I stop and think about the world a lot. For the most part, theres an awful lot of suffering, and unfortunately I tend to think about or know about that side of it a lot more. I wonder if I were able to see the good in the world more I would be able to know it better. There are so many things I want to see and experience, escape this cage and find some happiness.

(Source: waterbending-wizard)

50 notes

malibueinstein: Food waste, composting, and a cool idea for earth-conscious earthlings. In developed countries about 220 lbs of food, per person, per year is tossed.  This is tragic, because the majority of this waste rots in landfills, where it is digested by microorganisms that release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.  When I say powerful, I mean 21 times more powerful than carbon-dioxide in terms of warming the atmosphere. So composting seems like a unique solution to this problem, but wouldn’t that just release methane in your backyard instead of a landfill?  Actually, no. When food waste is in a landfill, it’s crammed tight in an environment without oxygen, so bacteria digest this waste anaerobically and produce methane as a result.  If these bacteria can break down the food in an aerobic environment, like a small loose compost pile aerated by worms in your yard, then they’ll just produce carbon dioxide as waste, and you’ve helped save the planet.  Also, you might accidentally grow some some delicious plant whose seeds you tossed in said compost heap.  It happens, I swear. And for those who can’t compost, here is another idea:  When I was a kid, whenever I went to a restaurant with my aunt, she would bring a clean container, immediately halve her restaurant meal in two and pack up one half to bring home.  As a diabetes nurse, this seemed like a cool move to prevent overeating, but by bringing her own container she also made sure to remove all of the food on her plate for consumption while still not needing to use the disposable restaurant packaging to bring home leftovers.  It’s a small step, sure, but it’s easy too, which earns it a place in my book as a COOL IDEA WORTH SHARING.  You get ten points if you try it when you eat out this month.

malibueinstein:

Food waste, composting, and a cool idea for earth-conscious earthlings.

In developed countries about 220 lbs of food, per person, per year is tossed.  This is tragic, because the majority of this waste rots in landfills, where it is digested by microorganisms that release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.  When I say powerful, I mean 21 times more powerful than carbon-dioxide in terms of warming the atmosphere.

So composting seems like a unique solution to this problem, but wouldn’t that just release methane in your backyard instead of a landfill? 

Actually, no.

When food waste is in a landfill, it’s crammed tight in an environment without oxygen, so bacteria digest this waste anaerobically and produce methane as a result.  If these bacteria can break down the food in an aerobic environment, like a small loose compost pile aerated by worms in your yard, then they’ll just produce carbon dioxide as waste, and you’ve helped save the planet.  Also, you might accidentally grow some some delicious plant whose seeds you tossed in said compost heap.  It happens, I swear.

And for those who can’t compost, here is another idea: 

When I was a kid, whenever I went to a restaurant with my aunt, she would bring a clean container, immediately halve her restaurant meal in two and pack up one half to bring home.  As a diabetes nurse, this seemed like a cool move to prevent overeating, but by bringing her own container she also made sure to remove all of the food on her plate for consumption while still not needing to use the disposable restaurant packaging to bring home leftovers.  It’s a small step, sure, but it’s easy too, which earns it a place in my book as a COOL IDEA WORTH SHARING. 

You get ten points if you try it when you eat out this month.

25 notes

ikenbot: This Is NASA’s Cancer-Sniffing Cellphone Sensor What if you could use your phone to test the air for toxins? What if you could monitor your health simply by blowing on it? Sounds amazing, right? Nanosensor technology developed by NASA Ames is going to make that a reality. Jing Li, a scientist at NASA Ames, has been working for years on what will be the greatest phone accessory of all time. It’s a small chip (about the size of a postage stamp) that houses 32 nanosensor bars. Each bar is composed of a different nano-structure material. Because each sensor bar is unique it can respond to different chemicals in different ways, enabling it to not only differentiate between them, but also to monitor their relative levels, in real time. In its current state (which is looking mighty close to production-ready), it’s housed in a small case that attaches to a smartphone. For legal reasons they wouldn’t say which smartphone it’s built to attach to, but you can probably guess. Eventually, it will be built to attach to many other popular models. The idea is to develop a low-cost version so that consumers can afford to have them for health and safety applications. But let’s back up a second. This nanosensor technology was originally developed by NASA Ames for space applications. This is NASA, after all. The first usage was monitoring for fuel leaks around launch vehicles. They’ve been on the International Space Station since 2008, monitoring air-quality and checking for formaldehyde in the air. Future applications could include taking samples on asteroids and Mars missions. So that’s where it started, but the Department of Homeland Security is now funding this project in order to bring it back down to earth—and to consumers. The most exciting potential use, though, is how it could diagnose and monitor people with medical conditions. For example, for diabetes patients there is a direct correlation between the level of acetone in their breath and the level of sugar in their blood. The nanosensor could be used as a completely non-invasive diagnosis and measurement method. Just breathe on your phone. No more pricking your finger a million times a day. We have a pretty serious aversion to the word revolutionary here, but this thing fits the bill. Full article

