[HN Gopher] Cellulose Shoes Made by Bacteria
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       Cellulose Shoes Made by Bacteria
        
       Author : montalbano
       Score  : 55 points
       Date   : 2022-09-14 09:01 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nature.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nature.com)
        
       | SN76477 wrote:
       | This is fantastic.
       | 
       | I switched to minimal shoes just over a year ago. While they are
       | great, they wear holes in the sole after just a few months.
       | 
       | The shoe is fine, the laces are fine. Throwing them away feels
       | like an absurd waste. But the holes do make them unwearable.
       | 
       | I wouldn't feel as bad about throwing them out if I knew the
       | materials were renewable.
        
         | klyrs wrote:
         | The shoe in TFA is the opposite of minimal. Honestly I don't
         | know how people are supposed to walk in shoes when the heel
         | extends so far back. I feel like I'd die going down stairs.
        
           | hombre_fatal wrote:
           | They probably did that to make them look particularly trendy
           | instead of just boring shoes. Makes them more interesting to
           | talk about.
        
       | tomcam wrote:
       | As a person advocating for the rights of single-celled organisms,
       | I find this bacteria slavery troubling. The only ethical shoes
       | are graphene-based.
        
         | socialismisok wrote:
         | We meet again, Tom! I know you jest, but I legitimately know
         | folks who would sit down and have a lengthy chat about whether
         | bacterial products should be considered vegan.
         | 
         | (I personally tend to fall on the side of "don't eat factory
         | farmed animals" side of vegetarianism. Know the farmer? Animal
         | was raised with plenty of space and care? Enjoy. Mass produced
         | beef from a CAFO? Avoid.)
         | 
         | I do love seeing advances in microbiology and fermenting novel
         | products. Brave robot, for instance, produces milk from
         | engineered microorganisms rather than cows. Makes for a pretty
         | tasty vegan ice cream! The future is wild.
        
           | tomcam wrote:
           | I am completely in line with your thoughts on eating animals.
           | I used to call myself a farmer but the truth is I can't even
           | slaughter any of my chickens, and was shattered when one died
           | last year. It's a luxury belief. I am also sympathetic to
           | those who don't have that luxury.
           | 
           | TBH I have also worked through the ethics of bacteria but
           | eventually came to the same conclusion Ben Franklin did. He
           | was a vegetarian for quite some time. In his autobiography he
           | describes seeing someone cut open a fish and seeing inside it
           | the three fish it had eat recently. He went back to eating
           | meat after realizing we're all on the food chain.
           | 
           | I have even thought about the research showing almost-
           | sentient behavior, or at least chemical reactions, in plants.
           | It troubles me a little. Again, they would have no
           | compunction about consuming me if I were available to them in
           | consumable form. I am certainly never going to advocate
           | against eating plants though.
        
             | beebeepka wrote:
             | I have been living with similar thoughts for most of my
             | life and it's been keeping me somewhat unhappy. My mere
             | existence results in plenty direct and collateral damage.
             | Big animals, small ones, microscopic. Growing plants kills
             | other plants, etc. Eating cheese and even bread is not
             | exactly vegetarian.
             | 
             | I might be mellowing down to a wimp.
        
         | vladsanchez wrote:
         | LOL, what a troll!!! (ROFL)
        
         | tsol wrote:
         | This is nothing short of a call to slavery for those yet-
         | undiscovered quantum organisms we just can't detect yet. How
         | does it feel to be a fascist? /s
        
           | tomcam wrote:
           | OMG I can't even walk now. Who knows what I'm untangling. HOW
           | CAN I FLOAT???? Parent username highly appropriate
        
       | muizelaar wrote:
       | "Rapid biodegradation of renewable polyurethane foams with
       | identification of associated microorganisms and decomposition
       | products"
       | (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0595/5878/9298/files/1-s2....)
       | is a somewhat related paper about the Soleic foam used in the
       | shoes sold here: https://blueviewfootwear.com
        
         | autoexec wrote:
         | Why is shopify.com hosting scientific papers?
        
           | striking wrote:
           | Perhaps it's because people (who run Shopify stores) put them
           | there.
        
           | plorg wrote:
           | The paper is linked from the other website in the parent
           | comment. That website is built on Shopify.
        
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       (page generated 2022-09-15 23:01 UTC)