Doesn’t burn, really hard to wear out, you can just dig it out of the ground, easy to shape and repair.
Except it kills people, and it hurts the whole time they’re dying.
Comment on Magic Mineral
deegeese@sopuli.xyz 3 months ago
It is a fantastically useful material, except for all the mesothelioma.
Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
Agent641@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Mother Gaia does a little trolling
Anticorp@lemmy.world 3 months ago
This is how you know the universe hates us.
psud@aussie.zone 3 months ago
The universe owes none of us anything. We stick our noses into everything and some things aren’t good for us
This one is only really bad because the asbestos companies kept it secret when they found their product killed those exposed to it.
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 3 months ago
That and lead in paint and gasoline all worked amazingly.
HelixDab2@lemm.ee 3 months ago
Lead in gasoline was a stop-gap solution. If I remember correctly , it was added because we didn’t have the technology at the time to refine gas sufficiently to get the octane levels necessary to prevent pre-ignition of fuel (which causes rod knock) at a reasonable cost. Tetraethyl lead effectively increased the octane level/resistance to pre-ignition. As a side benefit, the lead slightly lubricated the valves and valve seats so that they lasted for tens of thousands of miles, instead of needing to be reground every few thousand miles.
It was a stupid stop-gap though, esp. since the dangers of lead were well known by then.
EvacuateSoul@lemmy.world 3 months ago
You’re getting something done to your engine every few thousand miles?
HelixDab2@lemm.ee 3 months ago
You misunderstand. Before tetraethyl lead was removed from gas–in the 70s, I think?–engines were not nearly as good as they are now. My dad was doing really, really well to get 100,000 miles out of a car in the 60s and 70s; you used to see a service station attached to every single gas station, because of how much service cars needed. Now, 200,000 miles is close to the minimum that people would expect with only preventative maintenance. It’s nearly unheard of for people to need to replace valves and regrind valve seat now, except for high compression, high RPM engines (esp. supersport motorcycles). But that was just normal before the mid-70s. My dad has done multiple full teardowns on engines before the 80s, replacing head gaskets, piston rings, valves, and so on. These days that’s almost unheard of.
I think that the most intensive valve maintenance that I’m aware of that’s common right now is cleaning carbon off for some of the direct injection engines. I know that it’s an issue with Volkswagon cars, but most cars don’t do DI. You’d have to check technical service bulletins (TSBs), but most cars are very trouble free compared to what you could expect prior to the 80s.
Hazmatastic@lemm.ee 3 months ago
“If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be entitled to compensation…”
pumpkinseedoil@mander.xyz 3 months ago
As long as it doesn’t break down it’s awesome
SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Seriously, except for the horrific issues with the stuff, it would be an essential material for various applications.
Its resistance to fire, heat transfer, etc would do wonders for insulation and construction.
degen@midwest.social 3 months ago
Makes me wonder if it could be treated in some way to make it not-so-inhalable. Though maybe we have better synthetic alternatives by now.
GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
As I’ve understood it, the problem is primarily for the people having to manufacture products using it, and at rest it’s supposed to be inert.
witty_username@feddit.nl 3 months ago
Except that people don’t always recognize it and drill holes in it or saw through it
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 3 months ago
Don’t forget about when it’s time to un-make it.
Tearing down old building or tiles containing asbestos is also a huge issue.
SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world 3 months ago
It’s supposed to be it tends to get brittle and fracture creating airborne shards that you can breath in but your body can’t break down and that continuously damages the cells leading to cancer.
youtu.be/9ZIxGVJadyk?t=141
Steve@startrek.website 3 months ago
Any time you disturb it theres a problem