Researchers transform food waste into potentially edible 'cement'

We prototyped this when I was at the Coast Guard Academy. One of the fun things we did was to save a pancake from the chow hall, dry it out on the radiator, put an address label and stamp on it and mail it home. Almost all made it to our parents homes in one piece. I know mine did. Hey Mom and Dad, this is what they feed us in the Coast Guard o_O

Here is an even more exciting new discovery - one that can, through flash joule heating, in milliseconds, convert any carbon source into highly-prized graphene!

VERY SUGOI!

Potential uses are many! Junk, instead of going into the junkyard or trash, can instead be easily transformed into graphene, which locks up carbon and can be of great use to society. Here are some potential uses:

The process makes the new products stronger than the old ones. This is called “upcycling.” Graphene adds durability to materials reused in the recycled parts.

The other elements in the source material—hydrogen, oxygen, chlorine or silica—become vaporized in the process of flash joule heating and can also be captured for recycling.

Graphene can be incorporated into concrete—one of the largest artificial sources of carbon dioxide—mitigating climate change and making the concrete stronger in the process.

Asphalt roads can be strengthened when reinforced with graphene.

Landfills, which currently give off the potent greenhouse gas methane, can be mined for plastic to flash into graphene without the production of methane.

Because graphene is much more valuable than the discarded plastic from which it is made, a potential market could arise for poor people to collect trash and junk for flash graphene centers, helping lift them out of poverty.

The sustainable economy foreseen by this technology could create uncountable high-paying jobs.

The technology could greatly reduce the need for domestic imports. Rare earth elements become recyclable from existing computer parts without requiring dependencies on tyrannical governments.

Third world countries may benefit from higher and better use of their natural resources.

courtesy of https://crev.info/2022/05/chemist-saves-planet/

Read the article about it on NewScientist.com

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2321629-zapping-scrap-plastic-from-cars-can-turn-it-into-recyclable-graphene/

The bugs will love it.

Traditional Japanese castles had dried edible material built into the wattle/daub walls against times of siege and starvation.

Edible makeshift housing for disasters

More like...an edible housing disaster

Almost too sad to be funny.

I think this is very exciting research and I respect these scientists efforts and ideas....And of course it's very intriguing.....

Eat out of house and home

Japanese lacquer which actually came from China is poisonous - so how thats supposed to be edible ?.

They edited the article from earlier this morning to add the lacquer info

How retarded.

Would you like some cement with your tea?

the tensile, or bending, strength of their product is nearly quadruple that of ordinary concrete.

Imagine being in a high-rise made of four-times bendy concrete in an earthquake...

They've adjusted flavors with different spices and found the colors, scent and taste of the cement can be quite appealing. To be able to eat the material, a person would need to break it into pieces and boil it, Sakai said

….

Can I put it on my rice as a topping?

I don't see how this is better than just composting it and returning nutrition to the soil.

Concrete can be made from other materials, like hemp. This article uses "cement" and "concrete" interchangeably, but they are not the same thing. Cement is the binder or "glue" in concrete.

Even edible cement sounds more appealing than natto.

Fun fact: Natto is actually soy beans fermented in nail polish remover and chewing gum scraped off sidewalks in Ibaraki.

Soylent Green

Soylent Green - this is where it all starts

Here is my 2 pennies advice:

Never eat caned or processed foods on any kind, the basic rule is if you can't see or feel what's in it don't consume it or you will become a garbage disposal.

All these so called instant foods and canned or bottled foods are filled with food preservers that are there to keep it from rotting and when you eat it all yours.

Buy fresh make your own or go and eat at your trusted place and make sure you do not order processed meats or foods.

Much better than the other way around, LOL

Even edible cement sounds more appealing than natto.,

"In the near future, edible houses may no longer just be found in fairy tales."

Given climate change, ever more difficult agriculture, and ballooning population,"in the near future", chewing on one's house will be a nice break from the shoe leather, cardboard boxes, tree bark, and roadkill that many will already be chewing on...and it won't be a faerie tale, but it WILL be Grim...

Doesn't look like food waste in the photo.

How food that hasn't gone bad is perceived as waste is moronic !

Yeah exactly

mold , fungi ,bacteria ,microbes and insects can eat it too.

Guess if you guests over and need dessert they can nibble on the building

To make the cement waterproof and protect it from being eaten by rodents and other pests, it might be coated with Japanese lacquer.

I would hope easier and more conevnient coatings are also possible.

Protecting the material from pests is obviously important, but if it is edible and biodegradable it is also susceptible of being decomposed while still in use, which could compromise the strenght of the material with time. Nothing is mentioned in the article about this but I hope it was taken into account.

Well, I guess it’s better than turning cement waste into food.

Sweet. Nice work, researchers.

Trying to make some overtime, huh.