Plastic: space age wonder material or planet-destroying scourge? The real answer may lie... somewhere in the middle (but leaning more towards scourge). Plus, learn exactly how many LEGO minifigures you can eat before you die!
Follow us on Twitter @SciShowTangents, where we’ll tweet out topics for upcoming episodes and you can ask the science couch questions!
If you want to learn more about any of our main topics, check out these links:
[Truth or Fail]
Milk
https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/galalith-alchemy-in-the-age-of-plastic/
https://www.chemistryworld.com/podcasts/casein/3007625.article
https://www.ganoksin.com/article/galalith-jewelry-milk-stone/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-milk-plastic/
Blood
https://books.google.com/books?id=3uoiAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA9
https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/rjrtags/ill65.htmlhttps://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1261&context=beads
https://materialdistrict.com/material/blood-plastic/
https://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1261&context=beads
pictures: https://www.hippohardware.com/blogs/news/at-deaths-door-a-history-of-hemacite
Venom
http://www.t3db.ca/toxins/T3D2544
[Fact Off]
Bees and plastic
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13592-019-00635-6
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-03/pp-bsw030117.php
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/ES13-00308.1
Celluloid billiard balls
https://www.liveabout.com/what-pool-balls-are-made-of-368742
http://mentalfloss.com/article/64247/first-plastic-billiard-balls-routinely-exploded
[Ask the Science Couch]
Corn plastic
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/environmental-impact-of-corn-based-plastics/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/corn-plastic-to-the-rescue-126404720/
https://mcgillcompost.com/blog/recycling-number-7-pla-plastics
[Butt One More Thing]
Cigarette butts
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-company-recycles-cigarette-butts-and-turns-them-into-plastic