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North Korea’s fabric made from stone
- chiph 9y agoThe title is a little misleading - I was expecting cloth made from rockwool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6FWPTZjwLo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6FWPTZjwLo
- amerine 9y agoMisleading? The material is made from coal and limestone.
- lmm 9y agoIt's made from stone but not of stone.
- dang 9y agoOk we'll s/of/from/ the title above.
- leroy_masochist 9y agoI agree it's misleading -- they're refining a coal-limestone carbide into petroleum and then making a nylon variant out of that. My first thought was also that this must be something rockwool-like.
- jonknee 9y agoThat's like saying wool is made from sunlight. I mean, it started there, but there's a lot more to it.
- Florin_Andrei 9y agoThey're harnessing the outcome of the Big Bang to make fabric for their people.
- s0rce 9y agoCoal isn't really stone.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- korethr 9y agoI was expecting something similar. I know of rockwool for it's insulative and sound absorption properties, I'd never thought of it as a fiber suitible for textiles. I was hoping to learn some intersting properties about rockwool fibers as a textile. But I did learn about vinylon, so I got to learn something today.
- s0rce 9y agoBasalt fibers are another interesting example of fibers actually made from stone. http://basfiber.com/products http://basfiber.com/products
- joezydeco 9y agoMy past year of slime-making with my daughter educated me on the chemical name of Elmer's School Glue, aka Polyvinyl Acetate. PVA is one of the steps in the vinylon process.
- mchannon 9y agoPVA is polyvinyl alcohol. Pretty stinky stuff- it’s used as a mold release for composite lay-ups, and is the active ingredient in certain prescription eye drops.
- ivanbakel 9y ago>PVA is polyvinyl alcohol. I'd imagine this is a context-dependent acronym. Certainly, in public in the UK PVA refers to acetate, because it's a shorthand for glue.
- mchannon 9y agoThe context in this case being the original posted article, which is polyvinyl alcohol, not acetate.
- neltnerb 9y agoBoth PVA's are steps in the synthesis so it's extra amusing this time. The vinyl acetate is polymerized to polyvinyl acetate (PVA) and then converted into an alcohol (also PVA) because the vinyl alcohol monomer isn't stable enough. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_alcohol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_alcohol
- mchannon 9y agoAmazing but true. The scrawl on the board shows how they make vinyl monomers out of acetic acid derived from their carbide process, then PVAcetate, then PVAlcohol. This whole article reminded me of paper made out of rock. Depressingly, it's still a fuel-based product. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_paper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_paper
- dh-g 9y agoThe stain resistant qualities made me think it would make a good pack, and it already exists: https://www.fjallraven.com/guides/material-guides/vinylon-f https://www.fjallraven.com/guides/material-guides/vinylon-f
- bpicolo 9y agoDesign / typesetting here is fantastic
- GotAnyMegadeth 9y agoI like how the big quotes that separate up the paragraph aren't repeated elsewhere in the text like many similar sites seem to do!
- ben010783 9y agoI initially skipped the quotes because I'm used to them being repeated.
- pavlov 9y agoI feel the opposite way — it’s breaking the old magazine convention that pullout quotes are merely highlights for quick browsing, and it feels disorienting that there’s new information in these design elements.
- bpicolo 9y agoPullout quotes have always been silly, they never have enough context to use as skimming material either
- pavlov 9y agoDesigners like pullout quotes because they break up the monotony of body copy, and you can use fancy display fonts on them. Consequently they make pages look more "expensive" to readers simply by association with more thoughtful design.
- HarryHirsch 9y agoActually, to anyone who knows industrial history this is purest clickbait. North Korea's poylvinyl alcohol fiber is indeed made from coal, but worldwide the chemical industry used coal until after World War 2. The feedstocks would be acetylene (from carbide) and coal tar distillates. The enormous energy requirements of a carbide oven is why the American chemical industry settled near Buffalo, NY, that's where the Niagara Falls powerplant was.
- CthulhuCoin 9y agotransparent propaganda piece to test public opinion on West/NK policy
- dang 9y agoPlease don't post unsubstantive comments here.
- chinathrow 9y agoNo wonder the fans gear up - huge embedded autoplay video somewhere way below the fold.
- thriftwy 9y agoThey're using Soviet and Communist words interchangeably. However I'm not sure it's accurate, and whether any of communist regimes outside USSR called themself soviet. Note that North Korea dropped 'communist' word altogether aroud two decades ago. Now it's Juche state.
