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Articles on Polymers

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Plastic trash accumulates in trees and shrubs along the Los Angeles River. Citizen of the Planet/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

If plastic comes from oil and gas, which come originally from plants, why isn’t it biodegradable?

Plastic is made from oil and natural gas, which started out as fossilized plant and animal material. But buried deep underground for millions of years, those materials changed in important ways.
Clinical trials using immune cells engineered through synthetic biology have been shown to push some patients into remission from blood cancer. from www.shutterstock.com

The synthetic biology revolution is now – here’s what that means

Right now, you’re living in a kind of industrial revolution – where biotechnology, information technology, manufacturing and automation all come together to form synthetic biology.
Molecular machines are ready to join forces and take on real-world work. Chenfeng Ke

3-D printing turns nanomachines into life-size workers

Research on molecular machines won last year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry. Now scientists have figured out a way to get these tiny molecules to join forces and collaborate on real work on a macro scale.
Inside Boeing’s Dreamliner: tomorrow’s polymers today. Jordan Tan

Five synthetic materials with the power to change the world

The New York World’s Fair of 1939-40 was one of the greatest expos the world had ever seen. Visitors to Flushing Meadow Park in Queens were invited to see the “world of tomorrow” giving them a first glimpse…
They’re waterproof and tough – not to mention colourful – but plastic notes were developed for their unforgeability. Lis Ferla/Flickr

Proceeds of crime: how polymer banknotes were invented

Welcome to CSIRO Inventions, a series looking at the discoveries and innovations borne from Australia’s national science agency. In this first instalment, we outline the story behind the plastic money…
Carbon fibre: it’s super light and super strong (even more so than dreadlocks). Lucas Grumet/Flickr

Black to the future: carbon fibre research seeds new innovation

A unique cutting-edge carbon fibre research facility Carbon Nexus officially opened at Deakin University in Geelong last week. It houses laboratories, a pilot scale carbon fibre line and a smaller single-tow…

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