And then he pulls it out of his … ‘hat’ …
Post# of 146
https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/silk-h...k-excerpt/
It’s a nice, but flawed, excerpt from a book I’ll probably buy. I don’t have a single book on silk. So, it’ll be a welcome addition. Her writing flows nicely and in this excerpt lays out some really interesting attributes of silk itself. For example, spiders transform sound into energy and the transformation of pheromones. One silk strand is one-thousandth of a human hair, bullet proof vest in Chicago in the 19th century, self-healing biopolymers and its’ adhesiveness underwater. Spider silk is massively adaptable w/ applications across the board.
She mentions Maria Sybilla Merian (https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/animals/maria-sibylla-merian-pioneering-artist-flora-and-fauna), a pioneer if there ever was. Ms. Prasad couldn’t resist taking a potshot by writing, “who showed the men of science, by example, that it was vital to move beyond studying their dead insects pinned to cards”. Really necessary?
And then she brings up the gag inducing goat enthusiast Randy Lewis. Oof! She recovers by citing England’s University of Oxford, Prof Fritz Vollrath work on repairing damaged cartilage. Or Prof Fiorenzo Omenetto’s SilkLab at Tufts University, Boston work on repairing vocal chord paralysis. Evidently, it is already approved for vocal chord repair. Didn’t know that.
Her citing Louis Pasteur is a major oversight. “Silkworm studies gave Louis Pasteur a robust body of evidence for contagion, from which the study of human diseases would later benefit.”. The author needs to do some more homework as there is significant controversy surrounding Mr. Pasteur and his presumed ‘work’. Notably in relation to Antoine Béchamp. Book: Béchamp or Pasteur? By Ethel Hume. TPTB (shouldn’t be really) promoted Pasteur in very much the same way they promoted Einstein (vs. Max Planck, for e.g.). Both characters are worth a second, more discerning, look into their alleged “discoveries”.
This is the part that really caught my eye. Of course, it leads directly into the link below to a PR from Kraig that was readily dismissed w/o much fanfare. PRs cost money. CEO Thompson was making a point. Given this quote, that PR takes on new meaning. Think about the ‘plastics’ market. The mind reels. Lots of ‘green’ in plastics.
Quote:
The polymer chemistry and polymer physics that have become so well established, and upon which we have become so dependent— “Because humans now have been making plastics for a hundred years,” as Vollrath put it—also mean that science understands exactly how to make a plastic and, therefore, potentially, how silk polymers can be constructed. It is an apt transition back to an ancient material, because although traditional plastics, which are synthetic polymers, have been enormously useful, their continued production from un- sustainable hydrocarbons is increasingly unconscionable.
https://www.kraiglabs.com/kraig-biocraft-labo...-plastics/
One of her scientists, Vollrath, is quoted as saying, “electronic waste remains an intractable scourge on our planet” and “apart from humans, who have catastrophically broken the mold”, and “We’ve got to get away from the bloody hydrocarbons”. Plastics are a scourge but not intractable. The people who control money and resources have “broken the mold”, not humans in general; a hugely important and often overlooked point. Oil is a problem, yes, but we wouldn’t be here w/o it, so back off the hydrocarbon bandwagon of screaming banshees. Try to remember we are carbon-based lifeforms.
And finally, I am hoping that Kraig Biocraft at least gets a mention somewhere in the book. Footnotes, maybe? This is 2024, the science of Recombinant silk technology is pretty well known and we are a publicly traded company w/ a significant footprint in a major silk-producing country. If she knows about gag-inducing Randy Lewis she should know about Kraig Biocraft. Oversight or selective research?
At any rate, I will enjoy the read. Looking forward to it. I thank Mr. TRUISM for this contribution. I invite him to join the party. It’s a lot more fun than complaining about all the noise. Just saying …
Nag, nag, nag … BUY MORE SHARES !!!
Later, WBeacham