Abstract: A weighted jump rope for use by a person in an exercise routine which comprises a length of swingable rope, a pair of spaced apart handles, one handle on each opposed end of the length of swingable rope, each of the handles having a grip adapted for use by a person to swing the rope, and one or more weight elements removably secured on each handle, and a movable counterweight secured on the length of rope spaced apart from the handles for varying the swing of the rope. The invention includes a novel ball lock adapted to removable secure the weights on the handle and a snaphook assembly device for quickly attaching and detaching the rope from the handles when replacing or shortening the rope.

Abstract: A process for pre-emptive potential in bioremediation of oil spills comprising the steps of fabricating cells of micro-organisms capable of degrading hydrocarbons, encapsulating the cells into pods dissolvable in a non-hydrocarbon environment such as water, introducing the pods into a body of petroleum contained in a vessel which if unintentionally fractured to release the body of petroleum into the non-hydrocarbon environment will also release the cells, causing the cells to open and allow the micro-organism to degrade the hydrocarbon and consume the oil spill. The process may also include the step of recovering pods which are not released into the non-hydrocarbon environment from the body of petroleum.