Discovery of a New Greenhouse Gas is a Major Opportunity for Chemical Companies

We can now add sulfuryl fluoride to the list of dangerous greenhouse gases hovering in our atmosphere. The compound was originally developed in the 1950s by Dow Chemical and is currently used to rid buildings of termites and pests. But sulfuryl fluoride's reign as a fumigant may have come to an end.

Researchers at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UC San Diego recently discovered that the gas has a lifetime of 36 years--eight years longer than previously thought. The Scripps team also found that one kilogram of sulfuryl fluoride released into the atmosphere has a global warming potential about 4,800 times greater than carbon dioxide.

There is good news, however--the researchers have caught on to sulfuryl fluoride's dangerousness while it is still a minor problem. Only 2,000 metric tons of the gas are released into the atmosphere each year, while 30 billion metric tons of CO2 are released annually.

But with sulfuryl fluoride's emission rates increasing 5 percent each year, the problem shouldn't be ignored. And now there's a pressing need to replace sulfuryl fluoride with a non-toxic alternative--a feat that would be a huge boon to any chemical company. Anyone up for the challenge?

[Via Insciences]

Comment on: No Joke: These Guys Really Do Work Out of a Cardboard Box

Toys for Rich, Hip Grown-Ups

For the last few years, Phillips de Pury, a hoary auction house, has been running an auction series specifically dedicated to cultivating hip, young collectors with lower priced items, in the hopes that they'll blossom into the next generation of mega buyers. This Saturday, it will feature a once-obscure niche: Collectible toys, ranging from rare Japanese items from the 1970s, to recent editions created by graffiti artists.

The most mainstream expression of toy collecting culture is Kid Robot. But beyond that, just like sneaker-freaker culture, high-end toy collecting is a geeked-out obsession that can be hard to fathom from the outside: Very slight differences can make a toy's price treble, and the entire enterprise has the whiff of a tulip craze writ small. Nonetheless, the toys are good-looking and charismatic; squint hard enough and imagine you've got $15,000 to burn from the single you just cut with Kanye and Pharrel, and you can understand why someone might get obsessed. Here are some of our personal favorites from this Saturday's auction:

A Japanese toy from 1980, estimated at £300-400: 

One of the classics of the genre: A piece by it-boy graffiti artist KAWS, customizing the so-called BearBrick toy design, produced by Medicom. A slew of artists have done their renditions of the BearBrick, and for collectors, these are almost like a gateway drug to increasingly obscure finds.  £800-1,200:

Another, earlier piece by KAWS. £800-1,200: 

A unique edition by the graffiti artist Scrappers. 

From an edition of eight, by pop-artist Carlos Enriquez Gonzalez. £1,200-1,800: 

A one-of a kind toy, designed by Frank Kozik, who's mostly known for creating rock-concert posters. £1,500-2,000: 

These googly-eyed guys light up, with motion-sensing LED's. £700-900, from an edition of 10: 

A newer toy from 2008, made by Japan's legendary Super Position Store. £100-150: 

Astronaut Jesus, from 2004. A bargain at £70-90: 

[Tip via Josh Spear]

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