Word: plastics
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...horses' hooves and adhesiveness to the secretions of mussels and barnacles? What makes rats' teeth sharp and insect cuticle hard? By answering such questions, Lewis and other researchers hope to usher in an exciting new era in materials science, one based not on petroleum products like nylon and plastic but on proteins synthesized by living, growing things. "Why go to an organic chemist for new materials," asks University of Mississippi biochemist Steven Case, "when nature has already produced some beauties...
...Polymer Technologies, a small San Diego firm that is attempting to transform this notion of biomimicry into commercial technology. The company's first product, intended for use in medical research, is a hybrid composed of silkworm protein and fibronectin, a blood protein that promotes cell adhesion. When painted onto plastic sheets, the hybrid provides a high-quality medium for growing cells in the lab. Soon the company hopes to add to its product line other protein-based coatings, including ones that give cheap polyester the luxurious feel of silk...
...different speeds," says Brian Jenkins, senior managing director for Kroll Associates, an international investigating firm. "You can tell by examining the metal that was torn apart. Was it a big explosion that moved a lot of things, or was it a high-velocity explosion that rent metal?" Sophisticated plastic explosives tend to shred metal and pulverize concrete, while common substances like dynamite tend to knock walls over and push vehicles around. Once investigators identify the substance, they will try to determine whether it was a homemade explosive, one made from commercially available material or a product of limited availability, like...
Camp Hell is the most notorious encampment. About 150 people live there, sleeping in battered trucks, under leaky plastic tarps, in tents pitched by piles of gelatinous garbage and broken beer bottles. The men wash in a , contaminated canal nearby, some lathering up naked by the roadside. Police found a roofer shot in the face and left to die within yards of the camp; a dead body was found floating in a canal not far away. "The price of life around here is less than a 12-pack of beer," says Estes, a 34-year-old woman from Indiana...
...discussed: taxes on benefit plans that offer coverage above a certain level (currently all employee health-care benefits are exempt); a corporate tax in addition to the general increase in the corporate rate to 36% that the President proposed last week; and taxes on "noncritical" health measures such as plastic surgery. The President has also discussed with health-care experts limiting the deductions that businesses can take for providing employee health insurance...