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| Lobster Golf Balls |
The balls, created by researchers at the University of Maine, look and feel exactly like golf balls, and are intended for use on cruise ships, where hobby golfers hit hundreds of thousands of golf balls out to sea each year.
Golf ball littering is a big problem on land, too, with the United States alone, being responsible for an estimated 300 million balls that are lost or discarded annually.
Biodegradable golf balls already exist, but the Mainers' version is the first to attack an additional problem by helping eliminate lobster waste.
"The University of Maine is a land grant institution, so we consider it our mission to serve the people and industries of the state," Live Science quoted Neivandt as saying.
"Anything we can do to aid the lobster industry in particular is something the university considers an important part of its function, so we're trying to turn something from the industry's waste stream into a value added product.
"The raw material needed to mould a single ball costs only 19 cents, so we'd project it would come in at well under a dollar per ball, and be cost competitive with other biodegradable balls on the market," Neivandt said.
He and UMaine administrators are currently investigating the best route to commercialisation.
The lobster balls work fine, too, revealed undergraduate research assistant and amateur golfer Alex Caddell.
"The flight properties are amazing. It doesn't fly quite as far as a regular golf ball, but we're actually getting a similar distance to other biodegradable golf balls," he said.
On a cruise ship, Neivandt explained, it doesn't matter how far golf balls go anyway.
"The primary reason people do it is to practice their swing. I don't think a small decrease of distance off a driver is important in that location," he stated.
UMaine has filed a provisional patent for the lobster shell and biodegradable polymer mixture used to make the balls.
The researchers added the material might also be utilized for products such as plant pots that decompose in the ground and surveying stakes.
Sources: http://www.dnaindia.com
