These bacteria eat plastic | Morgan Vague

158,891 views ・ 2019-06-24

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00:00
Transcriber: Ivana Korom Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz
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Prevodilac: Ivana Krivokuća Lektor: Kristina Radosavljević
00:13
Plastics: you know about them, you may not love them,
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Plastika - znate za nju, možda je ne volite,
00:17
but chances are you use them every single day.
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ali verovatno je koristite svakog dana.
00:22
By 2050, researchers estimate
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Istraživači procenjuju da će do 2050. godine
00:24
that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
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u okeanu biti više plastike nego ribe.
00:29
Despite our best efforts,
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Uprkos našim naporima,
00:30
only nine percent of all plastic we use winds up being recycled.
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samo devet odsto plastike koju koristimo bude reciklirano.
00:37
And even worse,
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Što je još gore,
00:38
plastic is incredibly tough and durable
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plastika je neverovatno čvrsta i izdržljiva
00:41
and researchers estimate
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i istraživači procenjuju
00:43
that it can take anywhere from 500 to 5,000 years
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da može potrajati od 500 do 5000 godina
00:47
to fully break down.
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da se u potpunosti razloži.
00:49
It leaches harmful chemical contaminants into our oceans, our soil,
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Izlučuje štetne hemijske zagađivače u naše okeane, zemljište,
00:55
our food, our water, and into us.
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našu hranu, vodu i u nas.
01:00
So how did we wind up with so much plastic waste?
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Kako smo završili sa toliko plastičnog otpada?
01:04
Well, it's simple.
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Pa, prosto je.
01:06
Plastic is cheap, durable, adaptable, and it's everywhere.
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Plastika je jeftina, izdržljiva, prilagodljiva i ima je svuda.
01:12
But the good news is
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Ali dobra vest je da postoji još nešto
01:14
there's something else that's cheap, durable, adaptable and everywhere.
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što je jeftino, izdržljivo, prilagodljivo i čega ima svuda.
01:18
And my research shows it may even be able to help us
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Moje istraživanje pokazuje da nam to nešto čak može pomoći
01:22
with our plastic pollution problem.
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sa našim problemom zagađenja plastikom.
01:25
I'm talking about bacteria.
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Govorim o bakterijama.
01:28
Bacteria are microscopic living beings invisible to the naked eye
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Bakterije su mikroskopska stvorenja koja su nevidljiva golim okom
01:33
that live everywhere,
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i koja žive svuda,
01:35
in all sorts of diverse and extreme environments,
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u svim vrstama raznovrsnih i ekstremnih sredina,
01:38
from the human gut, to soil, to skin,
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od ljudske utrobe, zemlje i kože,
01:42
to vents in the ocean floor, reaching temperatures of 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
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do izvora na dnu okeana, na temperaturama od 370 stepeni Celzijusa.
01:46
Bacteria live everywhere,
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Bakterije žive svuda,
01:49
in all sorts of diverse and extreme environments.
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u svim vrstama raznovrsnih i ekstremnih sredina.
01:52
And as such, they have to get pretty creative with their food sources.
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Kao takve, moraju biti prilično kreativne u pogledu svojih izvora hrane.
01:58
There's also a lot of them.
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Takođe ih je mnogo.
02:00
Researchers estimate that there are roughly five million trillion trillion --
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Istraživači procenjuju da ima oko pet miliona biliona biliona -
02:05
that's a five with 30 zeros after it -- bacteria on the planet.
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to je petica iza koje je 30 nula - bakterija na planeti.
02:11
Now, considering that we humans produce
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S obzirom na to da mi ljudi proizvodimo
02:15
300 million tons of new plastic each year,
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300 miliona tona nove plastike svake godine,
02:19
I'd say that our plastic numbers
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rekla bih da naše brojke vezane za plastiku
02:21
are looking pretty comparable to bacteria's.
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izgledaju prilično uporedivo sa bakterijama.
