paper

A company has achieved the greatest advance of the toilet paper in 100 years. And he is shooting his sales

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There are many sectors where the margin of improvement is very wide and others where it would be said that everything is almost invented. Let’s put the toilet paper market as an example. Since his invention more than a few century ago they have changed. Yes, a few years ago the arrival of A “Luxury” versionand has even been used for other purposes (the last putting it in the refrigerator), But, in essence, its virtues and defects have remained. And suddenly, something seems to change. Silent revolution. For decades, the toilet paper It has been one of the most unalterable products of modern home, a routine as natural as invisible. However, under that apparent immobility there is a fierce technological career: large corporations have been perfecting this essential object through small but sophisticated innovations for years. As explained a few days ago The Washington Postthe most recent is possibly the most important and comes from the hand of Charminwhich after five years of research has replaced the classic straight drilling line with a undulating, in what call Smooth teara solution that seeks to solve such a mundane problem as universal: The damn unequal tear of the leaves. The company ensures that this minutia has triggered a 5 % growth in its business and a “significant level of delight” among users, demonstrating that even the most banal gesture can be optimized to the further detail. Engineering applied to touch. Far from being frivolity, innovation in toilet paper is the result of highly complex development processes. Explained the post that in laboratories by Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clarkengineers and designers have tried hundreds of prototypes evaluating parameters such as resistance, texture and water response capacity and use in different positions of the portarrolos, even considering whether the user is left -handed or right -handed. The curves of the new pattern are not ornamental, but the result of millimeter calculations on strength, traction angle and adaptation to the industrial process, where the technical challenge consists in creating a non -linear rupture line that is effective for the consumer, but robust enough to survive to the vertiginous rhythm of production machines. To get an idea, engineering behind this humble product includes rotary cylinders, synchronized teeth and strategically positioned anvils, a precision gear that the consumer never sees. When Nokia produced toilet paper Role, culture and hygiene. Modern toilet paper is surprisingly invention recent In human history. Although the paper has existed for more than two millennia (thanks to The ancient China), its use for intimate purposes did not popularize until the end of the 19th century. Before that, what would be at hand: leaves, rags, cobs, even store catalogs. Was Joseph Gayetty who in 1857 introduced the concept of “medicated” paper, although it was ridiculed by the modesty of the time. The real milestone arrived in 1890, when LThe Scott brothers They popularized the perforated roll, contributing comfort and hygiene to the daily ritual. Since then, each advance (however it seems) has responded to a persistent search for balance between functionality, cleaning and experience (even sensory), gradually raising the daily product to a subtle form of applied design. Innovation without rupture. Barry Kudrowitzproduct design expert, defined these types of changes such as “Incremental innovation”: lowercase improvements that do not alter the essence of the object, but optimize their use within the frame that the user already knows and accepts. As opposed to more disruptive solutions such as bidé (which still generates cultural resistances), the wavy toilet paper fits perfectly in consumer habits and finds its force precisely in its familiarity. If you want also, we are facing a change that does not ask to relear anything, but it offers A tangible benefitand that is why it is precisely so effective. In a saturated market, where almost all consumers already use “their” toilet paper, the only real growth route is to convince them that their brand makes it a little better, a little softer, or a bit more intelligent. Improve the practical. In short, the history of New undulating edge Charmin is, in essence, a metaphor of modern obsession for technical perfection in everyday life. It is not about reinventing the toilet paper, but about turning it into a product worthy of scientific attentioncommercial and cultural. The art of finding complexity in the simple, of applying high precision technology to an object whose destination, ironically, is disappear instantly. In a world where almost everything essential is already invented, the idea is accurate: refine the ordinary, reinvent the minimum and remind us that even the most bland gesture (that pull a hung roll next to the sink and that it comes out “perfect”) can be the fruit of years of engineering, design and effort. Image | Erik McLean, CATLEMUR In Xataka | Putting toilet paper in the refrigerator seems an absurd idea. This is what we know about its advantages In Xataka | Save toilet paper is possible and very easy: the question is why you want to do it

Now there is a version says goodbye to paper money and replaces it with an app for mobile

