From: tnp@invalid.invalid   
      
   On 11/01/2026 01:45, c186282 wrote:   
   > Most forget that flexible plastics were mostly   
   >    the product of the WW2 defense industry. For   
   >    example polyethylene was the godsend for   
   >    radar-frequency antenna cables. About the only   
   >    plastic anyone saw before the war was Bakelite,   
   >    but that's a rigid thermoset. "Rubber" came   
   >    from TREES ... it wasn't until the war they   
   >    came up with and used synthetic rubber in   
   >    the mix because there wasn't enough of the   
   >    natural stuff.   
   >   
   Yes. Prior to that there were organic plastics as it were (in the sense   
   of plant derived)   
      
   We had a set of encyclopedias dating from the 1920s in which 'gutta   
   percha' featured as an insulator.   
      
   Now used in dentistry.   
      
   Ebonite was a rubber derivative that was essentially  a thermosetting   
   compound   
      
   Perspex and acrylics were developed pre-WWII.   
      
   Various wood saps were also used as glues in ancient times. Also hide   
   glue and fish glue and glue from hooves...all very similar...   
      
   Coal tar and wood tar products were used extensively.   
      
      
      
   >    Well, there was one other 'plastic' - nitrocellulose.   
   >    Was rumored to EXPLODE sometimes and there's a reason   
   >    for the term "film/projector VAULT".   
   >   
   Of course. cotton plus acid goes bang.   
      
      
   >    But hey ... the plastics industry had one immediate   
   >    civvie success - "nylons"  🙂   
      
   Yes, and rayon and acrylics etc etc.   
      
   Flexible thermoplastics won't go away if we stop using coal or fossil   
   fuels either. Although they may get more expensive.   
      
   The quantities required can be synthesised from many 'renewable'   
   feedstocks.   
      
   --   
   “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere,   
   diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”   
   ― Groucho Marx   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)