Epi 73: Robotics – A robotic fish that can eat plastics and clean our oceans

Full Episode description

To listen to episode 38 on Video Game characters, please click here or scroll below on our episode list.

Remote controlled cars and planes are toys we are familiar with. A remote-controlled fish that can not just swim, but also eat the plastic pieces floating in the water is now around. Chinese scientists from Sichuan University have developed this little piece of marvel, in a bid to keep our oceans clean. 10-year Anura from Emerald Heights School, Indore, describes how micro-plastics is a big problem both for our fishes and for land animals.

More than 80% of us have micro-plastics in our blood. Ouch! How did we start eating plastics? Anura discusses some ways of how we get it into our foods and beverages. (a) Drinking tea from a tea bag releases more than a few billion micro-plastics into our tea. Oh! we'll remember to make our tea the old fashioned way – boil some water and let our tea leaves steep in them. (b) Sea-salt can also carry micro-plastics given the large amount of plastics already absorbed by the sea-water. 

This robotic fish from China can now start swimming in our oceans and eat up the plastics in the water. If a shark were to swim by and accidentally consume this robot, Anura assures us that the shark won't get a stomach ache, since the robotic fish is made of a material that is eco-friendly.

If you are a child (aged 6-17) and would like to feature on this show, follow us on Instagram to find out about how you can be a part of this show. Write to us with your thoughts or comments at hello@wsnt.in.