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It's funny. Laugh. Hardware

Green Tea Cleans Hard Drive Heads 156

Posted by CowboyNeal from the heloise's-pc-found-to-be-spotless dept.
mprindle writes "Wired.com has an article announcing that a 'study of the use of green tea extracts for polishing the magnetic heads in hard-disk drives has yielded a compound that works three to four times faster than conventional compounds. If the findings can be reproduced in an industrial setting, the compound could reduce the cost and environmental impact of hard-drive manufacturing.' And you just thought that green tea was good to drink."
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Green Tea Cleans Hard Drive Heads More

Green Tea Cleans Hard Drive Heads

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  • Green Tea (Score:5, Funny)

    by Jane_Dozey ( 759010 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:13AM (#9027303)
    I always knew green tea was meant for something other than drinking.
    It's nasty stuff.

  • one word (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Neuropol ( 665537 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:14AM (#9027304) Homepage
    antioxidant

    • antistrontidant? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Gropo ( 445879 ) <groopoNO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:54AM (#9027477) Homepage Journal
      When I visited the U.S.S.R. in 1988 our assigned 'tour propagandist' in Samarkand, Uzbekistan informed us that the green tea was drunk in part to prevent strontium-90 poisoning. gg Communist science bureau!

      • Re:antistrontidant? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by TildaBang ( 670599 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @10:08AM (#9027518)
        This is true. If overbrewed, the tea tannins will attatch to the strontium-90, and pass through your system, instead of it being depositied into your bones because of the likeness to calcium.

        • Anticalcidant (Score:2, Interesting)

          by dwbassett42 ( 752317 )
          And the tannic acid also has the wonderful ability of leaching the calcium from your bones, and impairing the body's iron absorption. After living in Japan for 3+ years, where they drink green tea like we drink soda pop, I saw thousands of grandmas that had osteoporosis so bad that their upper spine could't go above parallel with the ground.

          So for green tea, we know that it:

          1) Contains chemicals that are effective in cleaning hard drives,
          2) Contains tannic acid, which can cause calcium and iron defi
          • Once again we learn the lesson of intake in moderation. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

            BTW another side effect of tannins, in people with Marfan's syndrome, is the increase in frequency and severity of migraine headaches. Teas aren't the only drinks high in tannins..your favorite red wines may have alot as well.
          • Many anions we ingest have the ability to chelate ions such as calcium, and most of the food we eat has some pretty eye-raising stuff in it.

            Next time you eat some Cheerios, look in the ingredients for trisodium monophosphate. Some of you will recognize that as TSP, a rather potent cleaner. Now I eat Cheerios all the time. Last I checked my stomach is OK, and my bones don't seem too fragile!

            Never mind all the sugar that we eat, which leads to diabetes and the myriad medical problems associated with that
    • This will be the next revolutionary product from Billy Mays.
    • ... I'm allergic to tea.

  • Sssssshhhh! (Score:5, Funny)

    by TiMac ( 621390 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:14AM (#9027305)
    Don't let this get too publicized or all those office morons (the ones of tech support legend: CD Tray==Cupholder, etc) might start pouring their morning tea on the computer after a crash.

    This could only prompt me to ask them: One Lump or Two? [WHACK WHACK]

  • Not in my opinion. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Slayk ( 691976 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:14AM (#9027307)
    And you just thought that green tea was good to drink.

    No, not really.

  • Green Tea Cleaner... (Score:5, Funny)

    by zaba ( 746842 ) * on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:14AM (#9027310) Journal
    And here I thought green tea was only to clean your...uh... "internal soft drives"...

    • Re:Green Tea Cleaner... (Score:5, Funny)

      by DrLZRDMN ( 728996 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:25AM (#9027361)
      off topic but A friend of mine claims that xbox is a computer and gamecube isn't. He mentioned the hard drive so I told him that a hard drive is not nessecary for somehting to be considered a computer so he says "A computer must have a hard drive and a soft drive" I spat green tea all over laughing.
      • the xbox is a computer ;)

        why? it has a mobo, cpu, memory and all other general components that makes up the definition of a computer.

        a computer is just really a microprocessor with some busses + ram besides basiclly.
    • And now I'm wondering what it's doing to my innards...

