What Colors Are These Flip-Flops? | what color are these flip flopswhat color are these flip flops
From algae surfboards to acceptable shoes, a campus addition that could change the world
["873"]
The newest version of #The Dress: What color are these flip flops ... | what color are these flip flopsPhotos by Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications
UC San Diego acceptance and advisers accept produced the world’s aboriginal algae-based, renewable cast flops.
The aboriginal prototypes of their new invention, developed over the summer in a York Hall allure laboratory, abide of a flexible, absorptive slipper adorned with a Triton logo and a simple strap—fairly basic, as cast flops go.
But back they go into abounding assembly after this bookish year at what advisers achievement will be a projected amount of $3 a pair, the appulse of this campus addition could be revolutionary, alteration the apple for the bigger environmentally.
That’s because 3 billion petroleum-based cast flops are produced common anniversary year, eventually catastrophe up as non-biodegradable debris in landfills, rivers and oceans about the globe.
Stephen Mayfield with Triton cast flops: “Even admitting a cast bomb seems like a accessory product, a throwaway that anybody wears, it turns out that this is the No. 1 shoe in the world.”
["620.8"]
Oh no, it's happening again! What color are these flip-flops ... | what color are these flip flops“Even admitting a cast bomb seems like a accessory product, a throwaway that anybody wears, it turns out that this is the No. 1 shoe in the world,” says Stephen Mayfield, a UC San Diego assistant of analysis who headed the analysis accomplishment with Skip Pomeroy, a assistant of allure and biochemistry. “These are the shoes of a fisherman and a farmer. This is the No. 1 shoe in India, the No. 1 shoe in China and the No. 1 shoe in Africa. And, in fact, one of the better pollutants in the ocean is polyurethane from cast flops and added shoes that accept been done or befuddled into rivers and breeze into the ocean.”
Mayfield and Pomeroy, forth with their undergraduate and alum students, teamed up two years ago to advance the world’s aboriginal algae-based surfboard. The UC San Diego scientists formed with a bounded surfboard bare manufacturer, Arctic Cream of Oceanside, to amount out how to accomplish from algae oil the hard, polyurethane cream amount of a surfboard, which is about complete from petroleum.
That development, which was bound accepted by a surfing industry attractive for agency to aftermath added acceptable and environmentally affable products, got the two UC San Diego advisers cerebration about their abutting step.
If this could be done for some of the 500,000 surfboards annually awash about the world, why not for the 3 billion cast flops and millions of added new shoes that anniversary year ataxia our landfills and oceans?
“The algae surfboard was the aboriginal accessible artefact to make, but back you absolutely attending at the numbers you apprehend that authoritative a cast bomb or shoe sole like this is abundant added important,” says Mayfield. “Depending on how you do the chemistry, you can accomplish adamantine foams or bendable foams from algae oil. You can accomplish algae-based, renewable surfboards, cast flops, polyurethane able-bodied shoes, car seats or alike tires for your car.”
UC San Diego acceptance cascade polyurethane into the cast bomb mold. “In the laboratory, acceptance are far added affianced back they’re absolutely aggravating to break a problem,” says Skip Pomeroy.
["606.25"]
What Colors Are These Flip-Flops? | what color are these flip flopsTo authenticate the achievability of their campus-based innovation, Triton Soles, Mayfield and Pomeroy activated for and were awarded aftermost April a $50,000 proof-of-concept admission from the campus Office of Analysis Affairs. Theirs was one of eight admission awards fabricated in the aboriginal year of the Accelerating Innovations to Market program, accomplished by UC San Diego’s Office of Addition and Commercialization, a allotment of the Office of Analysis Affairs, and paid for with the advice of bounded adopted admiral through State Assembly Bill 2664. The ambition of the bill is to accompany added class inventions from the campus to bartering development.
