I used to chew gum all the time when I was a kid. Generally, when I was done I swallowed it since I knew I was a dead man if one of my parents stepped on it and just putting it in the trashcan was out of question at 8-years-old. I have also stuck my gun to things on more than one occasion only to realize the parents would find out and try to get it back off in vain. My dada also had me convinced that the gum would be in my stomach forever and eventually I would fart out a bubble.
I would bet we have all been at a restaurant where you look or feel under the table and it is covered with gum. The reason gum stays under there and gets hard like concrete is that normal gum is hydrophobic, meaning it won’t absorb water. A new high-tech gum is now available to alleviate all those gum-chewing fears for the current generation of 8-year-olds. The new gum is called Rev7 and is apparently the only biodegradable gum around. This gum is amphiphilic, so you can chew it but it will absorb water and degrade over time.
This gum is made to absorb water so you can clean it off the table or furniture if you need to. If someone spits it out on the sidewalk, the gum will turn into a fine powder in a few months. That is an interesting answer to a problem that I really never thought about.
[via Treehugger]