    • Green teas have been touted the world over for their health benefits [google.com]. Catechin polyphenols are thought to destroy cancerous cells without damaging healthy ones, and Green and White teas both have them in abundance. Black tea has very little, but has other differing health benefits. I drink a lot of tea as an American, on the order of 10-15 cups per day with white tea being my current favorite along with detox tea. It is nice to have clear nose and lung mucus after being an ex-smoker and the yogi and tri

  • Bio-active materials LESS polluting? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ObviousGuy ( 578567 ) <ObviousGuy@hotmail.com> on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:15AM (#9027311) Homepage Journal
    Considering that bio-active materials like green tea (yum!) decay and eventually become unusable and must be disposed of properly, doesn't it make more sense to stick with chemicals which, though bad for the environment, do not decay or degrade and can be used in a specific task indefinitely?

    Add to this the fact that landfills are full of "biodegradable" waste which because of the lack of oxygen in the area are unable to break down. It makes far more sense to go with a material which can be reused and/or recycled. Bio-degradable sometimes ain't.
    • "Considering that bio-active materials like green tea (yum!) decay and eventually become unusable and must be disposed of properly, doesn't it make more sense to stick with chemicals which, though bad for the environment, do not decay or degrade and can be used in a specific task indefinitely?"
      I don't think they'll actually be using green tea :)
      Just any extracts from it that can do the job well (although, I hope they look into whether it'll degrade or not over time).

    • Re:Bio-active materials LESS polluting? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:19AM (#9027335)
      RTFA, please, before replying.

      The conventional slurry has to be disposed also, according to strict environmental guidelines.

      Furthermore, the green tea compound is just used to wash off the ceramic particles produced during polishing.

      And I'm pretty sure that green tea biodegrades in any suitable environment, oxygen or no.

    • Re:Bio-active materials LESS polluting? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by THotze ( 5028 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:28AM (#9027381) Homepage
      The problem is that the chemicals involved in any chemical reaction aren't infinately reusable. As one of the posters above noted, green tea works because it's an anti-oxidant, meaning it removes oxygen (oxides) from the hard drives. The industrial chemicals would also undergo reaction, and after so many uses, become unusable (assuming that 'so many uses' doens't mean once). While it's true that some industrial chemicals can undergo a reverse reaction relaviely easily, and therefore be 'regenerated' and reused, many cannot, and many that can are so cheap that they're disposed of anyways.

      While it's true that bio-degradABLE doesn't mean that they're bio-degradED, it does open the door. Also, its probably more environmentally friendly to PRODUCE green tea than it is for other industrial chemicals, which may produce waste products that end up in the water supply, require high temperatures and therefore require lots of energy, etc.

      So yeah, you're right that there is NEVER a magic-bullet. But if green tea is easier to produce, easier to refine, and can be broken down with a little simple composting, etc., then its a step in the right direction.

      Tim

      • Jumping to conclusions regarding pollution (Score:5, Insightful)

        by XavierItzmann ( 687234 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @10:13AM (#9027538)
        Some here are jumping to the conclusion that this will pollute less.

        Until somebody spends another $1 million of our taxes (read: NSF grant) in doing the net impact calculation, consider this:

        1. More land dedicated to grow green tea = less uncultivated land, less *nature*, as they say

        2. Fertilizer & pesticide for green tea, and all of the petrochemicals that went into it

        3. Fuels and other energies used to sow, harvest, clean, store & transport green tea

        4. Chemical processes to refine bioactive compounds out of the tea itself

        And I have not even mentioned the fuels used to create the wealth that is going to get taxed in order to pay for the agricultural subsidies that (of course!) are eventually going to be given to growers of green tea.

      • All very well and no doubt good for the hard drive makers, but what about the price of my fav drink in the stores? Decent stuff is high enough already, and if the drive makers buy it all up, there won't be any left for me (sniff)

        Cheers, Gene
      • green tea works because it's an anti-oxidant, meaning it removes oxygen (oxides) from the hard drives.

        not to be pedantic, but this is not oxidation. As the original article states, the tannins bind to the tiny ceramic particles that that are unwanted on the surface. Thereby solubilizing them, allowing them to be rinsed free.

