Who knew?

A tree has been grown from a 2,200 year old seed, “recovered from Masada, where rebelling Jews committed suicide rather than surrender to Roman attackers.”

The Middle Eastern Medicinal Plant Project “is working to conserve and reintroduce plants to the region where they once lived.”

Brazilian authorities have discovered an Indian tribe in the Amazon which has had no formal contact with Western Civilization.

There’s a lot to be said about this. There are a lot of directions to take such a conversation piece. Today I’d like to take you, here.

There are over 6 billion human hearts in the world. 6 billion minds, 6 billion souls, 6 billion pairs of hands capable of the most beautiful and creative good.

6 billion eyes to sparkle with delight in the brightest moment of inspiration.

6 billion mouths to smile wide and break apart, bearing teeth and uncontrollable laughter.

There is no limit to the sparkle in the eye of someone without a Segue.
There is no limit to the creative good of the hands of someone without cable television.
There is no limit to the laughter of a child in the remotest region of Amazonian Rainforest, iPhone or not.

On a not-so unrelated note, next time you’re offered a plastic bag for your single-item purchase, kindly decline.

Having logged into Facebook today to delete all the ridiculous events and groups I get invited to (don’t we all) and to say hello to a few long distance friends, an advert at the side of the page caught my attention:

Global Water Fight

I thought to myself,
“Everyday almost 40,000 people die from causes directly related to contaminated water…”
“Contaminated water causes 80% of the health problems throughout the world.”
[www.globalwater.org]

Seeing this headline, Global Water Fight, got me very excited for what just might be a Facebook revolution: Using a social networking tool to bring like-minded individuals together to do something positive for those who can’t afford a privilege such as fbook.

Uh, but yeah right. No, the rest of the ad read as follows:
“Throw water at your friends by various means such as water balloon, squirt pistol, super soaker, etc.”

I’m much less irate now that I realize that it’s all just online claptrap and not actually a planned water-fight, but actually I can’t tell which is more ridiculous.

Anyway, to those with the Global Water Fight App, go check out this awesome new facebook application; it’s called How to Save a Life.

http://www.globalwater.org
http://www.lifewater.org/
http://www.amref.org/index.asp?PageID=50&PiaID=6
http://www.gpfd.org/global_pages/global_focus.html#water_dev

In our hearts we are wandering gypsies
In our minds we are heirs to the jewels
To the poor we are swaddled in riches
To the rich we ain’t nothing but poor

We don’t know what became of our fortune
It could rescue or end other lives
We are gathering speed through this tunnel
To go down where the truth meets the lie
-Mark Heard

We are the bastard children of liars and charlatans and so do not render them faults, merely the basic aspects of our understanding of things.

This will be our legacy – the knowledge that we inhabited a burning building, and although we knew it just and right to risk ourselves to save it, chose instead to listen to those that claimed it wasn’t on fire at all, but simply a figment of our imaginations.
-MG

And if the world of sustainable energy weren’t artistic enough, researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology, claim to have developed a way to create a solar cell that can be painted on flexible plastic sheets.

“Someday homeowners will even be able to print sheets of these solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers. Consumers can then slap the finished product on a wall, roof or billboard to create their own power stations.” -Somenath Mitra, Director
[www.inhabitat.com/2007/07/22/paint-on-solar-cells]

Michael Jantzen’s Wind Shaped Pavilion

I came across a couple interesting stories today about developing methods of sustainable energy sources. This one’s for the groovers, shakers and muscle makers:

Powered by Sound
Transforming heat into focused sound, affecting “piezoelectric” devices which in turn convert the sound into electrical current.
[http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/06/06/sound-could-power-your-home]

Sustainable Dance Club
A Chile based environmental organisation, Enviu, has launched
a Sustainable Dance Club project with its first event, The Critical Mass, in Rotterdam, Nederland. Utilizing an armoury of energy-preserving and renewing models, Enviu hopes to introduce environment-friendly partying to the world.
[http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/03/06/sustainable-dance-club]

Hong Kong: Human-Powered Gyms
California Fitness is working with French inventor Lucien Gambarota and Wharton grad and entrepreneur Doug Woodring to make their fitness centers recycle the energy produced by the very people who use their equipment.
[http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/03/08/human-powered-gyms-in-hong-kong]

The Latest Approach to Windmill Design
[http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/07/16/top-5-weirdest-ways-to-power-your-home]