02:25
So, after noticing this
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Pa, nakon što sam ovo primetila
02:28
and after learning about all of the creative ways
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i nakon što sam saznala za sve te kreativne načine
02:30
that bacteria find food,
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na koje bakterije pronalaze hranu,
02:32
I started to think:
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počela sam da razmišljam:
02:34
could bacteria in plastic-polluted environments
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da li bi bakterije u sredinama zagađenim plastikom mogle
02:37
have figured out how to use plastic for food?
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da otkriju kako da koriste plastiku u ishrani?
02:42
Well, this is the question that I decided to pursue a couple of years ago.
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Pa, to je pitanje kojim sam rešila da se bavim pre par godina.
02:47
Now, fortunately for me,
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Srećom po mene,
02:49
I'm from one of the most polluted cities in America,
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ja sam iz jednog od najzagađenijih gradova u Americi,
02:52
Houston, Texas.
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iz Hjustona u Teksasu.
02:54
(Laughs)
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(Smeh)
02:55
In my hometown alone,
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Samo u mom rodnom gradu, postoji sedam lokacija
02:56
there are seven EPA-designated Superfund sites.
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koje je Agencija za zaštitu životne sredine odredila za čiščenje.
03:02
These are sites that are so polluted,
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To su lokacije koje su toliko zagađene
03:04
that the government has deemed their cleanup a national priority.
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da vlada smatra njihovo čišćenje nacionalnim prioritetom.
03:10
So I decided to trek around to these sites
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Tako da sam odlučila da odem na ove lokacije
03:13
and collect soil samples teeming with bacteria.
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i prikupim uzorke zemljišta koji su prepuni bakterija.
03:16
I started toying with a protocol,
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Počela sam da se igram sa protokolom,
03:19
which is fancy science talk for a recipe.
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što je pompezni naučni naziv za recept.
03:22
And what I was trying to cook up was a carbon-free media,
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A pokušavala sam da napravim medij bez ugljenika,
03:26
or a food-free environment.
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ili sredinu bez hrane.
03:29
An environment without the usual carbons, or food,
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Sredinu bez uobičajenih ugljenika ili hrane
03:31
that bacteria, like us humans, need to live.
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koja je bakterijama, kao i nama, potrebna da bismo živeli.
03:36
Now, in this environment,
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U takvoj sredini
03:37
I would provide my bacteria with a sole carbon, or food, source.
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bih svojim bakterijama obezbedila samo jedan izvor ugljenika, tj. hrane.
03:42
I would feed my bacteria polyethylene terephthalate,
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Hranila bih bakterije polietilenom teraftalatom,
03:46
or PET plastic.
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ili plastikom PET.
03:49
PET plastic is the most widely produced plastic in the world.
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PET je plastika koja se u svetu najviše proizvodi.
03:54
It's used in all sorts of food and drink containers,
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Koristi se u svim vrstama posuda za hranu i piće,
03:58
with the most notorious example being plastic water bottles,
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a najpoznatiji primer su plastične flaše za vodu
04:02
of which we humans currently go through at a rate of one million per minute.
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koje mi ljudi trenutno upotrebljavamo brzinom od milion po minuti.
04:10
So, what I would be doing,
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Tako bih u svom radu
04:12
is essentially putting my bacteria on a forced diet of PET plastic
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u suštini svojim bakterijama nametnula ishranu plastikom PET
04:17
and seeing which, if any, might survive or, hopefully, thrive.
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i videla bih da li bi možda neke od njih preživele ili, nadajmo se, napredovale.
04:23
See, this type of experiment would act as a screen
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Vidite, ova vrsta eksperimenta bi delovala kao potraga
04:25
for bacteria that had adapted to their plastic-polluted environment
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za bakterijama koje su se adaptirale na svoju sredinu zagađenu plastikom
04:29
and evolved the incredibly cool ability to eat PET plastic.
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i razvile neverovatno zanimljivu sposobnost da jedu plastiku PET.
04:35
And using this screen,
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Pomoću ove provere
04:36
I was able to find some bacteria that had done just that.
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sam mogla da nađem neke bakterije koje su upravo to uspele.
