Old Chewing Gum 'Holding the World Together', Study Finds
Old chewing gum may be holding the world together, according to a new study that found several key pieces are now performing “important structural work.”
Researchers said the gum, much of which has been flattened into pavements, bus stops and the underside of school desks, appears to be bonding parts of the Earth’s crust that “should probably have come loose years ago.”
“We began by looking at urban cleanliness,” said Professor Graham Voss. “But the more gum we removed, the more things started wobbling.”
The study found one piece outside a train station was helping to stabilise a loose paving slab, while a larger deposit beneath a pedestrian crossing appeared to be holding the Earth’s crust in “roughly the right place.”
Experts have now warned councils against aggressive gum removal until a full structural assessment has been carried out.
“It’s disgusting,” Professor Voss added. “But so is most infrastructure once you get close enough.”
The Daily Pyre understands several major cities have since reclassified dropped chewing gum from litter to “load-bearing residue”, meaning dropping it is no longer considered a criminal offence.
Haha, I am imagining herds of people chewing obnoxiously and spitting their gum to the ground. A craze takes hold, and a massive dump of gum crowds New York or something, thanks that was amusing with brevity.