- ctdonath 9y agoRebranding is a thing.
- gwbas1c 9y agoI find all these stories of North Korea fascinating. The USSR and China both realized that free markets are a better system and adjusted accordingly. North Korea just seems to keep betting on a system that's broken.
- throwawayfinal 9y agoUnfortunately, it's not that simple. North Korea is under incredible sanctions, and South Korea's embracing of the free market is considered to be an economic miracle made possible only by multiple headwinds, and some solid good luck. China can hardly be called a free market, by the way.
- gwbas1c 9y agoWell, we can debate the definition of a free market forever. We (in the US) tend to define "free market" as whatever benefits the corporations that buy the lobbyists. They sometimes like to slip in silly protectionist laws. Read up on the chicken tax and the incident with Kerrygold butter in Wisconsin. More recent examples are how the telcos got net neutrality repealed, the media companies strengthening copyright, and Trump loosening EPA restrictions. Those aren't really "free market" moves, but called free market by the parties who benefit from them.
- nereye 9y agoHmm, this seems relevant: http://fpif.org/kicking_away_the_ladder_the_real_history_of_free_trade/ http://fpif.org/kicking_away_the_ladder_the_real_history_of_....
- pwaai 9y ago> “If war breaks out lots of sparks and bullets go back and forth.... Cotton tends to melt and vanish but vinalon burns you because it sticks to your skin,” Jung said. “The uniforms made of vinalon are not suitable for combat. When it rains, the uniforms soak up water and become very heavy, which inevitably makes it difficult for soldiers to move. After a while, the uniforms turn very stiff.” So basically they are wearing flammable and stiffening clothing that defeats the very purpose of combat uniforms....how can a country like this even survive the first few days of war? More reasons for it to never give up its nuclear weapons.
- jpatokal 9y agoPer article, regular uniforms are not made from vinylon, only some custom orders from officers.
- dingaling 9y agoThe ( British ) Royal Navy issued nylon uniforms from the 1960s until the Falklands War. At which time they learned that in a fire those were responsible for horrific burns. I believe they only issue cotton now, though my RAF shirts were still a cotton-nylon blend in the early 2000s.
- chiph 9y agoMy USAF green "pickle suit" uniform in the 80's was made of polyester. And we knew that it would melt and stick to our skin in the event of a petroleum or electrical fire. Why did they ever make it from that material? It took a press well, so the creases were sharp. And it was cheap.
- s0rce 9y agoThere are actual fabrics made from stone. Here are some I've worked with for composite materials made in Russia from molten basalt extruded into fibers and woven into cloth. http://basfiber.com/products http://basfiber.com/products
- stickfigure 9y agoAnd let's not forget asbestos, which is a naturally occurring mineral.
- jonathanyc 9y ago“Under Japanese rule,” “at the time, North Korea was a part of Japan”... Even during the lawful occupations of Japan and Germany, those countries are not referred to as “part of America” or “under British rule.” Why the euphemism for Japan’s horrific and moreover unlawful occupation of Korea?
- jccooper 9y agoPerhaps because Japan officially and intentionally annexed Korea during that time, where American occupations were explicitly only occupations?
- blackguardx 9y agoI'm surprised no one has mentioned asbestos yet. Asbestos is a mineral that is/was turned into fibers and fabrics [0]. My father even has a chunk of asbestos rock somewhere. It is relatively safe when not processed. It is the detached fibers that are most harmful. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago> [Asbestos] is relatively safe when not processed The WHO says "all forms of asbestos are carcinogenic to humans" [1]. The CDC specifically addresses "naturally occurring asbestos," which it finds "is only a health problem if it is disturbed," e.g. via "surface soil disturbance" [2]. [1] http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs343/en/ http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs343/en/ [2] https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/noa/where_is_asbestos_found.html https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/noa/where_is_asbestos_found.html
- drharby 9y agoCarcinogenic isnt dangerous if it cant be breathed in, ya? In other news water makes you drown when sufficiently submerged
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago> Carcinogenic isnt dangerous if it cant be breathed in OP said their father keeps a bulk of asbestos in their house. For it to get to the house, it had to be picked up and transported. Once there, there is a risk it jostles around or is impacted by something, e.g. due to objects falling on it or it falling on objects. Collecting and keeping asbestos in any form appears ill advised under WHO and CDC guidance.
- blackguardx 9y agoI don't think a fingertip-sized chunk of asbestos in an old mason jar is going to be very dangerous. I also drink alcohol and use leaded solder FWIW.