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Repairing my mug with Kintsugi

kintsugi My coffee mug broke earlier this year. Naturally, you wouldn't be reading this if it weren't a very special mug: It has accompanied me every day for the last 10 years.

After recovering from the initial shock and collecting the sad remains of my mug, several colleagues offered their condolences and suggested I look into the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi. Epoxy probably yields a more robust bond and certainly allows for quicker repairs, but I question its safety for food-related use, especially at the temperatures found in a steaming cup of coffee. I kept tabs on the environment of my urushi box using the world's best CO 2 sensor(full disclaimer: I work at Disruptive Technologies) to make sure I was alerted when the conditions deviated too much from my target.

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