DoomsdaysCWListening to an anti-plastics activist on the radio, and they claim that plastic (described as Bakelite) was invented in 1950. Um, you're about 100 years off... The first human-made plastic was #Parkesine, invented in 1855. Oh, and #Bakelite was invented in 1907, not 1950! I know during my radio stints, I did all my fact-checking before I went on the air. 🤦🏼
why tolerate cheetos@DoomsdaysCW Rubber was 1844 and I have been repeatedly told that rubber is a plastic, so...
@wyatt_h_knott Actually, the Aztecs invented rubber, which was re-invented in the 1800s. I just found out about that myself.
Aztec, Maya Were Rubber-Making Masters?
Ancients blended plant juices to get bouncier or tougher rubber, study says.
By Rachel Kaufman
Published June 30, 2010
"Ancient civilizations in much of #Mexico and #CentralAmerica were making different grades of rubber 3,000 years before Charles #Goodyear 'stabilized' the stuff in the mid-19th century, new research suggests.
"The #Aztec, #Olmec, and #Maya of #Mesoamerica are known to have made rubber using natural latex—a milky, sap-like fluid found in some plants. Mesoamerica extends roughly from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua.
"Ancient rubber makers harvested #latex from #RubberTrees and mixed it with juice from #MorningGlory vines, which contains a chemical that makes the solidified latex less brittle."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/XMpwr
#AncientTechnology #SolarPunkSunday #TraditionalTechnology #IndigenousHistory
@DoomsdaysCW Yeah it's almost like we've been doing chemistry for thousands of years.
klu9"Other latex-to-morning glory proportions"
Not a phrase I thought I'd be reading today.