A research team led by Prof. Gao Xiaoming from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has improved residual neural networks to accurately classify and identify microplastics using low-quality ...
Environment
Mar 14, 2025
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Throughout history, when pioneers set out across uncharted territory to settle in distant lands, they carried with them only the essentials: tools, seeds and clothing. Anything else would have to come from their new environment.
Space Exploration
Mar 13, 2025
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Hospitals around the world generate millions of tons of plastic waste annually. Much of this waste comes from single-use items such as face masks, surgical gloves, syringes, IV tubes and sterile packaging materials.
Environment
Mar 13, 2025
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Many of today's everyday items are destined to become fossils after millions of years, but scientists have suggested that some of the most surprising of them might be wind turbine blades.
Paleontology & Fossils
Mar 12, 2025
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Harnessing moisture from air, Northwestern University chemists have developed a simple new method for breaking down plastic waste.
Materials Science
Mar 11, 2025
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What if expiration dates could tell us more than when something goes bad? Scientists have found that dates on plastic food and beverage packaging can serve as markers of the Anthropocene, a period in Earth's history marked ...
Women and girls are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis. They are more likely to suffer health consequences as a result of floods, droughts, heat waves, air pollution, wildfires and other environmental disasters.
Environment
Mar 10, 2025
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Scientists from RMIT University are calling for countries to include carbon emissions from plastic production and waste in their climate action plans before the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties ...
Environment
Mar 7, 2025
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What if plastics could self-destruct when their time as a useful product ends? Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories are exploring this concept in one of their latest projects.
Materials Science
Mar 6, 2025
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Almost 60% more litter can be found in the UK's coastal communities than in inland locations, according to new research.
Environment
Mar 6, 2025
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1
Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic amorphous solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular weight, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce costs.
The word derives from the Greek πλαστικός (plastikos) meaning fit for molding, and πλαστός (plastos) meaning molded. It refers to their malleability, or plasticity during manufacture, that allows them to be cast, pressed, or extruded into an enormous variety of shapes—such as films, fibers, plates, tubes, bottles, boxes, and much more.
The common word plastic should not be confused with the technical adjective plastic, which is applied to any material which undergoes a permanent change of shape (plastic deformation) when strained beyond a certain point. Aluminum, for instance, is plastic in this sense, but not a plastic in the common sense; while some plastics, in their finished forms, will break before deforming and therefore are not plastic in the technical sense.
There are two types of plastics: thermoplastics and thermosets. Thermoplastics, if exposed to enough heat, will melt. Thermosets will keep their shape until they are charred and burnt. Some examples of thermoplastics are grocery bags, piano keys and some automobile parts. Examples of thermosets are children's dinner sets and circuit boards.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
