Universities are like butterflies or snowflakes. One of the very enjoyable aspects of being a proud science nerd is to be able to read about so many different universities doing so many different things. Yeah yeah yeah, Harvard got Facebook, but let’s talk about a little more than Ivy Leagues ok?
Case Western Reserve University (bet you never heard about that one huh?) came up with an aternative to Christina Aguilera’s worst enemy: styrofoam packaging. She seriously hates the stuff. Don’t know why I know that. Using clay and milk protein, researches plan on making miracles one udder at a time.
Before we go any further, I have an inkling that these guys may either hate facial masks or those annoying milk ads, but either way, I support them all the way! David Schiraldi and his team encased cow milk protein in clay and glyceraldehyde.
Casein is the predominant phosphoprotein (making up nearly 20%) of proteins in cow milk. It is used in adhesives but it’s water soluble. Not the best thing to carry your morning coffee in. By blending all three ingredients, freeze drying the mixture and baking it in the oven, the researchers were able to overcome that particular drawback.
According to the reasearch team, the foamlike material obtained after this process qualifies for commercial use. A third of it biodegrades within a month. This may provide an unexpected alley for small American dairy farms that have struggled to make ends meet for quite a while now. I’m also glad to have an alternative to buying milk in the form of yogurt, milk or cheese because I really really don’t like the first two and the last one makes me fat.
No price is announced yet.
Photo: Case Western Reserve University scientists made an alternative styrofoam using milk. Credit: Andrew Magill.
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