ikenbot:

This Is NASA’s Cancer-Sniffing Cellphone Sensor

What if you could use your phone to test the air for toxins? What if you could monitor your health simply by blowing on it? Sounds amazing, right? Nanosensor technology developed by NASA Ames is going to make that a reality.

Jing Li, a scientist at NASA Ames, has been working for years on what will be the greatest phone accessory of all time. It’s a small chip (about the size of a postage stamp) that houses 32 nanosensor bars. Each bar is composed of a different nano-structure material. Because each sensor bar is unique it can respond to different chemicals in different ways, enabling it to not only differentiate between them, but also to monitor their relative levels, in real time.

In its current state (which is looking mighty close to production-ready), it’s housed in a small case that attaches to a smartphone. For legal reasons they wouldn’t say which smartphone it’s built to attach to, but you can probably guess. Eventually, it will be built to attach to many other popular models. The idea is to develop a low-cost version so that consumers can afford to have them for health and safety applications. But let’s back up a second.

This nanosensor technology was originally developed by NASA Ames for space applications. This is NASA, after all. The first usage was monitoring for fuel leaks around launch vehicles. They’ve been on the International Space Station since 2008, monitoring air-quality and checking for formaldehyde in the air. Future applications could include taking samples on asteroids and Mars missions. So that’s where it started, but the Department of Homeland Security is now funding this project in order to bring it back down to earth—and to consumers.

The most exciting potential use, though, is how it could diagnose and monitor people with medical conditions. For example, for diabetes patients there is a direct correlation between the level of acetone in their breath and the level of sugar in their blood. The nanosensor could be used as a completely non-invasive diagnosis and measurement method. Just breathe on your phone. No more pricking your finger a million times a day. We have a pretty serious aversion to the word revolutionary here, but this thing fits the bill.

Full article

426 notes

n-a-s-a: A Lunar Eclipse Animation Credit & Copyright: Larry Koehn

n-a-s-a:

A Lunar Eclipse Animation

Credit & Copyright: Larry Koehn

445 notes

n-a-s-a: Halo of the Cat’s Eye Credit & Copyright: R. Corradi (Isaac Newton Group), Nordic Optical Telescope 

n-a-s-a:

Halo of the Cat’s Eye

Credit & Copyright: R. Corradi (Isaac Newton Group), Nordic Optical Telescope 

533 notes

Wars will never cease, Is there time enough for peace? The Lily of the valley doesnt know

Emo?

Emo. The word bugs me. I’ve always been under one of the labels for ‘alternative’ (which in itself is a label) Depending on how you dress or act. I never was bothered by punk, goth, grunge etc I don’t keep track of them all but when emo came out as the new ‘word’ to call it I really didn’t like it. I mean emo? Is it supposed to mean emotional? Which goes against what I am entirely, I hide my emotions (and even start to think I don’t have any!{sometimes}) and would be appalled if someone referred to me as ‘emotional’. (Hey there is nothing wrong with people who are emotional it’s just I don’t like showing mine) Eh, I dunno , I don’t like any stereotypes or labels but emo is just lame. I admit I don’t truly know the meaning of it and won’t be arsed to look it up but I can’t tell the difference between all the original punk and goth stuff and emo. All I noticed is that certain bands started the trend of looking like they were crying in front of the camera instead of singing (my opinion) and that’s about the time emo came out. What do I care, I’m into steampunk now. (yes that’s a label too)

525 notes

(Source: im1004)

14,087 notes