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A much better title: Newly discover recycling chemistry might solve the intractable problems of polypropylene and polyethylene

thecosmicfrog 2y ago
Thanks OP. I appreciate that Hacker News has rules on post titles so it's nice to see you self-correct in the comments!
- PaulHoule 2y ago
  Notably the easiest way to not run afoul of those rules is to not modify the title even if the original title is bad. You do have to squash titles down to the 80 char limit and the same way to do that is delete words, preferable noise words like “very” or “novel” and past that more complex transformations where you maybe change a passive construction into a shorter active construction.
  - bell-cot 2y ago
    Yeah. Ars didn't have a good subtitle, so I futzed around for a minute trying to give a good 80-char summary. Then gave up.
anticorporate 2y ago
I agree. Wouldn't vaporizing anything recycle it into a gas, like, by definition? (If only temporarily.)
- analog31 2y ago
  Yes, but what gas? Maybe the title should have said either "useful" or at least "harmless" gas. The gases that come from basic polymers could be comparable in those ways, to the original petroleum. They could even be reformed into new polymers, or used as fuel. By way of contrast: Vaporizing lead or mercury compounds, not such a good idea.
  - bell-cot 2y ago
    Tangential Safety Note: Metallic (liquid) mercury does evaporate at room temperature, or even far below that, at dangerously high rates. Unless you're eager for brain damage, never have an unseal container of that stuff around. And treat any spill - even "grandma's old thermometer broke" - as a for-real HazMat situation.
  - marcosdumay 2y ago
    Those gases are not "harmless" by any metric. They must be promptly used or they are a much larger problem than the plastics. But the GPs point seems to be that only those two specific kinds of plastic vaporize into those tractable gases. Most of them become all kinds of things, from wild poisons to chemical nightmares that will destroy your equipment.

thecosmicfrog 2y ago

Thanks OP. I appreciate that Hacker News has rules on post titles so it's nice to see you self-correct in the comments!

PaulHoule 2y ago
Notably the easiest way to not run afoul of those rules is to not modify the title even if the original title is bad. You do have to squash titles down to the 80 char limit and the same way to do that is delete words, preferable noise words like “very” or “novel” and past that more complex transformations where you maybe change a passive construction into a shorter active construction.
- bell-cot 2y ago
  Yeah. Ars didn't have a good subtitle, so I futzed around for a minute trying to give a good 80-char summary. Then gave up.

anticorporate 2y ago

I agree. Wouldn't vaporizing anything recycle it into a gas, like, by definition? (If only temporarily.)

analog31 2y ago
Yes, but what gas? Maybe the title should have said either "useful" or at least "harmless" gas. The gases that come from basic polymers could be comparable in those ways, to the original petroleum. They could even be reformed into new polymers, or used as fuel. By way of contrast: Vaporizing lead or mercury compounds, not such a good idea.
- bell-cot 2y ago
  Tangential Safety Note: Metallic (liquid) mercury does evaporate at room temperature, or even far below that, at dangerously high rates. Unless you're eager for brain damage, never have an unseal container of that stuff around. And treat any spill - even "grandma's old thermometer broke" - as a for-real HazMat situation.
- marcosdumay 2y ago
  Those gases are not "harmless" by any metric. They must be promptly used or they are a much larger problem than the plastics. But the GPs point seems to be that only those two specific kinds of plastic vaporize into those tractable gases. Most of them become all kinds of things, from wild poisons to chemical nightmares that will destroy your equipment.