04:41
These bacteria had figured out how to eat PET plastic.
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Te bakterije su otkrile kako da jedu plastiku PET.
04:48
So how do these bacteria do this?
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Kako te bakterije to rade?
04:51
Well, it's actually pretty simple.
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Pa, zapravo je prilično jednostavno.
04:54
Just as we humans digest carbon or food into chunks of sugar
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Baš kao što mi ljudi varimo ugljenik ili hranu na komade šećera
04:58
that we then use for energy,
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koje zatim koristimo za energiju,
05:00
so too do my bacteria.
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to isto čine i moje bakterije.
05:03
My bacteria, however, have figured out how to do this digestion process
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Moje bakterije su, međutim, otkrile kako da vrše varenje
05:07
to big, tough, durable PET plastic.
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velike, čvrste, izdržljive plastike PET.
05:12
Now, to do this, my bacteria use a special version
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Da bi to radile, moje bakterije koriste posebnu verziju
05:15
of what's called an enzyme.
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onoga što se zove enzim.
05:17
Now, enzymes are simply compounds that exist in all living things.
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Enzimi su jednostavno jedinjenja koja postoje u svim živim bićima.
05:21
There are many different types of enzymes,
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Postoji mnogo različitih vrsta enzima,
05:23
but basically, they make processes go forward,
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ali u suštini, zahvaljujući njima se odvijaju procesi
05:26
such as the digestion of food into energy.
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kao što je pretvaranje hrane u energiju.
05:30
For instance, we humans have an enzyme called an amylase
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Na primer, mi ljudi imamo enzim koji se zove amilaza
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that helps us digest complex starches, such as bread,
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da nam pomaže varenje složenog skroba kao što je hleb
05:37
into small chunks of sugar that we can then use for energy.
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u male komade šećera koje zatim možemo koristiti za energiju.
05:42
Now, my bacteria have a special enzyme called a lipase
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Moje bakterije imaju poseban enzim zvan lipaza
05:45
that binds to big, tough, durable PET plastic
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koji se vezuje za veliku, čvrstu, izdržljivu plastiku PET
05:49
and helps break it into small chunks of sugar
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i pomaže da se razloži na manje komade šećera
05:52
that my bacteria can then use for energy.
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koje moje bakterije potom mogu koristiti radi energije.
05:56
So basically,
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Tako da, u suštini,
05:57
PET plastic goes from being a big, tough, long-lasting pollutant
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plastika PET od velikog, čvrstog, dugotrajnog zagađivača
06:02
to a tasty meal for my bacteria.
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postaje ukusni obrok za moje bakterija.
06:06
Sounds pretty cool, right?
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Zvuči baš super, zar ne?
06:10
And I think, given the current scope of our plastic pollution problem,
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Imajući u vidu trenutni obim našeg problema zagađenosti plastikom,
06:15
I think it sounds pretty useful.
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mislim da to zvuči baš korisno.
06:18
The statistics I shared with you
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Podaci koje sam podelila sa vama
06:20
on just how much plastic waste has accumulated on our planet
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o tome koliko se plastičnog otpada nakupilo na našoj planeti
06:24
are daunting.
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su obeshrabrujući.
06:25
They're scary.
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Zastrašujući su.
06:27
And I think they highlight
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I mislim da ističu da,
06:29
that while reducing, reusing and recycling are important,
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mada je važno smanjiti upotrebu plastike, ponovno je koristiti i reciklirati,
06:33
they alone are not going to be enough to solve this problem.
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to samo po sebi nije dovoljno da bismo rešili ovaj problem.
06:38
And this is where I think bacteria might be able to help us out.
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A tu mislim da bi bakterije mogle da nam pomognu.
06:43
But I do understand why the concept of bacterial help
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Ali razumem zašto koncept pomoći od strane bakterija
06:47
might make some people a little nervous.
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može da unervozi neke ljude.
