That's nothing! There's a totally synthetic Japanese pop star who will be giving a live concert in Los Angeles this July. Hatsune Miku is a "Character Voice" created by Crypton Future Media for use in Yamaha's Vocaloid music synthesizer. The character has attracted a rabid fan following, and she has been singing to sell-out crowds in Japan. The L.A. concert has been sold out for weeks. Search for Hatsune Miku Live Concert on YouTube to see some video.
Not mentioned in the linked article are the unique designs of Star Trek phasers, especially of the newer shows. They were revolutionary in that they often were not modeled after normal firearms. The small hand phaser looked more like the communicator: a small, rectangular device with no obvious 'handle' or 'trigger', consistent with the lack of recoil. The Next Generation phasers are even more radically designed, with a Wiimote form factor that encourages the user to point the device like pointing a finger, or a magic wand.
For food containers, only virgin plastic and post-industrial processed plastic is used. Post-consumer plastic is recycled to make other objects. One prominent use is in plastic "lumber" that is used to make decking. This material is durable, resistant to rot and insects, and can be nailed for construction just like wood. There are probably many other non-food plastic items made from post-consumer recycled material, where cleanliness, chemical purity, clarity, texture and consistency are not as important. I imagine that many automobile parts, interior fittings, bumper fillers and friction-reducing fittings are made of post-consumer recycled plastic. If virgin plastic food containers were not directed to the recycling stream, these objects would have to be made from virgin plastics, while usable materials are wastefully buried in landfills.
To some degree, the exaggerated proportions of the Barbie doll are there to compensate for the relative thickness and inflexibility of the fabric used in her clothes. Fabric for Barbie clothes are woven from the same thickness of thread used in normal textiles, and so hang and drape differently.
The smithsonian article cited above has a great picture of Franklin Roosevelt as a toddler. We have so little historical perspective in our lives, and think that the normative prejudices of our own experiences represent the stone-carved rules of nature. For my part, I just object to the toxic solvents in nail polish!
We have an example of how effective such warnings are: Associated Press - Tsunami-hit towns forgot warnings from ancestors. Centuries-old stone markers are scattered across Japan's coast, warning that earthquakes are followed by tsunami, and marking where buildings will be vulnerable. Some towns followed the warnings, and built homes only on high ground. Others ignored these warning stones. This is in a country where earthquakes and accompanying tsunami are pretty frequent!
More relevant is the frequency of incidents where radioactive metals find their way into scrap metal. Medical equipment containing radioactive Cobalt or Cesium sometimes ends up in junkyards after they are decommissioned. These devices are then disassembled, and the parts sold as scrap, including the radioactive 'source'. The scrap is sometimes melted down and mixed with steel to make reinforcing bars (rebar) for construction. Many incidents of this type are documented at Wikipedia. The contaminated rebar is sometimes intercepted before it is used in buildings, but sometimes it is not detected until long after installation. An apartment building in Taiwan, along with other buildings, is still being rented to tenants in spite of being built with radioactive rebar.
Radiomedical devices are clearly marked, and the containers for the radioactive 'source' material are built to be durable and are themselves well-marked with the familiar nuclear-trefoil. In spite of this, salvage of radioactive metals still occurs in many countries, resulting in the deaths of scrap-metal collectors, foundry workers and others. This is not an issue for untold generations in the future: we cannot even protect people today. Last year, radioactive rebar was found being used in India, and Mexican radioactive rebar was detected in a California scrap-metal facility.
Time to get those glow-in-the-dark cats up and running!
Those brave little kitties!
There is no need to denigrate recycling.
More relevant is the frequency of incidents where radioactive metals find their way into scrap metal. Medical equipment containing radioactive Cobalt or Cesium sometimes ends up in junkyards after they are decommissioned. These devices are then disassembled, and the parts sold as scrap, including the radioactive 'source'. The scrap is sometimes melted down and mixed with steel to make reinforcing bars (rebar) for construction. Many incidents of this type are documented at Wikipedia. The contaminated rebar is sometimes intercepted before it is used in buildings, but sometimes it is not detected until long after installation. An apartment building in Taiwan, along with other buildings, is still being rented to tenants in spite of being built with radioactive rebar.
Radiomedical devices are clearly marked, and the containers for the radioactive 'source' material are built to be durable and are themselves well-marked with the familiar nuclear-trefoil. In spite of this, salvage of radioactive metals still occurs in many countries, resulting in the deaths of scrap-metal collectors, foundry workers and others. This is not an issue for untold generations in the future: we cannot even protect people today. Last year, radioactive rebar was found being used in India, and Mexican radioactive rebar was detected in a California scrap-metal facility.
Time to get those glow-in-the-dark cats up and running!