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Digital entertainment has never been so wide. Among series, movies, video games and music, the options are almost infinite. However, sometimes what we are looking for is just the opposite: disconnect, get away from screens and notifications. To do this, nothing like reading a good book or enjoying a board game. But not even these have escaped technology. Like electronic books have changed the way we read, board games have also evolved. It is not something new: for decades there are digital versions of classics such as chess or go. But now the trend has evolved. Some board games now combine physical pieces with mobile applications. A clear example of this is Monopoly. Monopoly is modernized with an app The new version of Monopoly premieres application. The game maintains its classic board, but now it will be necessary to use the mobile phone or the tablet to manage money and starting operations. That is, what we used to do with printed bills now is done directly from the screen. The properties and any transaction are also controlled from the app. From Hasbro, monopoly owners, explain that this format “assisted by application” not only speeds up the game by assuming the functions of the bank, but also incorporates mini -games to add an extra of fun. Each player selects a file and their corresponding bank card, which together with the property cards are scanned directly from the application. Monopoly App Banking is very oriented to children and offers among the most valuable properties a rocket launch platform, a chocolate factory or a roller coaster. This updated version will be available in the United States and During the year in Europe. It should be noted that the classic versions of the game and their expansions are still available. Modernizing a classic does not mean losing its essence. Here, the app promises to optimize the games of a game that sometimes can become long and dense, even providing new mechanics to refresh the experience and make it more accessible. However, this proposal will hardly attract those who see in the board games a shelter against the omnipresence of the screens. Images | Hasbro In Xataka | Monopoly is an icon of capitalism, but it was created for the opposite: denounce and defend an alternative system

There are people putting toilet paper in the fridge. What does science say about the trick to eliminate bad odors

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If one day we open our fridge and encounter A roll of toilet paper insidewe might think that we live with a very clueless person who has confused the fridge with the bathroom closet. We would probably be wrong: There is a reason To put toilet paper in the fridge. The question is whether it is a good idea. The first question that comes to mind is: why? What is sought with this strange idea is to reduce the bad odors that are sometimes presented in our fridge. The “trick” also promises to extend the life of our food and even save energy consumption. Ok and work? Although we have not tested the method, the toilet paper could help us Eliminate bad odors from our fridge. Although there are some issues to consider to go for our paper rolls. The logic behind is that the toilet paper can absorb moisture (this paper is absorbent so it is capable of collecting environmental humidity by dehumidifier) ​​and with it the bad smell of our fridge. It would also help to preserve food better, reducing the rhythm to which they spoil and avoid passing that emit new bad odors. Insert paper into the fridge is one of the “tricks” that he proposes The Food Security Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), but not as a way of maintenance but as a way of ending persistent odors in our fridge. In an article dedicated to how to eliminate bad odors from the fridge, the service suggests filling our fridge of Rolled newspaperthen close the door and leave it like this for several days. After taking out the paper, they recommend cleaning the fridge with water and vinegar. Using newspaper has the advantage that this will be a role that will be discarded equally, but it is also an increasingly weird paper to find in our homes. If we use toilet paper we must avoid using paper that we have had stored in the bathroom outside its wrapping since it will have been accumulating moisture and will be more “loaded” from it. Avoiding bad odors It should be noted that the use of paper, whether newspaper or hygienic, is not the first method suggested by the USDA on its page as a way to eliminate bad odors from our fridge. The first thing to do in these cases is to eliminate any food spoiled that could be causing bad smell. Then, remove all the trays and drawers from the fridge and clean them with soap and water. Then we can give them a bath with a “sanitary solution” making a tablespoon of bleach not aromatized in 3.5 liters of water. Also use this solution to clean the interior of the fridge. After that we must leave the appliance open for a quarter of an hour. Appliances manufacturers are also A good source of information when looking for tricks that allow us to improve our use of the devices that manufacture. These methods include several cleaning products, we must be aware of Do not mix them. For example, mixing bicarbonate and vinegar will cause the different levels of acidity of the products to be annulled since vinegar is acid, while bicarbonate is a base. Mix vinegar and bleach, on the other hand, It is a risk to our health since the mixture will release harmful gases. Interestingly, this “trick” could help us save energy. Every time we open the door of the fridge we can generate air currents that introduce warm air from abroad into the fridge. When we close the door, the fridge must renounce this air, spending more energy. The more full the fridge is, the less air it can be exchanged with the outside, so a fridge fills less energy. If we put a roll of toilet paper (as if we put a brick), the fridge will cool it once alone, and not as many times as we open and close the door. This “trick” can be useful in very specific contexts, if for example we have our refrigerator halfway fill more or less constantly. In Xataka | The International Space Station receives its first space refrigerators: with them they hope to improve the astronaut diet Image | Xataka with Gemini

The US has decided to leave paper straws because everyone hates them. The problem is the alternative: plastic