        What the article doesn't state but could have environmental impact is the ability to avoid organic solvents vs. being able to process with water. Since tannins are (mostly) water solu

        • What the article doesn't state but could have environmental impact is the ability to avoid organic solvents vs. being able to process with water. Since tannins are (mostly) water soluble, this would be another plus for this process.

          Keep in mind that tannins, being acid, are a considerable enviromental problem themselves when concentrated or present in large quantites. Just being 'natural' does not, of itself, mean that a product does not potenially constitute an enviromental hazard/problem.

    • It's water. Put it outside in a bucket and it simply "goes away."

      Except for a for small amount of . . .chemicals, which you may then do with as you please.

      I suggest mixing them with water and pouring it on your houseplants. They'll love you for it.

      KFG

  • green tea? (Score:5, Funny)

    by gusmao ( 712388 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:15AM (#9027316)
    If green tea is all that good, just imagine when they try beer!

  • Wikipedia on green tea (Score:4, Informative)

    by jsinnema ( 135748 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:15AM (#9027320) Homepage
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_tea [wikipedia.org]

  • So? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Limecron ( 206141 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:17AM (#9027326)
    What does this have to do with the price of tea in China?!

    Oh... umm... Nevermind.

  • Wrong date! (Score:2, Funny)

    by rcotran ( 653676 )
    Aren't these stories supposed to be for *April* 1st? :)

  • Bad reporting (Score:3, Informative)

    by Cryogenes ( 324121 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:18AM (#9027329)
    There appears to be an innovation that may make HD production more efficient. So far so good. How is this made more relevant by the fact that it involves a chemical compount also found in green tea?
    • Green tea is a material the Average Joe has experience with (ok, not all that average, but any west coaster who likes sushi knows it well).

      That means it has more personal relevance/significance. Sure, they could just rattle off the chemical compound, but that wouldn't connect with the readers. This makes it a "hey, neat" story.
    • Anyone can grow green tea without polluting the environment?

      It therefore might be quite economical *and* environmentally sound to use green tea as the source for said compound?

      That's like saying it's irrelevant that *paper* comes from trees. Yeah, so paper uses cellulose, and trees contain cellulose, but why is that relevant?

  • They should try hemp (Score:5, Funny)

    by lildogie ( 54998 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:25AM (#9027363)
    Yeah, hemp, it's good for "heads."
  • computer repair people drink tea.

  • Well! (Score:2, Funny)

    by SeaDour ( 704727 )
    Next thing you know, they'll be telling us green tea is good for your HEALTH, too.

  • Imagine what it does to your insides! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:33AM (#9027398)
    mouth-clean
    throat- clean
    digestive tract - clean
    nasal cavity - clean if not swallowed properly.
    teeth - green.
  • - there's a big lobby in the Midwest pushing for legalization and legimate use of an untapped cash crop... maybe another use here? :-)

  • old news (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:34AM (#9027405)
    they have bee cleaning hard drives in china with green tea for a thousand years...
  • I think this is a joke, some kind of May Fools day.

  • for best results, use... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Temple of Heaven brand china green tea "Special Gunpowder" [yixingteapotsonline.com]. Best way to make sure RIAA or FBI can't get your data! Good taste too! You drink now!
    • There was some poor sod after 9/11 (I think thie was in England). He had a package of Gunpowder Tea, and they wouldn't let him take it on the airplane for fear that it might be explosive. They did, however, finally relent, and let him take it on but without the package. It was one of the candidates for stupidest security measures. [privacyinternational.org]

  • hello, China? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 01, 2004 @09:42AM (#9027432)
    Thats right... All the tea!

    (family guy, for the ones without humor)

  • Prices... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by LaBlueCow ( 768184 )
    So, perhaps if production is cheaper (I bet tea is cheaper than chemical compunds), then maybe HDD prices will drop a bit? Or maybe margins will increase for PC part sales. Bah.
  • 3.3 GHz CPU
    2.0 GB HD with SFGTFOP1 polished heads...

