Hemp vs. Trees

Hemp has been proven to be a much more efficient plant to produce than trees in multiple aspects. Firstly, hemp reaches maturity after 100 days while trees can take multiple years. One acre of hemp produces as much as up to five acres of trees. Hemp paper can also be recycled up to seven times while paper from trees can only be recycled four times. Not only would production of hemp limit the amount of trees we cut down annually, if not eliminating the need entirely, hemp also has a multitude of uses beyond that of trees. The entire hemp plant can be used in the production of goods. This picture below gives several examples of what specific parts of a hemp plant can be used for, but this is not a complete list. 

Graphene cuts costs of desalination process

Article on discovery.

A new filtration system utilizing graphene, a single atom wide sheet of carbon molecules, is expected to severely reduce the cost of removing salt from water.

"It's 500 times thinner than the best filter on the market today and a thousand times stronger," said John Stetson, the engineer who has been working on the idea. "The energy that's required and the pressure that's required to filter salt is approximately 100 times less."

Producing the graphene efficiently is the biggest setback in this process, but should this be achieved water will become much more available to places that previously had no access to fresh water. 

This is definitely not the first time I've heard of graphene, but it is one of the better uses I have seen it applied to. I look forward to seeing what other advancements in technology may have a resounding effect on our lives. 

Passive Protest Not So Peaceful

Do you believe in anything so strongly that you'd be willing to lay down your life for that belief? Would you be willing to cause yourself pain and suffering to see that belief stay alive? Is your life worth the continuation of your belief?

 

Many of you may have seen this picture. This is Thich Quang Duc. In protest to the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government, Thich Quang Duc lit himself on fire to create awareness. This photo and others like it circulated the globe and gathered the attentions of many onto the Diệm government.

Today there are over one hundred documented cases of self-immolation within Tibet to protest the Chinese government's heavy handed control over Tibet. 

“They claim we are free to practice our religion but in fact they keep pulling the reins tighter and tighter so we can hardly breathe,” said a 22-year-old monk from Qinghai Province

New York Times article on 100th case of self-immolation

Like Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Thich Quang Duc did not use violence against his suppressors. Instead he used violence against himself to increase the awareness of the situation globally. Like Ghandi being hit by soldiers or this police officer being arrested in full uniform, Thich Quang Duc and the Tibetan monks make people want to fight for the underdog.