Access to a wide range of plastic materials has been rationalized by the increased demand from growing populations and the development of high-throughput production systems. Plastic materials at low costs with reliable properties have been utilized in many everyday products. Multibillion-dollar companies are established around these plastic materials, and each polymer takes years to optimize, secure intellectual property, comply with the regulatory bodies such as the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals and the Environmental Protection Agency and develop consumer confidence. Therefore, developing a fully sustainable new plastic material with even a slightly different chemical structure is a costly and long process. Hence, the production of the common plastic materials with exactly the same chemical structures that does not require any new registration processes better reflects the reality of how to address the critical future of sustainable plastics. In this review, we have highlighted the very recent examples on the synthesis of common monomers using chemicals from sustainable feedstocks that can be used as a like-for-like substitute to prepare conventional petrochemical-free thermoplastics.

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TinkerPlotsTM software allows users to engage in data analysis through the construction of graphical representations of data that can be shifted and changed dynamically. Based on its sister program, FathomTM, TinkerPlots takes a constructivist approach to displaying data—that is, users construct, rather than select, types of graphs—thus allowing the creation of a surprising range of charts, tables, graphs, and other mathematical visualizations that fall outside traditional categories.

Like touring an old city, exploring classical topics from school mathematics allows us to make discoveries and enjoy knowing that other like-minded travelers have been in the same place before. There are few better areas for rediscovering formerly well-traveled mathematical pathways than the roads opened up by polygonal numbers. Polygonal numbers were revered by the Pythagoreans, were studied thoroughly by Euler, and are used as motivating examples in many contemporary textbooks. Despite their long history and frequent mention, our guidebooks—the student texts—leave 20016out many of their interesting features, making them an ideal area for mathematical tourism.