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Between him merchandising Maga with whom he dressed his bankrupt 2020 attempt For returning to the White House, Donald Trump included a much less resulting piece than his famous red caps, but endowed with the same political burden: plastic straws. The cannulas carried their last name in capital letters, were sold in packages of $ 15 and were, in the words of the Republican leader, the alternative to the “Liberal straws” of paper. They did not serve to win those elections, but to raise thousands of dollars. Now, back at the White House, He has decided that the whole government also begins to use plastic cannulas instead of biodegradables. And as happened in 2020, with it he launches a message that goes beyond the straws. What happened? Donald Trump doesn’t want more straws. Rather, he doesn’t want more paper straws. That’s why He has just signed An executive order with which he reverses the efforts of the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden, who advanced right in the opposite direction. The Democrat aspired that federal institutions be disregarding plastic cannulas throughout The next few yearsfirst taking them out of their activities in 2027 and then suppressing them until they reduce them to zero in 2035. Why’s that? Simple. Because Trump doesn’t like them. He made it clear already during his failed electoral campaign of 2020 and has stressed again these days, in a resounding way and without half inks, faithful to his style. “These things do not work, I have had them many times, and sometimes they break, they explode. If something is hot, they do not last long, a matter of minutes, sometimes second. It is something ridiculous,” He settled. The republican argument does not end there. Trump has insisted that the attached straws that have been promoting as the ecological alternative to the traditional plastic are dissolved for years “disgustingly” in the mouth and even questions that its use is positive. For both consumers and the environment. Its decree in fact that they incorporate chemicals that “can entail risks to human health”, their production is more expensive than the conventional alternative and also generate waste. “Paper strases are sometimes involved individually in plastic, which undermines the environmental argument in favor of its use,” emphasize. Goodbye to biodegradable straws? Not quite. Trump’s decision is relevant and there are those who have seen in it A declaration of intentionssomething that goes far beyond the simple cannulas. The Executive Order declares that “US’s policy is to put an end to the use of paper straws”, but at the moment its scope is limited: it focuses on the federal administration, putting an end to The Biden era policy that sought that the federal government gradually eliminate the purchase of plastics from a single use. The regulatory framework around the straws is really something more complex. There are cities and states, including California, Oregon, New Jersey or Seattle, in Washington’s own territory, endowed with regulations that limit the use of plastic cannulas or prioritize biodegradable options. Trump’s goal is clear, in any case. Before journalists, he shared transparently what his bet is: “We will return to plastic straws.” Do paper straws work? Trump ensures that its use leads to “ridiculous” situations and even that they are “disgusting” in certain cases. Those are personal, subjective appreciations. What can be affirmed objectively is that science has demonstrated that biodegradable cannulas are far from being perfect and – beyond that they may or may not be softened while using some problems related to their materials. In 2023 a group of researchers published A study in which they exposed their conclusions after analyzing 39 brands of straws of different materials, from plastic or paper to glass, steel and bamboo. And his conclusion was that the biodegradable cardboard were the ones that contained the highest volume of PFAS. That is a problem because these synthetic substances are harmful to humans and the environment. Of a total of 20 paper cannulas brands, 18 showed PFAS. Why is it a problem? It He expressed clearly Two years ago at SMC Marieta Fernández, a professor at the University of Granada, precisely following that study. “The majority of paper analyzed (90%) contained pfas. They were also detected in 80% of bamboo, 75% of plastic and 40% of glass. The steel analyzed, “summarized the academic. Fernández recalls that PFAS are commonly used for non -stick purposes and to improve the resistance of water, heat or spots, so “it is not surprising” to find them in the cannulas. The problem, abundantis that their presence in paper and bamboo straws would question that they are really “biodegradable.” And what is so or even more serious: it question that they are really “suitable for human consumption” products. Better plastic? Paper strases may not be perfect, but those of plastic are also very far from being, no matter how much Trump likes them, confessed lover of sugary and gas sodas. As Remember Fernándezthe study of 2023 also detected PFAS in the plastic units. And while its percentage was lower than in cardboard versions, the result remained elevated: chemicals were detected in 75% of the samples. His big problem is nevertheless another: the impact they have on the environment. The data does not always coincide, but they usually show a worrying scenario. There are estimates that speak that in the US they are used a day 175 million of disposable straws, Straws Turtle Island Restoraction Newtory raises the data to More than 390 million And another calculation –so cited as disputed– points out that in the country each day more than 500 million of cannulas. And what does that mean? Let any of those figures or Another estimatethe truth is that we talk about a quantity of huge straws: hundreds of thousands daily, in the best case, which take only a few minutes to become garbage. The big question is … What to do with them when they are discarded? Do they all end up in the … Read more

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