“Waiter, there’s plastic in my lettuce” isn’t a phrase you’d expect to hear very often. Nevertheless, several studies have now shown that plants can, and do, take-up microplastics [MPs] from the soil and incorporate them into stems, roots and leaves. Should we be worried – or happy? The latter is a possibility that should be […]
Tag: plastic
BBC History of the Plastic Pink Flamingo
“This plastic pink flamingo, an enduring item of kitsch Americana, is as much a phenomenon as it is an everyday garden ornament,” writes Linda Laban, introducing the BBC’s history of the Ig Nobel Prize-winning plastic pink flamingo. The 1996 Ig Nobel Prize for art was awarded to Don Featherstone, for his ornamentally evolutionary invention, the […]
A new symbol for the concept of “starving artist”
This artist announces a plan to preserve pizza slices, entombing each slice in a transparent small block of plastic. It is or is not art, depending on how one chooses to define art. The pizza is or is not, over the long span of time, pizza, depending on how one chooses to define pizza. The […]
Inventiveness: “The portable bidet compatible with your plastic bottle”
“The portable bidet compatible with your plastic bottle”—that’s what the promoters say in promoting their invention called CuloClean. It’s a propulsive bottle cap. The promotional video and crowdfunding campaign, like the device itself, comes with minimal information. You may find it tricky to flush out information about the people behind CuloClean. Their press kit says only this: […]
Three Heralds of the Rising Star Plastic World
We live in a Rising Star Plastic world. That’s what the evidence suggests. Here’s the evidence: FIRST. Daniel Y. Maman, MD, [pictured here]: “has been named a ‘Rising Star in Plastic Surgery’ by The New York Times, and he is a regularly featured surgeon on The Plastic Surgery Channel (PSC)”, and “he has lectured to his peers […]
Geotrichum candidum (fungus) might destroy your CDs?
Many thanks to Dr. Victor Cardenes of the Department Geology and Soil Science at Ugent, Belgium, who provides us with a photo of a music CD being colonised by Geotrichum candidum (or a near relative). Whilst working in Belize, Dr. Cardenes noticed that a CD ‘Pieces of Africa’ by the Kronos Quartet, showed mysterious markings […]
Further adventures with plastic pink flamingos: lemurs
Io9 published a selection of photos of plastic pink flamingos used as mental stimulants for lemurs in the San Francisco Zoo: Lawn Ornaments Help Lemurs Stay Happy and Healthy The San Francisco Zoo recently introduced its lemurs to some pink plastic flamingos. The results were predictably adorable, but the flamingos weren’t just decoration. They’re an […]
Flamingo-spurred matched Featherstones, for 35 years
This photo shows Don and Nancy Featherstone, wearing matching outfits, at the 2012 Ig Nobel Prize ceremony. (Mike Benveniste took the photo.) The Featherstones have come to nearly every Ig Nobel ceremony since Donald was awarded the 1996 Ig Nobel Prize for art, for creating the plastic pink flamingo. For 35 years, the Featherstones have […]
Faculty action figures
Very few universities have had realistic ‘action figures’ made of their faculties and staff. One exception is the University of the Ozarks in Arkansas, where Dr. Jesse Weiss (Associate Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies) has produced a collection of them. The professor hatched the idea via his hobby of customizing action figure models from […]
Ig-winning flamingo in a Disney movie
The plastic pink flamingo, Don Featherstone‘s Ig Nobel Prize-winning creation, is one of the stars of a new Disney movie. The character is named “Featherstone”. Don Featherstone was awarded the 1996 Ig Nobel Prize in art for his work. The new movie, called “Gnomeo and Juliet” is a retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story, […]