Magic Mineral

It is a fantastically useful material, except for all the mesothelioma.

Seriously, except for the horrific issues with the stuff, it would be an essential material for various applications.
Its resistance to fire, heat transfer, etc would do wonders for insulation and construction.
- Makes me wonder if it could be treated in some way to make it not-so-inhalable. Though maybe we have better synthetic alternatives by now.
Doesn't burn, really hard to wear out, you can just dig it out of the ground, easy to shape and repair.
Except it kills people, and it hurts the whole time they're dying.
- Mother Gaia does a little trolling
"If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be entitled to compensation..."
- We are in Australia. The company that mined the stuff was found negligent as they kept selling it for decades after they knew it was deadly dangerous
  I also hear that so many times thanks to one of the Brain Blaze (on YouTube) editors
As long as it doesn't break down it's awesome

I had to reinsulate my attic a few years ago and I found about five different types of insulation up there (I have an old house) ... I had to do a bunch of research on this stuff and figure out what I had ... thankfully I was ok but I found this in my search online

Oh my god. Blue asbestos is the worst kind, or best if mesothelioma is your thing. Every single one of the people in that picture died from pulmonary issues.
My grandparents old farm had an asbestos carpet under their current carpet. I'm very very happy I was around to spot that, and for having audited a lot of abatement companies.
It also had asbestos roofing, but at least we weren't about to rip that up by hand
But like, why asbestos?
Why can't they shovel sand or dirt or something?
- To make people believe it was safe. They knew it wasn't, so they manipulated public opinion with marketing stunts.
  "Of course it's safe! Look how safe it is! It's fun for the whole family! What do you think we are, monsters?"
- Wittenoom was an asbestos mining town, it was the whole reason for the towns existence. They believed at the time that not only was asbestos safe but they would spread blue asbestos out on the ground around their houses and paths on purpose (for some reason, i forget why exactly, might have been as an insect deterrent or something).
  So this wouldnt be that weird for them, like a coal mining town digging buckets of coal.
Our house is about 150 years old and we dug down to the dirt floor in one of the downstairs rooms. We found suspicious white bits, and had to send a sample off. Luckily it came back clear. It was unlikely anyway, as asbestos wasn't in widespread use here in the 19th century.
However, we do have corrugated asbestos roofing on our "scullery" but it's in one piece so can be left until we renovate that part, then disposed of safely. It's pretty common to find it on sheds and outbuildings here.

Aw fuck, I knew I remembered that shit from childhood.
- Something something you may be entitled to compensation
- Do you have cancer yet?
- How are you still alive?
- Aw fuck l, I knew I remembered that shit from ~~childhood~~ The Wizard of Oz.
Also known as cancer in a box

Treat your taste kindly with KENT, the cigarette with the NEW Micronite filter!

^^Micronite ^^is ^^asbestos.

Oh oh, I've got one too. It's not containing Asbestos but Thorium (or Radium respectively) tho.
"Doramad radioactive toothpaste"
"Creates natural freshness in the mouth!"
"Special biological healing effects by radium rays. A thousand times medically prescribed and recommended."
"What does Doramad do? Through its radioactivity, it increases the defenses of teeth and gums. The cells are charged with a new vigorous life energy, which inhibits bacteria in their destructive ability. Hence the exquisite prevention and healing effect on gum diseases. Polishes enamel to the softest shiny white. Prevents tartar approach. Good foam, new taste, pleasant, mild and refreshing. Use extensively."
Quick disclaimer: The last two quotes can be found on Wikipedia but they are not backed up with sources.
- Jesus fuck
- And I thought Alex Jones' colloidal silver was insane
- It's because of that kind of thing that I'm always skeptical of startups bringing new and shiny things, that weren't properly studied or tested, and promising to revolutionize something.
- You know what, their claim about odour being caused by bacteria, and bacteria being damaged by radiation is on point.
  I'm sure you'll have some odour when your mouth turns into a giant weeping sore though
- Weapons grade teeth.....you should only have 20 teeth left at adulthood to safely use this product with a 90% chance of having no chain reaction events.
Is this double cancer?
- Super cancer actually, it's an easy mistake to make
Oi, Kent! Oi, Kent! Cancer's here, some there, it's every-fuckin'-where!!

They're going to say the same about plastic

they already are
- And we keep ramping up production because… Capitalism!
Plastic is not very reactive. This property makes it generally not directly harmful to organic health, but also notoriously slow to decompose, causing huge amounts of pollution. I think it's misleading to compare it to asbestos.
- From what I gather, asbestos is also very stable and not reactive. Asbestosis is caused by tiny fibers physically tearing your lungs.
  It's unlikely that plastic is as dangerous (we'd seen it by now) but its buildup can likewise cause some condition.
Just waiting for 3D printing fumes and SLA resin to be under the radar.

I'm pretty sure we could go back to using it, with more precautions in place, better binders, etc. Hell, it's still used in many parts of the world, and it occurs naturally all over the fucking place. But, alas, lawyers would have to stop salivating at every mention of the word.

In geoscience, we started using the word asbestoform to describe minerals with fibrous habits so we don't get lawyers showing up to destroy all of our rock samples and turn every geoscience facility into a superfund site.

I'm pretty sure we could go back to using it, with more precautions in place, better binders, etc. Hell, it's still used in many parts
Is there a way to keep it inert when the next homeowner starts tearing down drywall and drilling holes in stuff?
- Not really, but you mark is clearly everywhere and bond it in fire resistant epoxy.
  People will learn when they drill into their wall and hit epoxy that means something.
Russia and China still use it loads.
- As with all research papers published out of China, you take their numbers with a grain of salt. They report approximately 2000 cases per year of mesothelioma, and of those, only 15% are definitively asbestos exposure related. So about 300 per year. Of those cases, over 80% are asbestos industry (improper safety measures for repeated occupational exposure).
  Compared to fire related deaths prevented, it's probably a good trade for China. Probably.

My dad was a contractor and he had a big sheet of it in the garage that was leftover from some job. It looked kind of like a sheet of drywall, but was grey and rougher. I used to take it into the back yard with a little blow torch and and lay on it while I melted metal things. I was probably ten to twelve at the time.

It was a different time.

😬😬😬😬😬😬

"Asbestos was first synthesized by the master magi Mesothelioma. He was looking for a way to slowly poison the local villages without easy detection, and ended up creating one of the most common robe linings found today.

Mesothelioma is remembered long after his passing, though not fondly. If you, or a loved one, has been harmed by the creations of Dark Lord Mesothelioma, Sending us today..."

Stupid people used asbestos. We made ourselves part plastic!

Asbestos generation laughing at the Romans and their use of lead
- Here goes the microplastic generation
- Makes me daydream of what new horrible thing the next generations are going to poison themselves with
Except there were scientific studies done at the time that "proved" it was safe, even as a cigarette filter. Can't really blame people for trusting that IMO.
Now I wonder what was actually so flawed about those studies.

my garage, the old fence, and a good chunk of my house is asbestos.

They've been standing 60 years and you wouldn't know it.

Damn shame we can't use the material. Proof god hates us.

Time to move to the glorious nation of Kazakhstan, the top producer of potassium, to get some of those magic minerals to protect my countless buildings.
- Very Nice!!!

Next: Carbon fiber filament for 3d printers