Gifu/collaboration
From 2014.igem.org
Collaboration
Introduction
We aimed to collect heavy metal by metallothionein in our project.
Chiaki, our collaborator, had been inspired by this action and has created following story.
This story implies a way which technology is thought of and expected by an artist.
A Garbage Fireworks
Behind the technology of human, there is always a problem of garbage. If you extract the great something from nature, the something bad for nature or for us will be left at the same time. However, in many cases, there's not many people who care about what happen to the garbage. It rather be hidden from our sight to invisible place. For example, the vast sea or under the ground, or the space outside the Earth might be easy cache. However, that garbage never disappear by itself. For example, toxic metal which is spread from industrial wastewater to soil or river and affect to ecosystem or crops has been a matter for a long time. Moreover, it's not like trash, these garbage is invisible, and it's quite difficult to remove.
Then, a breakthrough technology that clean the soil by collecting the heavy metal and making it into the mass has been invented. Every people who had trouble with the soil pollution used this technology, but eventually, just lump of huge toxic metal mass was produced in the soil of field. This “metal bomb” had to be thrown away in the mountain.
Meanwhile, “Counteracting grenade” was invented to oppose to this metal bomb. It has been invented so that farmers can protect their own field by themselves. First, they sprinkle the counteracting grenade in the range of metal bomb polluted. Then it can counteract the terrible pollutant, and they can approach the metal bomb to pick it up.
The metal bomb that was picked up is placed in a counteraction device and make it as much as clean sand. However, there's the last garbage which can't counteract. You can buy this as “garbage fireworks” in the supermarket. Farmers now sell this "garbage fireworks" with vegetables.
“garbage fireworks” are displayed several times a year, during festivals. It's launched above the stratosphere and it fall down by the earth gravity. When it reach stratosphere again, the metal with cause the soil pollution will be burned up with complex and beautiful tail of fire which seem we have never seen.
Unfortunately, these beautiful fireworks can be seen until our garbage runs out. I feel a little bit pity, but after it ran out, more beautiful nature and our life will be come back.