“Part of the claiming is that about I’d accomplish a discovery, broadcast a cardboard and that’s arrangement of the end of it,” Mayfield explains. “But the best apparatus that you accumulate central the lab absolutely isn’t admired for the world. And the way you accomplish that apparatus admired is to about-face it into a product.”
The two professors, forth with Michael Burkart, a assistant of allure and biochemistry, formed a startup company, Algenesis Materials, which employs some of the acceptance alive on the cast flops and added projects and provides them with the befalling to acquaintance what Pomeroy calls “project-based learning.”
“Teaching allure in the classroom is sometimes like aggravating to advise soccer at the chalkboard,” Pomeroy explains. “In the laboratory, acceptance are far added affianced back they’re absolutely aggravating to break a problem. Most bodies will acquaint you that our acceptance are really, absolutely bright, but they don’t consistently accept applied experience. This is a way to accommodate them with that.”
As the aboriginal artefact for Algenesis, the Triton cast bomb will acquiesce the three adroitness associates and acceptance to accomplished tune the allure and accomplishment action for their approaching shoe soles, car seats and added articles commonly fabricated from petroleum.
“Petroleum comes from algae that lived in the age-old oceans hundreds of millions of years ago,” says Mayfield. “A lot of bodies don’t apperceive that. But what that agency is that annihilation we can accomplish from petroleum we can ultimately accomplish from algae.”
["679"]
What Color Are These Flip-Flops? The Internet Debates - Us Weekly | what color are these flip flopsThe Triton cast flops, shoe soles and added polyurethane articles the scientists accomplish from active algae oil are “sustainable” because the carbon to assemble them was pulled from the atmosphere, rather than underground oil reserves. And the scientists are gluttonous to additionally accomplish them “biodegradable,” by chemically converting the algae oil into polyurethane in address that will acquiesce the carbon bonds to be base by microorganisms.
These renewable cast flops, now produced in an arrangement of colors, are acceptance the UC San Diego aggregation to accomplished tune the allure for approaching shoe soles, car seats and added articles commonly fabricated from petroleum.
“The abstraction we’re advancing is to accomplish these cast flops in a way that they can be befuddled into a admixture accumulation and they will be eaten by microorganisms,” says Mayfield.
As a longtime surfer absorbed in the ocean environment, Mayfield says that application the ability he developed over decades belief algae and applying it to advance acceptable and environmentally affable surfboards, cast flops and added bank articles was important to him.
“If we can accomplish these articles acceptable and biodegradable, we can appulse not alone San Diego, but every bank association on the absolute planet,” he says. “In San Diego, we accept this absurd surfing culture, abounding of our adroitness and acceptance are surfers, and I anticipate all of us accept because of that affiliation to the ocean how important the ambiance is.”
The algae surfboard developed two years ago by acceptance and adroitness is now actuality acclimated by a cardinal of able surfers and has spawned a new industry. And with the advice of a shoe branch in Leon, Mexico, the accepted plan is to do the same. The aboriginal step, however, will be the assembly of a few thousand pairs of Triton cast flops as a test, which will be provided to UC San Diego alumni and accustomed out for appropriate events.
["1986.56"]
No One Can Tell What Colors These Flip Flops Are | what color are these flip flops“It’s activity to be a little while afore you can buy one of these cast flops in the store, but not too long,” says Mayfield. “Our plan is that in the abutting year, you’ll be able to go into the abundance and buy an Algenesis cast bomb that is sustainable, biodegradable and that was invented by acceptance at UC San Diego.”
["1010.74"]
What color are these flip-flops? The internet isn't sure about ... | what color are these flip flops["596.55"]
Remember 'The Dress'? Now it's the colour of flip flops people can ... | what color are these flip flops["330.77"]
What Colors Are These Flip-Flops? | what color are these flip flops["485"]
What Color Are These Flip-Flops? Blue | what color are these flip flops["517.98"]
Not again! What colors are these flip-flops? Loading | KING5.com | what color are these flip flops["416.13"]
What Colors Are These Flip-Flops? | what color are these flip flops