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73182
Forget corn and sugar and petroleum for plastics, scientists have developed a Styrofoam out of clay and milk proteins.
Like a lot of great research, it began with an accidental discovery in the lab. A student freeze-dried clay and got something intriguing enough that they started mixing the clay with a variety of materials.
When they added a cow's milk protein called casein, they ended up with a super-light, fluffy, and foam-like material. With further experimentation, they hit on a recipe that worked wel.