06:50
After all, if plastic is everywhere and these bacteria eat plastic,
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Na kraju krajeva, ako je plastika svuda i te bakterije jedu plastiku,
06:56
isn't there a risk of these bacteria getting out in the environment
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zar ne postoji rizik da ove bakterije prodru u životnu sredinu
06:59
and wreaking havoc?
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i opustoše sve pred sobom?
07:02
Well, the short answer is no, and I'll tell you why.
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Pa, kratak odgovor je ne, i reći ću vam zašto.
07:06
These bacteria are already in the environment.
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Te bakterije se već nalaze u životnoj sredini.
07:10
The bacteria in my research are not genetically modified frankenbugs.
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Bakterije u mom istraživanju nisu genetski modifikovane Frankenštajn bube.
07:16
These are naturally occurring bacteria
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To su bakterije koje se javljaju prirodno
07:18
that have simply adapted to their plastic-polluted environment
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i koje su se jednostavno prilagodile okolini zagađenoj plastikom
07:22
and evolved the incredibly gnarly ability to eat PET plastic.
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i razvile neverovatno složenu sposobnost da jedu plastiku PET.
07:28
So the process of bacteria eating plastic is actually a natural one.
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Dakle, proces da bakterije jedu plastiku je zapravo prirodan.
07:33
But it's an incredibly slow process.
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Ali to je neverovatno spor proces.
07:36
And there remains a lot of work to be done
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Ostaje još dosta posla
07:38
to figure out how to speed up this process to a useful pace.
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da bismo otkrili kako da ubrzamo ovaj proces tako da nam koristi.
Moje istraživanje trenutno razmatra načine da to postignemo
07:44
My research is currently looking at ways of doing this
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07:46
through a series of UV, or ultraviolet, pretreatments,
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kroz niz izlaganja UV, tj. ultraljubičastim zracima,
07:50
which basically means we blast PET plastic with sunlight.
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što u suštini znači da obasipamo plastiku sunčevom svetlošću.
07:56
We do this because sunlight acts a bit like tenderizer on a steak,
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To radimo zato što sunčeva svetlost deluje donekle kao čekić za meso,
08:00
turning the big, tough, durable bonds in PET plastic
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tako što velike, čvrste, izdržljive veze u plastici
08:04
a bit softer and a bit easier for my bacteria to chew on.
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malo omekšava i olakšava mojim bakterijama da je sažvaću.
08:10
Ultimately, what my research hopes to do
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Nada mog istraživanja je da će se naposletku
08:12
is create an industrial-scale contained carbon-free system,
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stvoriti kontrolisani sistem bez ugljenika velikih dimenzija,
08:17
similar to a compost heap,
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slično masi komposta,
08:19
where these bacteria can thrive in a contained system,
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gde te bakterije mogu da bujaju u zatvorenom sistemu,
08:23
where their sole food source is PET plastic waste.
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i gde je plastični otpad njihov jedini izvor hrane.
08:28
Imagine one day being able to dispose of all of your plastic waste
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Zamislite da jednog dana možete da bacite sav svoj plastični otpad
08:33
in a bin at the curb
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u kanti na ivičnjaku za koju znate da će završiti
08:34
that you knew was bound for a dedicated bacteria-powered plastic waste facility.
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u namenskom bakterijskom postrojenju za plastični otpad.
08:41
I think with some hard work this is an achievable reality.
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Mislim da je to ostvarivo, uz izvestan naporni rad.
08:47
Plastic-eating bacteria is not a cure-all.
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Bakterija koja jede plastiku nije lek za sve.
08:50
But given the current statistics, it's clear that we humans,
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Ali s obzirom na trenutne podatke, jasno je da bi nama ljudima
08:54
we could use a little help with this problem.
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koristilo malo pomoći oko ovog problema.
08:58
Because people,
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Jer ljudi,
08:59
we possess a pressing problem of plastic pollution.
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mi imamo gorući problem plastičnog zagađenja.
09:03
And bacteria might be a really important part of the solution.
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A bakterije mogu biti veoma važan deo rešenja.
09:07
Thank you.
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Hvala.
09:09
(Applause)
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(Aplauz)
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