Not to discount the convince of smartphones and MacBook (both of which I could not get through the school without) but truly great inventions are few and far between now-a-days. To me, a great invention is not determined by its level of entertainment it can provide, but by making a significant impact on the world — undeniably for the better.
One such invention is by Boyan Slat. Though not complete yet, Slat’s invention sets out to filter the plastics from the ocean gyres.
It is a system of floating platforms that act as a giant funnel, filtering the ocean surface waters. It is suggested that the set up can remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic from the world’s oceans — in only five years. Targeting garbage patches, booms linking the platforms together would force plastic towards the filter. The filter is supposedly designed to separate plankton from the plastic, returning it to the open ocean while the plastics would be stored for recycling. The 19-year-old inventor of the design, Slat, founded The Ocean Cleanup Foundation, which will be responsible for developing this machine design.
For those of you who don’t already comprehend what a nightmare plastic pollution is or understand why it keeps me up worrying at night, make friends with Google and look up “Pacific Garbage Patch” or even “plastic ocean” …
Anyways, Slat and his team do put a warning on their study saying, “Although the preliminary results look promising, and our team of about 50 engineers, modellers, external experts and students is making good progress, we had and have no intention of presenting a concept as a feasible solution while still being in investigative phase.”
I am hopeful that this project will pull through and we will finally have a way to actively fight plastic pollution in our oceans.
Island Shenanigans 