  • Now we can have a HDD Cleaning Ceremony (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    And charge a fortune for the privilege!

    Of course one will have to be trained in the art of HDD Cleaning Ceremony by being taken on as an apprentice.

    Oh HDD-Cleaning-Master san, when can I clean my own HDDs?

    First you must learn the art of Master and Slave settings only then can you learn the art of HDD Cleaning.

  • Doesn't green tea have antiviral properties? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 01, 2004 @10:04AM (#9027507)
    That could really help with hard drives.

  • regular or decaf? (Score:3, Funny)

    by whovian ( 107062 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @10:06AM (#9027514)
    Does regular or decaffeinated matter?

    On a humorous note, will caffeinated green tea make the hard drive faster?
  • But wouldn't the teeine prevent the hd from going into sleep mode?
  • but I've found that I can actually get better results by soaking my hard drive overnight in coca-cola.

  • Good to drink? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Lispy ( 136512 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @10:12AM (#9027536) Homepage
    "And you just thought that green tea was good to drink."

    Actually I always thought it tastes like dishwater. Good to see it might at least be of some use. ;-)

  • Sounds bogus... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mtrupe ( 156137 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @11:15AM (#9027770) Homepage Journal
    sounds like one of those stupid John C. Dvorak articles that are supposed to be funny bet aren't.

  • Totally organic experience (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I use green tea extracts for washing my head all the time!

  • Oh, great. (Score:2, Funny)

    by MajorG17 ( 676534 )
    Now they'll come out with a whole line of holistic tech support.

    "Coming Soon -- a new Ginko Biloba extract to double your RAM!"

  • Magnetic cores (Score:3, Informative)

    by retro128 ( 318602 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @12:13PM (#9028147)
    Reminds me this story that my dad told me, who's worked on big systems back in the 50's and 60's working as an aerospace employee, back when they were still using magnetic cores. [columbia.edu] They had been having major problems with the core overheating. Somehow, and don't ask me how, they figured out that Wildroot Cream Oil [seanbaby.com] was the perfect coolant, and the core worked like a charm from then on.

    Guess they figured it out in much the same way they figured out green tea cleans heads really well!

  • Stephenson says... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by cei ( 107343 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @01:18PM (#9028670) Homepage Journal
    In his interview at Salon a couple weeks ago, Neal Stephenson wrote, "Every culture can be kind of defined by what they drink in order to avoid dying of diarrhea. In China it's tea. In Africa it's milk or animal blood. In Europe it was wine and beer."

    I didn't realize the same would apply to hard drive cleaning...
  • Forty Green Tea bags from local Dollar Store, $1.

    Five or six large capacity hard drives, $1,000.

    Recieving a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to fund the project, priceless...
    • I'd hardly call a net $98,999 profit priceless , especially seeing that it's ,er, a price.

      You should have phrased your joke in the timeworn underpants-gnome style, thus:

      1. Get green tea and hard drives
      2. ????
      3. PROFIT!

      You could even say,"OMG! Step 2 finally revealed!!" and substitute step 2 above with:
      2. Recieve a $100,000 grant from NSF.

      The possibilites are endless!

  • Wired got scooped on this by a couple days by The New Scientist [newscientist.com], if you want to read about it there.
  • I accidentaly poured a complete beer in a laptop... yeah, those things appends. It was ruined... The beer poured in was cold, but it was hot when it came out... I guess it touched some hot part of the laptop...

    I also droped my Palm in a coffee... but it still works. Thanks Ford my coffee was not too hot...

  • The cleaning power of tea (Score:4, Interesting)

    by DrDNA ( 713626 ) on Saturday May 01, 2004 @03:59PM (#9029756)
    In Chinese restaurants, waiters pour a bit of the leftover tea onto the table to clean it. They say it works much better than plain water. Ho gon-jeng! (very clean)
  • What has this got to do with the price of tea in China??

    Oh, never mind.

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