit where i, in tears, gestured to our dog and shouted, “i don’t know what this is!”

[suckindeathsdick-deactivated201]

bruh you astral planed so hard you fell back into a past life

[babyanimalgifs]

i am.. crying

[sixpenceee]

Darkcornerbooks from Portugal, Bruno Santos, brilliantly illustrates some of the lesser known monsters. From a 400-year-old spider who eats handsome men to the ghost of a whale that brings famine. These terrifying monsters are sure to haunt your dreams.

[mishasminions]

NOBODY IS JADED ABOUT SUPERNATURAL AS MUCH AS THE CAST OF SUPERNATURAL

[missmentelle]

At age 23, Tina Fey was working at a YMCA. At age 23, Oprah was fired from her first reporting job.  At age 24, Stephen King was working as a janitor and living in a trailer. 

At age 27, Vincent Van Gogh failed as a missionary and decided to go to art school.   At age 28, J.K. Rowling was a suicidal single parent living on welfare.

At age 28, Wayne Coyne ( from The Flaming Lips) was a fry cook. At age 30, Harrison Ford was a carpenter.  At age 30, Martha Stewart was a stockbroker.  At age 37, Ang Lee was a stay-at-home-dad working odd jobs. Julia Child released her first cookbook at age 39, and got her own cooking show at age 51. Vera Wang failed to make the Olympic figure skating team, didn’t get the Editor-in-Chief position at Vogue, and designed her first dress at age 40. Stan Lee didn’t release his first big comic book until he was 40. Alan Rickman gave up his graphic design career to pursue acting at age 42. Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his first movie role until he was 46.

Morgan Freeman landed his first movie role at age 52. Kathryn Bigelow only reached international success when she made The Hurt Locker at age 57. Grandma Moses didn’t begin her painting career until age 76. Louise Bourgeois didn’t become a famous artist until she was 78. Whatever your dream is, it is not too late to achieve it. You aren’t a failure because you haven’t found fame and fortune by the age of 21. Hell, it’s okay if you don’t even know what your dream is yet. Even if you’re flipping burgers, waiting tables or answering phones today, you never know where you’ll end up tomorrow. Never tell yourself you’re too old to make it. 

Never tell yourself you missed your chance. 

Never tell yourself that you aren’t good enough. 

You can do it. Whatever it is. 

[technoelfie]

This is so worth reblogging!

[nordiskstormhatt]

Thank you!

[trashboat]

i go absolutely ape shit buck wild when people ask me if i want to run errands with them like Let’s Fucking Go. and my mind absolutely maxes out of dopamine when they ask if i wanna stop for coffee. and if someone took me to the park id go bonkers in funcking yonkers

[trashboat]

i got so high last night that i started ghostwriting for a golden retriever apparently

[gifsboom]

[potedo]

Whoever invented kangaroos is a fucking idiot

[literal-ghost]

Kangaroos are animals that seem like they should be cryptids but it’s an entire species.

[catgirl-bartender]

God: What if we just made a really horrible man? Give it. Give it lots of things. Tail leg. Belly sack. Talons. Abs. taste for flesh. Valid driver’s license. Fur.

[accidental-muse]

the ability to beat the goddamn piss out of you.

[mudwerks]

and taunt you afterward

[shabbytigers]

excuse me, this is an actual kangaroo? not a cunning-edit furry joke? you’re telling me this is what literal live kangaroos look like in real life?

[lokispriestess-deactivated20181]

yeah kangaroos are actually pretty mean looking. The cute ones are wallabies.

kangaroo^

wallaby^

kangaroo^

wallaby^

[shabbytigers]

this is just so fucked up

[actualhumancryptid]

As an Australian I can attest that our national symbol is indeed a jerk.

[prostylgel]

Kangaroos are fuckin terrifying

[butchish]

Okay I used to HATE roses as a symbol of romance and shit or whatever until I learned why they’re signs of love bc it’s the most metal creation myth of all time

[butchish]

[butchish]

Well ok have y’all ever heard of the goddess of love Aphrodite?

So in greek mythology, all of the roses were white. all of em with no exception. white. remember this detail, it’s important to the story

so basically one day, our local love bitch Aphrodite was bragging to the other gods about how she could make anyone fall in love with anyone, because she was the goddess of love, and everyone got kind of irked with her bragging bc it was annoying, and Zeus (in his Zeus way) decided to pull a BIG PRANK on Aphrodite by making her fall in love w this mortal named Adonis. Adonis was a hunter, and this made Aphrodite CRAZY because hunting is super dangerous, and she was thirsty for Adonis right & she didn’t want him to die. EXCEPT therein lies the prank, bc Zeus MADE Adonis get gored by a wild boar (rip) and he died.

and here’s where the thing with the red roses come in. Bc all the roses are white, right? And right as Adonis was about to die, Aphrodite SWOOPED DOWN FROM THE HEAVENS in a golden chariot pulled by swans on a slide made of clouds (a cloud slide). as she rushed to his side, Aphrodite pricked her foot on a rose thorn and her blood landed on the petals of the rose, and all of the roses around her became red with her blood as she mourned for her dead lover who was killed in the hunt by a violent wild boar, all bc Zeus wanted Aphrodite to stop boasting.

tl;dr: red roses are a sign of romance bc they were originally white, but the red ones are red because they’re dipped in the blood of the goddess Aphrodite as she mourned the death of her lover

[sunspotpony]

Here, have this bouquet of “Zeus Is a Dick” flowers.

[prinxietys]

So, I just spoke with my youngest sister, and sibling, who is 9 years old.

And we talked about why I call my partner a partner, and not boyfriend/girlfriend. And I told her that a partner is exactly the same as boyfriend/girlfriend.

She was a bit confused (cuz I said my partner is a boy) and asked if it meant we were in a middle stage, and weren’t fully dating yet and that’s why he wasn’t my boyfriend.

I told her, “No, we are in a relationship. Sometimes, people are partners because they are neither boys or girls. Or sometimes, they’re not 100% boy or 100% girl. And that’s why we are partners.”

And it clicked. She goes “ohhh, so does that mean you’re not 100% girl?” And I told her that no, I’m not.

Too which she replied “Then I can call you my sibling instead of my sister.” (Which makes me really happy)

She then went quiet for a moment and then asked “Am I 100% girl?” And I told her that she could be if she wanted to be, and she went silent again before saying “I’m 100% girl” too which my brother, who’s been texting the entire time and doesn’t even look up, says “You go girl”.

Y'all, my little sister has never really been exposed to non cishet anything. Just not allot of upfront exposure, and alot of adults didn’t think she’s even old enough to understand what gay means.

But she literally took this all in stride, and even offered to calle sibling, without me even mentioning different pronouns.

Kids get it people. Kids totally understand, as long as you’re willing to be patient and explain.

[prinxietys]

On a side note, when we got home my sister said “(Our brother) isn’t 100% boy. He’s Godzilla.”

Iconic™