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Olympic Facts and History Day 2:

2. Olympic Gold Medals Are Mostly Silver

While winners at the Olympic Games receive “gold” medals, these medals are not entirely made of gold. Since 1912, Olympic gold medals have been made mostly of silver, with only about 6 grams of pure gold used as a coating. The last Olympic Games to award solid gold medals were the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.

The Olympic gold medals for this year also featured a piece of the Eiffel Tower and have a rough value of $900. However, I doubt any athlete will ever want to sell it…

Innovation

The 450° Centigrade Solution

Japan is pioneering a new approach to plastic recycling that could change the game.

Nearly 400 million tons of plastic is produced annually, and about half designed for single use. Only about 25 percent of global plastic waste is recycled, while most ends up in landfills or oceans, posing severe threats to marine ecosystems and human health.

Despite its reputation for cleanliness, Japan generates almost 40 kg of single-use plastic waste per person annually. This challenge has driven Japanese innovators to seek novel solutions.

The Science Behind the Solution

Environment Energy, a Japanese company, plans to launch a commercial plant in 2025 using their innovative HICOP (High-efficiency Oil Production) method. This process converts plastic waste into crude oil, potentially processing 20,000 tons of plastic annually.

The HICOP process uses catalytic cracking, a method from petroleum refining, to break down plastic molecules at temperatures up to 450°C. This approach is safer than pyrolysis, yielding high-quality oil composed of 50 percent gasoline and 50 percent diesel. The system can process about 120 tons of waste per month with minimal downtime, and the resultant oil can be used for fuel, home heating, or as raw material for new plastic production.

HICOP represents a significant advancement in chemical recycling, breaking plastic into its constituent parts to allow for higher-quality end products. The process uses catalysts to convert plastic into hydrocarbon gases, which are then concentrated into crude oil. This method is versatile, handling mixed plastic waste and PVC with low contamination rates.

The Road Ahead

Innovations like HICOP offer hope for reducing the environmental impact of plastic consumption by converting waste into usable fuel or raw materials. However, experts caution that this technology is not a complete solution. Reducing plastic use and improving existing recycling methods are also essential.

As Environment Energy prepares to bring its first commercial plant online in 2025, the success of this venture could inspire global shifts in plastic waste management. Japan’s plastic-to-oil technology is a crucial piece of data that could have a massive effect.

“Our core purpose is to create a circular economy where waste becomes the source of new materials,” explained Environment Energy CEO Suji Noda.

World News

Remains of Constantine's Papal Palace Found in Rome

In late July, news headlines highlighted the ongoing excavations of the Patriarchio, the former center of the Catholic Papacy, dating back to the late Roman Empire. These excavations were triggered by roadwork in front of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, where a series of walls, believed to be defensive structures protecting the Patriarchio, were discovered.

Completed in 313 and known as the Lateran Palace, the site became the papal seat following Emperor Constantine’s Edict of Milan, which promoted religious tolerance of Christianity across the Empire. The complex of religious and administrative buildings expanded until the Papacy temporarily moved to Avignon, France.

By the time the Papacy returned to Rome, the Lateran Palace was in disrepair, damaged by fires and earthquakes. The defensive walls were ordered to be demolished, and Pope Gregory XI moved the papal residence to the Vatican, where it remains today. In the 16th century, Pope Sixtus V restored the palace, blending it into the historic Roman cityscape. Three monuments survived and were incorporated into the building constructed by Domenico Fontana in 1589 opposite St. John Lateran: the Scala Santa and the Chapel of the Sancta Sanctorum.

“This is an extraordinarily important find for the city of Rome and its medieval history, as no extensive archaeological excavations have ever been carried out in the square in modern times,” said Gennaro Sangiulliano, the Italian Minister of Culture. “Every single stone speaks to us and tells its story: thanks to these important discoveries, archaeologists will be able to learn more about our past,” he added.

In 2025, Rome will host a year-long pilgrimage event known as the Jubilee, expecting 30 million visitors. The excavations in front of St. John Lateran are part of major renovations for the event.

Science

Most Efficient Solar Panels Ever Found

In the shallow tropical reefs off Palau are enormous clams of the genus Tridacna. While very beautiful, they might seem otherwise unremarkable. However, a closer look at the shimmering blue flesh within their four-foot-long shells reveals an astonishing discovery: these clams host the most efficient solar panels ever found, according to new research.

“The fact that nobody could explain why a clam was iridescent really just stuck with me,” says Alison Sweeney, a Yale University biophysicist and co-author of the study.

In previous research, Sweeney and her colleagues found that despite their impressive iridescence, the clams' fleshy mantles reflect only about 5 percent of the bright sunlight that hits them. The rest of the light is absorbed and directed to photosynthetic algae within the clam’s body, serving as a food source. This absorption rate is remarkably efficient for photosynthesis; by comparison, terrestrial forests like the Amazon reflect much more light, reducing their photosynthetic efficiency. Specialized cells called iridocytes line the mantle’s surface, containing transparent, protein-rich platelets that diffuse light inward.

In new research published in PRX Energy, Sweeney's team examined the arrangement of the clams’ symbiotic algae, which are neatly organized in modified tubes extending from the digestive system. Unlike the random distribution of photosynthetic machinery in leaves, the clam's algae form orderly columns stretching from the iridocyte layer into the flesh. “The clam basically plants them as if it were an agricultural field,” Sweeney explains. (The algae also travel between clams in pellets of feces.)

Modeling this system, the team calculated that its theoretical efficiency at the first step of photosynthesis, where chlorophyll absorbs a photon, is 43 percent—more than twice the efficiency of most current solar panels and three times that of a tropical leaf. Previous measurements in the wild suggested an even higher efficiency of over 60 percent. The new study resolved this discrepancy by considering that clams might inflate and deflate their mantles throughout the day to optimize sunlight exposure, bringing the modeled efficiency to 67 percent.

Sweeney hopes this work can inspire the design of algae-stocked bioreactors, demonstrating how biological solutions can address technological challenges.

Here is a video that shows some of these amazing clams. The best footage starts at 8:32.

Mind Stretchers

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Yesterday’s Mind Stretchers:
How many times can you subtract the number 5 from 35?

-Once. After the first calculation, you will be subtracting 5 from 30, then 5 from 25, and so on.

Albert Knox got the correct answer first!

Be the first to send us the correct answer for today’s mind stretcher for a shout-out with the answer tomorrow. Just send us the answer and your name to [email protected]

If you have any uplifting stories and experience you might want to share, send those over to [email protected] for the chance to be featured.