Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles

Re:Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles by wyldfire on Friday March 11, 2016 @11:56AM (#11267748)

My username is a reference to Project Wildfire from "The Andromeda Strain". In the novel, Andromeda mutates into something that can consume rubber -- the same materials used throughout the world as seals against contagion.

So, yeah, if life imitates art it could get pretty interesting.

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Re:Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles by CamperBob2 on Friday March 11, 2016 @04:33PM (#11269704)

Can't forget this classic work of speculative fiction either: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2368220.Mutant_59

In the Coburg Street control room of the London Underground system, there was a full emergency... In a dozen tunnels, trains ground down to a halt. Hordes of terrified commuters made their way anxiously along dark, musty tunnels to the lights and safety of the next station. There were minor explosions, fires, and the failure of a million wires and cables. As the dissolution of plastic proceeded and accelerated in rate, the elegant order of the system gradually turned into complete chaos...

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Re:Newly discovered bacteria can eat plastic bottles by Turing_Machine on Friday March 11, 2016 @06:19PM (#11270293)

I'm glad I'm not the only person who remembers that one.

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